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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

Ingonyama Since: Jan, 2001
#265701: Jan 4th 2019 at 6:09:10 PM

@ HallowHawk: The word speedyboris was referring to was "hypocrisy".

Edited by Ingonyama on Jan 4th 2019 at 7:13:35 AM

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#265702: Jan 4th 2019 at 6:09:38 PM

https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2019/01/04/day-715/

    Day 715: Contentious 

1/ House Democrats approved a series of spending bills to reopen the federal government without Trump's border wall money, but the legislative spending package is expected to be dead on arrival in the Senate where Mitch Mc Connell has vowed to not "waste its time" with proposals that Trump will veto. Congressional Republicans called the effort pointless political theater. (CNN / CNBC / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / USA Today)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/03/politics/house-votes-shutdown-wall-spending-bills/index.html

2/ Trump is reportedly considering declaring a national emergency in order use $4 billion in Department of Defense funds to build his wall. The move would sidestep Congress if he doesn't get money for his border wall. During his press conference, Trump acknowledged that he was considering using national emergency powers to get the wall built "for the security of our country." He likened it to "the military version of eminent domain," which is not a real thing. [This story is developing…] (ABC News / Washington Post / NBC News)

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-declaring-national-emergency-secure-wall-funding-sources/story?id=60164759

3/ Trump threatened to keep the government partially shutdown for "months or even years" following what Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi described as a "lengthy" and "sometimes contentious" meeting at the White House. Trump, however, characterized it as a "very, very productive meeting," during a Rose Garden press conference. "I think we've come a long way" as he defended the shutdown, adding: "I'm very proud of doing what I'm doing. I don't call it a shutdown. I call it doing what you have to do." The shutdown, which entered its 14th day, has left about 800,000 workers without pay, limited several federal agencies, and slowed the court system. (New York Times / Washington Post)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/pence-urges-gop-lawmakers-to-stand-with-trump-in-shutdown-fight/2019/01/04/99519d06-103f-11e9-84fc-d58c33d6c8c7_story.html

4/ Hundreds of senior Trump administration officials are scheduled to receive a $10,000 raise tomorrow as some 800,000 federal employees are currently unpaid due to the partial government shutdown. (Washington Post / CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/04/politics/mike-pence-pay-raise-shutdown/index.html

5/ Shortly after being sworn in, freshman Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib told supporters: "We're gonna go in there and we're going to impeach the motherfucker." House Democratic leaders immediately tried to quell the impeachment talk, saying they should wait for Robert Mueller to file a report on his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign. Republicans, meanwhile, seized on the comments, saying it's proof that Democrats are playing politics rather than pursuing oversight. Trump responded to Tlaib's call for impeachment, saying: "You can't impeach somebody who's doing a great job." (Politico / The Guardian / CNN / CNBC / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal)

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/04/dems-livid-tlaib-impeachment-comment-1081370

Robert Mueller's federal grand jury has been extended by six months. (CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/04/politics/mueller-grand-jury/index.html

Notables.
House Democrats unveiled an ethics reform package that would put new checks on the White House and require Trump to release his tax returns. The legislation is unlikely to be approved by the GOP-held Senate. (Politico / Vox)

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/04/house-democrats-bill-trump-tax-returns-1081412

A watchdog group accused Ivanka Trump of violating a conflict of interest law by participating in the implementation of "opportunity zones," a program that gives tax breaks for investing in economically distressed communities. (CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/04/politics/crew-ivanka-trump-opportunity-zones/index.html

U.S. employers added 312,000 jobs in December. The unemployment rate went up to 3.9 percent, and the average hourly pay rose by 3.2 percent from a year ago and 0.4 percent since the previous month. The slight uptick in the unemployment rate is seen as an increase in job seekers, a positive signal. (Associated Press / CNBC)

https://apnews.com/f3925762c6f845dfab936b45c28b4176

Trump blamed the recent stock market sell-off on the fact that the Democrats took control of the House. In October, Trump blamed Democrats for market turbulence. He has also blamed the Federal Reserve or a "glitch" for recent troubles with the stock market, while claiming credit when stocks are up. (CNBC)

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/04/trump-blames-democrat-takeover-of-the-house-for-market-sell-off-but-says-things-will-settle-down.html

A bipartisan pair of Senate lawmakers proposed legislation forcing the Trump administration to take a stronger stance against China. The proposed measure would establish an Office of Critical Technologies & Security at the White House to coordinate efforts and develop strategies to combat state-sponsored technology theft. (Politico)

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/04/bipartisan-bill-trump-approach-china-1060974

House Democrats filed a motion to intervene in a federal court case in Texas that poses a threat to the Affordable Care Act. A Texas judge ruled last month that the ACA is unconstitutional without the individual mandate, which Congress effectively eliminated by reducing the penalty to $0, which started this year. Since the Trump administration is not defending the ACA, a coalition of Democratic states is appealing the judge's ruling. The move to intervene is largely symbolic, however, and critics say lawmakers would be better off simply passing new legislation to address the issues in the lawsuit. (CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/04/politics/house-democrats-obamacare-defense/index.html

The American man held on espionage charges in Moscow also has British, Canadian and Irish citizenship. Russia arrested Paul Whelan on Dec. 28th, and charged him with espionage. [Editor's note: Not in itself very newsworthy, but I wanted to pin this in the event Whelan turns out to be a player.](Washington Post / New York Times / Wall Street Journal)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/four-countries-now-have-links-to-american-detained-in-russia-as-international-spillover-widens/2019/01/04/25d93b2e-1029-11e9-8f0c-6f878a26288a_story.html

A federal appeals court sided with the Trump administration on a policy of restricting military service by transgender people. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturned a decision by a federal judge in Washington D.C. that blocked the policy, saying it probably violates the constitutional rights of transgender recruits and service members. (The Guardian/ Huff Post)

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/appeals-court-sides-with-trump-in-transgender-military-case_us_5c2f7a84e4b0407e908afaaf

Edited by sgamer82 on Jan 4th 2019 at 7:11:08 AM

MrHellboy The Shadow from A world of my own Since: Dec, 2017 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
The Shadow
#265703: Jan 4th 2019 at 6:31:38 PM

[up][up] Yeah, I'm pretty sure I got flamed for doing that last time. Can we not?

The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.
Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#265704: Jan 4th 2019 at 6:40:09 PM

[up]X3 You're doomsaying, there's nothing in the US national emergency rules that allows for the cancelling of elections.

The US government can't cancel elections without a constitutional amendment, that's why Lincoln had to stand for re-election during the Civil War, because even with a very real state of emergency (that allowed him to get away with suspending habeas corpus) Lincoln couldn't cancel the election.

Edited by Silasw on Jan 4th 2019 at 2:40:40 PM

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#265705: Jan 4th 2019 at 6:40:21 PM

The national emergency is so he can embezzle money from the military.

That's a bit different than a coup detat.

I am really confused at why Trump scares people more than George W. Bush who started multiple wars that killed massive numbers of Americans, shredded the constitution, legalized torture, and was elected twice (once by fraud).

Trump's main actions in office being firing everyone who can do their job properly and replacing them with people who hate the environment and truth.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Jan 4th 2019 at 6:42:12 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
RainehDaze Nero Fangirl (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Nero Fangirl
#265706: Jan 4th 2019 at 6:48:27 PM

Trump's main actions in office being firing everyone who can do their job properly and replacing them with people who hate the environment and truth.

You answered your own question. That and the naked incompetence and utter spiteful malice the GOP now runs on being an overall much worse combination.

The number of casualties in W's wars are, comparatively, tiny.

Ingonyama Since: Jan, 2001
#265707: Jan 4th 2019 at 7:16:37 PM

[up][up][up]If nothing in the national emergency rules allow for that (or the other thing I mentioned), then why were people two or three pages back so worried about him doing this, and saying it made him a dictator? What can he do under those rules that is so worrisome, or what could he further get away with if he were allowed to invoke it?

The national emergency is so he can embezzle money from the military.

Wonder if this could actually turn more people in the military against him, then...

Edited by Ingonyama on Jan 4th 2019 at 7:18:43 AM

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#265708: Jan 4th 2019 at 7:18:07 PM

I consider the damage done by Trump miniscule compared to the literal hundreds of thousands of deaths caused by the War on Terror's incompetent handling.

But its harder to measure the long term effects of Trump who I do think of as primarily a buffoon pushing buttons.

If nothing in the national emergency rules allow for that (or the other thing I mentioned), then why were people on the previous page so worried about him doing this, and saying it made him a dictator? What can he do under those rules that is so worrisome, or what could he further get away with if he were allowed to invoke it?

Trump has an amazing ability to Loophole Abuse what the Bush and (sadly) Obama administration expanded in terms of Executive Power.

It's not that he's going to be a dictator, it's that he keeps finding ways of wrecking things worse.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Jan 4th 2019 at 7:19:37 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#265709: Jan 4th 2019 at 7:19:59 PM

[up][up] I think part of it may be less what Trump is doing himself and what he's potentially setting precedent for. He's trying to do an end-run around Congress and the GOP in Congress may well let him.

archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#265710: Jan 4th 2019 at 7:25:40 PM

It’s interesting that he’s identified the MILCON fund as a way to get his wall. I wonder if he knows that any anti-personnel obstacles emplaced with money from that fund would be taken back up again at the end of the state of emergency?

They should have sent a poet.
RainehDaze Nero Fangirl (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Nero Fangirl
#265711: Jan 4th 2019 at 7:30:01 PM

I consider the damage done by Trump miniscule compared to the literal hundreds of thousands of deaths caused by the War on Terror's incompetent handling.

Hundreds of thousands? I thought you were talking about American deaths and not shifting to the overall casualty count, which isn't something that can be entirely pinned on W.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#265712: Jan 4th 2019 at 7:39:49 PM

I generally think of the entire Middle Eastern destabilization as on Bush's fault since it wouldn't have happened without the Iraq War.

But my bad, I should mean American deaths alone.

Withdrawn.

4400 KIA and 40K wounded

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Jan 4th 2019 at 7:40:12 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#265713: Jan 4th 2019 at 7:42:21 PM

I generally think of the entire Middle Eastern destabilization as on Bush's fault

The Middle East was destabilized long before GW ever got there. He was just the latest in a long string of failures.

They should have sent a poet.
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#265714: Jan 4th 2019 at 7:46:51 PM

There are a lot of conflicted feelings floating around America about the War on Terror. Partly because we didn't throw the first punch, 9/11 did, so some people feel like we were justified in at least starting it.

Partly because the important targets we hit are pretty shitty people that needed to be hit; like, Saddam didn't have the weapons of mass destruction, but he was still a f*cking monster that few people feel remorse for having removed from power. I don't think anyone shed a tear for Bin Laden when Seal Team Six finally got him.

And there's just the fact that it happened halfway across the world, so a lot of the atrocities just aren't very well known. Depending on which side of the political spectrum you fall on, most people think of the War on Terror as "That awesome campaign to take down evil terrorists that need to be got" or "That expensive and wasteful campaign to take down evil terrorists that need to be got."

The reality is a lot more complicated than that and a lot of innocent people have been killed in the crossfire, but even with the Iraq War's well-earned terrible reputation, most people do agree that groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS are legitimately bad guys that someone needs to do something about, even while disagreeing with what we were doing.

By contrast, Trump's picking on much more defensible targets. ICE firing canisters of tear gas at desperate refugees just feels more heinously evil on a kneejerk level than military drones gunning for terrorists and "accidentally" hitting a couple people in the crossfire. George W. cemented his legacy as an incompetent idiot, while Trump's legacy is pretty strongly set as a malicious idiot.

Trump may end his Presidency having never reached the sheer heights of human atrocity that George W. did, but he'll also end it having tried harder to do so.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Jan 4th 2019 at 8:49:10 AM

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
RainehDaze Nero Fangirl (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Nero Fangirl
#265715: Jan 4th 2019 at 8:20:14 PM

Also, Bush doesn't have an aura of wanting to strangle him after less than a minute in his presence.

Everything about Trump is irritating.

Ingonyama Since: Jan, 2001
#265716: Jan 4th 2019 at 8:22:46 PM

What the President Could Do If He Declares a State of Emergency.

So a lot of the powers have never been used. A lot of them are downright terrifying in their implications if they were. Some which were used were contested in court, but only once were they actually repudiated (vs. Truman).

The good news is that if Putin's Puppet tried any of the really worrisome ones, it would almost certainly result in multiple lawsuits. The bad news is the Supreme Court could rule in his favor, barring Roberts realizing the danger to the country as well as his legacy. The other good news is that the Democratic House could review the emergency power statutes to remove obsolete ones, alter others to be constitutional, and generally delineate what can and cannot be done with them, though I think the Senate also has to weigh in as does the president, in which case the only way to get such things passed is with a 2/3 veto override.

So it seems the basic response needs to be to pressure our reps in the House to look into reviewing this, and making sure both they and legal groups like the ACLU are ready to act. In the latter case, the court proceedings themselves would slow down whatever the occupier was trying to do.

raziel365 Anka Aquila from South of the Far West (Veteran) Relationship Status: I've been dreaming of True Love's Kiss
Anka Aquila
#265717: Jan 4th 2019 at 8:25:09 PM

@ Tobias

The problem is, 9/11 is the end result of a long process that started ever since the Treaty of Versailles and, to be more specific, the Treaty of Sykes-Picot. I remember reading that the USA made fake promises to the countries of the Middle East about their independence, only to turn its back once the talks in Europe were done. Aside from that, there's the intervention in the region during the Cold War, such as the implantation of the Shah in Iran or the support given to the Talibans during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; then there's Israel, which is its own can of worms.

Instead of focusing on relatives that divide us, we should find the absolutes that tie us.
archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#265718: Jan 4th 2019 at 8:27:17 PM

[up][up][up] I always point out that GW reminded Americans not to lash out at Muslims immediately after 9/11. That would be career suicide for any modern Republican, if a major terrorist attack like 9/11 happened today Trump would be on the steps of the capitol tomorrow asking Americans to please lash out at Muslims as much as possible.

[up][up] Good lord, I expected better from The Atlantic. What panicky nonsense.

Edited by archonspeaks on Jan 4th 2019 at 8:31:02 AM

They should have sent a poet.
unknowing from somewhere.. Since: Mar, 2014
#265719: Jan 4th 2019 at 8:33:01 PM

Also, Trump is a symptone of what Bush did.

Pople got so sick of Bush, is neocon buddys and the fundamentalist bullshit that some people elect Obama to bring changes to that, then Obama have to do a lot of things in order to get on that, like being more gun shy, "apologizing" and trying to not be a imperalist dick.....which piss some people which let to Trump as reaction to that.

And the GOP no only didnt learn anything about it, it pretend it didnt happen.

"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#265720: Jan 4th 2019 at 8:37:51 PM

Who would have thought making people work without pay would cause problems?

Hundreds of Transportation Security Administration officers, who are required to work without paychecks through the partial government shutdown, have called out from work this week from at least four major airports, according to two senior agency officials and three TSA employee union officials.

The mass call outs could inevitably mean air travel is less secure, especially as the shutdown enters its second week with no clear end to the political stalemate in sight.

"This will definitely affect the flying public who we (are) sworn to protect," Hydrick Thomas, president of the national TSA employee union, told CNN.

TSA spokesman Michael Bilello said the agency is "closely monitoring the situation" and that "screening wait times remain well within TSA standards," although that could change if the number of call outs increases.

At New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, as many as 170 TSA employees have called out each day this week, Thomas tells CNN. Officers from a morning shift were required to work extra hours to cover the gaps.

Call outs have increased by 200%-300% at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, where typically 25 to 30 TSA employees call out from an average shift according to a local TSA official familiar with the situation.

Union officials stress that the absences are not part of an organized action, but believe the number of people calling out will likely increase.

Hope none of you have to travel any time soon.

Imagine what would happen if they actually coordinated a big protest.

Edited by megaeliz on Jan 4th 2019 at 11:48:51 AM

PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#265721: Jan 4th 2019 at 8:43:34 PM

I'm genuinely wondering if this presidency is going to make people more dependent on trains for travel within the country.

...probably not.

i'm tired, my friend
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#265722: Jan 4th 2019 at 8:46:10 PM

[up]. And right during the NFL playoffs too.

His base will love that.

Edited by megaeliz on Jan 4th 2019 at 11:46:34 AM

Imca (Veteran)
#265723: Jan 4th 2019 at 8:51:06 PM

TBH Not much at all, the TSA is all security theater that engages in "Random" screenings to make the rest of the public feel better.

Adam did a video about them

Them being gone over this is a plus, not a problem.

Edited by Imca on Jan 4th 2019 at 8:51:22 AM

Steven (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
#265724: Jan 4th 2019 at 8:55:41 PM

A lot of parks are also negatively affected. They're so understaffed from the shutdown that people are dumping their garbage everywhere and literally taking a shit there as well.

Remember, these idiots drive, fuck, and vote. Not always in that order.
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#265725: Jan 4th 2019 at 8:55:50 PM

[up][up] people are not getting paid for work they are doing. That’s a problem in itself. If this goes on, it wil also start to affect waits and lines at airports.

[up]. Yes.

Edited by megaeliz on Jan 4th 2019 at 11:56:29 AM


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