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

kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#271551: Feb 15th 2019 at 4:10:10 PM

[up][up]"National Emergency! We're building a new Margo Largo! Make it happen, people!"

Huh. Talk about a pagetopper.

Edited by kkhohoho on Feb 15th 2019 at 6:10:36 AM

BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#271552: Feb 15th 2019 at 4:11:45 PM

Doesn't Scotland generally hate him? [lol]

Do not obey in advance.
Deadbeatloser22 from Disappeared by Space Magic (Great Old One) Relationship Status: Tsundere'ing
#271553: Feb 15th 2019 at 4:16:32 PM

Start with when he was convinced that Scotland as a nation voted to leave the EU (just about every Scottish constituency returned a Remain result) and work backwards through the time he objected to a major wind farm because it would ruin the view from said golf course.

"Yup. That tasted purple."
RainehDaze Nero Fangirl (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Nero Fangirl
#271554: Feb 15th 2019 at 4:26:35 PM

Or said golf course causing environmental damage.

Protagonist506 from Oregon Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#271555: Feb 15th 2019 at 4:40:36 PM

@Charles Phipps: Strangely, I suspect he might actually be trying to be the political equivalent of a wrestling heel. Most politicians use deliberately vague statements to get people to agree; Trump uses vague statements to get people to argue. Likely an invocation of no such thing as bad publicity.

Leviticus 19:34
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#271556: Feb 15th 2019 at 4:41:37 PM

Famously, Trump was offended by the sight of low (by comparison to him) income housing on the edges of his golf course in Scotland. He wanted them to invoke Eminent Domain on them to get rid of them despite, at least in that area, that didn't exist.

So guess what?

He built a wall around the golf course!

And it was beautiful....to no one.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
RainehDaze Nero Fangirl (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Nero Fangirl
#271557: Feb 15th 2019 at 5:22:19 PM

Compulsory purchase is a thing in the UK, but it's not likely to be used for anything like that.

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#271558: Feb 15th 2019 at 5:23:51 PM

https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2019/02/15/day-757/

    Day 757: Didn't need to do this 
1/ Trump declared a national emergency at the border to circumvent Congress and fund his border wall with money lawmakers refused to give him, saying "I didn't need to do this," but "I just want to get it done faster, that's all." In a Rose Garden news conference, Trump said he would sign the declaration to divert $3.6 billion from military construction projects to his border wall and then use presidential budgetary discretion to redirect $2.5 billion from counternarcotics programs and another $600 million from a Treasury Department asset forfeiture fund. Between the $1.375 billion authorized for fencing in a spending package passed by Congress, and the roughly $6.5 billion in funding from executive action, Trump is will have about $8 billion to construct or repair as many as 234 miles of a border barrier – significantly more than the $5.7 billion that Congress refused to give him. Following the news conference, Trump signed the spending legislation. (New York Times / The Guardian / Politico / Washington Post / NBC News / ABC News)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/15/national-emergency-border-wall-trump-latest-news

Capitol Police pushed and physically blocked reporters from talking with Senators headed to vote on the spending package last night, despite some lawmakers willing to engage with the press. (Roll Call)

https://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/capitol-police-crackdown-press-escalates-physical-altercation

The White House announced the national emergency by tweet using the iPhone Notes app. (Buzz Feed News)

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/notes-app-national-emergency-trump-sanders-white-house

Trump's national emergency press conference, annotated. (Washington Post)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/02/15/trumps-bewildering-national-emergency-press-conference-annotated/

Trump's bizarre, rambling national emergency announcement distracted from what the president actually did. (The Atlantic)

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/02/trump-emergency-declaration/582904/

In November 2014, Trump called taking executive action on immigration dangerous, unconstitutional, and impeachable. (CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/14/politics/kfile-trump-immigration-executive-action-2014/index.html

2/ The Justice Department warned the White House that a national emergency declaration is nearly certain to be blocked by the courts, which would prevent the immediate implementation of Trump's plan to circumvent Congress and build the wall using his executives powers. (ABC News)

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/national-emergency-blocked-courts-temporarily-doj-warns-white/story?id=61086962

The ACLU plans to file suit challenging Trump's national emergency declaration, arguing his attempt to evade congressional funding restrictions is "patently illegal." (Axios)

https://www.axios.com/aclu-lawsuit-trump-national-emergency-borre-e916dd5e-ee1c-4c77-b3d7-44b46da46d8e.html

3/ House Democrats plan to pass a joint resolution disapproving of Trump's emergency declaration, which would force Senate Republicans to take a public position. By law, if one chamber passes a resolution, the other one must bring it up for a vote within 18 days. While Republicans hold a 53-to-47 advantage, the resolution would only need a simple majority to pass. A White House aide indicated that Trump would "absolutely veto" any congressional efforts to interfere with his plan to declare a national emergency to secure funding for his border wall. (Washington Post / New York Times / NBC News / Politico)

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-plans-veto-any-hill-interference-emergency-border-declaration-say-n971996

4/ The Supreme Court agreed to decide whether the Trump administration can add a question about citizenship to the 2020 Census. A federal judge last month stopped the Commerce Department from adding the question, questioning the motives of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who claimed he ordered the question to be added in response to a December 2017 request from the Justice Department, which said that data about citizenship would help it enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Judge Jesse Furman of the United States District Court in Manhattan issued an opinion saying that "promoting enforcement" of the Voting Rights Act "was not his real reason for the decision." The court is scheduled to hear arguments in April so that it can issue a decision before census forms are printed in June. (Washington Post / New York Times)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-takes-up-trump-administrations-plan-to-ask-about-citizenship-in-census/2019/02/15/1e0ce8e8-3138-11e9-8ad3-9a5b113ecd3c_story.html

5/ Robert Mueller's team interviewed Sarah Huckabee Sanders in early fall of 2018 – around the time that Trump's former Chief of Staff John Kelly was questioned by Mueller's team. (CNN / CNBC)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/15/politics/sarah-sanders-robert-mueller/index.html

Maria Butina, a self-confessed Russian agent, "manipulated" a Russian spy agency when arranging the NRA's trip to Moscow, according to her boyfriend, Paul Erickson. In a Nov. 25, 2015, email sent to then-incoming NRA President Pete Brownell, Erickson wrote that "most of the FSB agents 'assigned' to her want to marry her," which is how she arranged a tour of a Russian arms factory for the NRA delegation. (Daily Beast)

https://www.thedailybeast.com/boyfriends-email-butina-manipulated-russian-spy-agency-for-nra-trip

A federal judge has placed a gag order on Roger Stone and attorneys involved in his criminal case, ordering the Trump associate to "refrain from making statements to the media or in public settings that pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice to this case." (Politico / CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/15/politics/roger-stone-gag-order/index.html

    Notables 
Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro's foreign minister met secretly with the U.S. special envoy in New York, even while the Trump administration continues to publicly back an attempt to overthrow the Maduro government. While in New York, the foreign minister urged Elliot Abrams to come to Venezuela "privately, publicly or secretly." U.S. officials have said they are willing to meet with officials from the current Venezuelan administration, "including Maduro himself, to discuss their exit plans." (Associated Press / Politico)

https://apnews.com/ee79b8c8f3a8497eab4a54741612dec8

The top American general in the Middle East disagreed with Trump's decision to pull troops out of Syria, and warned that the terror group was far from defeated. (CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/15/politics/joseph-votel-troops-syria-intl/index.html

Pro-Israel lobbyists and donors spent more than $22 million on lobbying and campaign contributions during the last election cycle. Those same groups have spent hundreds of millions of dollars through a variety of channels in order to influence American politics and elections in recent decades. The Guardian investigation found that the pro-Israel lobby is "highly active and spends heavily to influence US policy," but not as heavily as some U.S. business sectors. "I haven’t observed many other countries that have a comparable level of activity, at least in domestic lobbying data," said a senior researcher at the Center for Responsive Politics. The Guardian started examining the data after Muslim Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar claimed pro-Israel lobby money influenced U.S. policy. (The Guardian)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/15/pro-israel-donors-spent-over-22m-on-lobbying-and-contributions-in-2018

Trump claimed that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe nominated him for a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to broker peace between North and South Korea. The Japanese have not announced Trump's nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize. (Politico / Washington Post)

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/15/trump-shinzo-abe-nobel-peace-prize-1171831

At least 10 Trump judicial nominees in the past year have refused to endorse Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 ruling that abolished school segregation. (Mother Jones)

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/02/trump-judicial-nominees-are-refusing-to-endorse-brown-v-board-of-education/

DeathorCake Since: Mar, 2016
#271559: Feb 15th 2019 at 5:37:27 PM

[up][up]

To be fair Parliament doesn't technically have that right explicitly IIRC despite granting it to several other institutions, but they could just pass an Act saying "That's ours now, fuck you". As in fact they once did, to expropriate hospitals to form the NHS. This is obviously irrelevant in the Trump case since they'd never bother and I believe outright expropriation without compensation is outlawed under EU proportionality rules nowadays, as well as Article 17 in the EU charter of fundamental rights. I find declaring intellectual property a "fundamental right" slightly grandiose, but there you go.

Edited by DeathorCake on Feb 15th 2019 at 1:40:24 PM

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#271560: Feb 15th 2019 at 6:02:12 PM

Notably, Trump attempted to bribe a huge number of people in a way that he claims was totally not a bribe.

But that isn't even remotely surprising at this point.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
tclittle Professional Forum Ninja from Somewhere Down in Texas Since: Apr, 2010
Professional Forum Ninja
#271561: Feb 15th 2019 at 6:32:21 PM

Cross-posted from the Venezuela thread: in an interview with the Associated Press, Nicolas Maduro claimed his foreign minister recently secretly met the US special envoy in New York and invited them to Venezuela for talks.

"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."
Spinosegnosaurus77 Ramen Fairy from Ontario, Canada Since: May, 2011 Relationship Status: All I Want for Christmas is a Girlfriend
ITNW1989 a from Big Meat, USA Since: Nov, 2012 Relationship Status: GAR for Archer
a
#271563: Feb 15th 2019 at 7:01:55 PM

If California is leading this, I wouldn't be surprised if and when Washington State, Oregon and New York shortly follow suit.

Hitokiri in the streets, daishouri in the sheets.
DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#271564: Feb 15th 2019 at 7:04:13 PM

And, ironically, most of the border states.

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#271565: Feb 15th 2019 at 8:03:37 PM

There was a workplace shooting in Aurora, Illinois yesterday. 5 dead, and 5 police wounded, the lone shooter was shot dead. Early assessments suggest it was a workplace shooting, with the suspect being an employee.

https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/02/15/us/illinois-active-shooter-report/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F

Edited by Rationalinsanity on Feb 15th 2019 at 12:06:10 PM

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Spinosegnosaurus77 Ramen Fairy from Ontario, Canada Since: May, 2011 Relationship Status: All I Want for Christmas is a Girlfriend
Steven (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
#271568: Feb 15th 2019 at 9:06:05 PM

You sure you want his to be peaceful?

Remember, these idiots drive, fuck, and vote. Not always in that order.
PushoverMediaCritic I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out. from the Italy of America Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out.
#271569: Feb 15th 2019 at 9:29:33 PM

Rest In Pollution

RainehDaze Nero Fangirl (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Nero Fangirl
#271570: Feb 15th 2019 at 9:35:18 PM

Oh, it's better. He's got another sentencing coming up in March, and he broke the plea deal so he'd need to serve them consecutively.

AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#271571: Feb 15th 2019 at 9:53:43 PM

[up][up]Well, the restless dead have a way of screwing over the still living, so peaceful is probably for the best.

MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#271572: Feb 15th 2019 at 10:03:25 PM

[up] Not if they're locked up in Hell... and I mean one that isn't a Cardboard Prison, like so many works of fiction portray it as to justify The Legions of Hell escaping from it.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#271573: Feb 15th 2019 at 10:30:50 PM

Why did he violate his plea deal, again?

Do not obey in advance.
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#271574: Feb 15th 2019 at 10:34:26 PM

Without mentioning any disorders, Manafort and Stone have both proven to ACT like narcissists and pathological liars. Manafort had a cushy prison with its own gym and privileges but he violated his conditions that got him bumped down to a general cell. He fished for a pardon from Trump, got crickets chirping, and then turned to get a deal from Mueller.

Then he tried to intimidate witnesses and contact Trump with the threat of Mueller to get a pardon/intervention.

And Mueller found out...

The short version is Manafort is so USED to breaking the law that he can't stop.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Feb 15th 2019 at 10:34:38 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#271575: Feb 15th 2019 at 10:47:21 PM

@Beary, he might be holding out for a pardon from Trump.

Ya know, maybe this is just me, but I sure wouldn't gamble spending the rest of my life in prison on Donald Trump's gratitude.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.

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