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Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#170776: Jan 29th 2017 at 2:11:49 PM

Most/all mental disorders are on a spectrum, and plenty of people with personality disorders are functional day to day.

[up]Man, to be a fly in the West Wing right now...

edited 29th Jan '17 2:13:29 PM by Rationalinsanity

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
HextarVigar That guy from The Big House Since: Feb, 2015
That guy
#170777: Jan 29th 2017 at 2:15:33 PM

Well, it's easy enough to say "He's bonkers!" when he's doing something you don't like.

I'm not saying he isn't, it's just that's the standard go-to.

edited 29th Jan '17 2:15:47 PM by HextarVigar

Your momma's so dumb she thinks oral sex means talking dirty.
MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#170778: Jan 29th 2017 at 2:15:54 PM

[up][up]I want to be in the room where it happens~

edited 29th Jan '17 2:16:08 PM by MadSkillz

TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#170779: Jan 29th 2017 at 2:17:12 PM

Check Cheeto's personal twitter. He's accusing Lindsey Graham and John Mc Cain of trying to start World War III

uh....

Yeah.

New Survey coming this weekend!
Balmung Since: Oct, 2011
#170780: Jan 29th 2017 at 2:17:44 PM

Re: Ben Sasse opposing Trump on the Muslim Ban - I don't know if it's because he particularly cares about the issue or just because he really does not like Trump. As I recall, something of a stink was raised over his refusal to endorse the orange demagogue (he couldn't bring himself to support Hillary either, and eventually wrote Pence in when he voted), so his opposition might just be because he never really fell in line (even though I suspected he had).

I doubt he can be turned to blue, but he can likely be swayed to vote against what Trump wants.

LinkToTheFuture A real bad hombre from somewhere completely different Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: What's love got to do with it?
A real bad hombre
#170781: Jan 29th 2017 at 2:18:05 PM

I wonder what the Poland Line would be in this case, i.e what would Trump have to do for the world (and possibly the American populace too) to finally and decisively turn against him.

Unrelated, but I'm worried as to what his policy towards Canada might be.

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." -Thomas Edison
JBC31187 Since: Jan, 2015
#170782: Jan 29th 2017 at 2:21:14 PM

That's the problem with the roguePOTUS twitter: it's just so plausible. I mean, Trump's biographers were stepping up and saying he was too self-absorbed and lazy to handle the presidency. You can see the pattern looking back at his many failed businesses. Trump is hands-off, except when he's not. Then he's got his little fingers in everyone's business, trying to prove himself. He's the worst of all worlds: both lazy and a micromanager, and completely ignorant to boot.

TerminusEst from the Land of Winter and Stars Since: Feb, 2010
#170783: Jan 29th 2017 at 2:26:30 PM

Steve Bannon's longtime suspicion of successful immigrants is the key to this weekend's chaos

Shortly after President Trump issued his sweeping immigration order Friday evening, questions began to arise about its scope. It clearly suspended the refugee program, and blocked new immigration from residents of seven majority-Muslim countries. But it slowly became clear that it went even further than that.

As agencies confirmed Saturday, the ban on entry into the US also applied to existing US lawful permanent residents from those seven countries — Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. So as many as 500,000 green card holders, many of whom have lived and worked in the US for years, suddenly learned that if they travel outside the country they may not be allowed back in (the White House says they’ll be considered only on a case-by-case basis). Some were in transit when the order was issued and detained at airports across the country upon arrival.

According to CNN’s Evan Perez and Pamela Brown, this shockingly broad move was the brainchild of White House chief strategist Steve Bannon. Remarkably, they report that when the order was released Friday, the Department of Homeland Security concluded that it wouldn’t affect green card holders. But “overnight,” this decision was overruled by the White House, with Bannon’s personal involvement. (White House chief of staff Reince Priebus may have walked this back somewhat during a television appearance Sunday, but it’s not entirely clear.)

While refugees are facing more imminent peril and fleeing more desperate situations, in its own way the green card move is immensely worrying too. Because here, Trump was not just preventing new people from coming — he’s changing the rules for people who are already here legally. He is sending the message loud and clear that the United States is no longer a welcoming place for foreign-born people who have lived and worked here for years. Even conservatives sympathetic with Trump’s refugee restrictions were flabbergasted that he applied them to green card holders, with David French of National Review calling it “madness.”

But for those who have followed Bannon’s career and statements over the years, this is no surprise at all. Bannon infamously bragged that his website Breitbart was “the platform” for the racist alt-right movement, and regularly featured lurid tales of crimes committed by immigrants. He’s said the US needs to “take a very, very, very aggressive stance against radical Islam.”

And once, he made clear that he is not particularly enthusiastic even about immigrants who are peaceful, successful, and economically productive.

In November 2015, Steve Bannon interviewed Donald Trump for a Breitbart radio program. One particular part of their exchange was resurfaced and made the rounds late last year, but deserves more attention in the wake of this executive order.

The exchange (which begins around the 17 minute mark here) starts with Trump riffing about how top foreign-born Ivy league graduates should be allowed to stay in America where they can be “job creators.” But then Bannon spoke up to disagree, and he did so in a very revealing way:

TRUMP: We have to keep our talented people in this country.

BANNON: Um—

TRUMP: I think you agree with that. Do you agree with that?

BANNON: Well I got a tougher — you know, when two thirds or three quarters of the CE Os in Silicon Valley are from South Asia or from Asia, I think — on, my point is, a country’s more like, [inaudible], a country’s more than an economy. We’re a civic society.

Bannon’s “statistic” that over two-thirds of Silicon Valley CE Os are Asian-born isn’t even close to being true, since only a small minority are. But the bigger takeaway is that Bannon was disturbed enough by this mistaken idea to bring it up. He was evidently trying to choose his words carefully, but he made it crystal clear that he was disturbed by the (fictional) idea of all these Asian-born CE Os running around in America.

Once you keep those views in mind, the method behind the “madness” of the Trump administration’s treatment of green card holders becomes clear. Most Republicans generally profess to love legal immigration. They say they are only concerned with the illegal variety (and Trump himself has said the same).

But some of the people around Trump, like Bannon, top White House policy aide Stephen Miller, and attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions, go much further. They want to privilege native-born Americans over even the most entrepreneurial and industrious (and legal) immigrants.

Trump’s new order has blocked Samira Asgari, a 30-year old Iranian woman who was on her way to the US to start a postdoctoral fellowship in genomics at a Harvard-affiliated hospital, from boarding her connecting flight in Frankfurt. It has prevented Nazanin Zinouri, a Clemson engineering graduate of Iranian descent who’d lived in the US for seven years and legally worked at a technology firm, from returning from a trip to visit her parents. It has resulted in Suha Abushamma, a doctor at the Cleveland Clinic with a Sudanese passport, being forced to leave the country.

All this isn’t a bug to Steve Bannon. It’s a feature. As his comments make clear, he doesn’t like it when immigrants are too successful in America. And because he won an internal battle in the Trump administration, US government policy could turn the lives of up to 500,000 green card holders upside down.

Journalist Josh Green, who wrote the definitive pre-White House profile of Bannon, tweeted Saturday night that he asked a friend of Bannon’s to explain what he was thinking with the immigration order. The friend replied: "America first. Americans first.” Indeed.

Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkele
Grafite Since: Apr, 2016 Relationship Status: Less than three
#170784: Jan 29th 2017 at 2:26:55 PM

[up][up] But the fact that (s)he somehow is overhearing every reunion between the POTUS and the "Unholy Trinity" as they call it, without anyone noticing, definitely isn't. Probably just someone telling all the left-wingers what they want to hear.

I'm sure Pence is happy with the position he currently is in, and never dreamed it would be possible.

edited 29th Jan '17 2:27:18 PM by Grafite

Life is unfair...
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
#170785: Jan 29th 2017 at 2:28:28 PM

CNN are saying that Trump is defending the ban.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
TerminusEst from the Land of Winter and Stars Since: Feb, 2010
#170786: Jan 29th 2017 at 2:32:55 PM

[up][up]

Yeah, I was thinking something on the lines of Operation Trust.

Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkele
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#170787: Jan 29th 2017 at 2:38:09 PM

Yeah, I'm not too sure about that account either. If it were legit, they'd be caught by now.

[down]tongue

edited 29th Jan '17 2:47:12 PM by Rationalinsanity

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
vandro Shop Owner from The little shop that wasn't Since: Jul, 2009
Shop Owner
#170788: Jan 29th 2017 at 2:42:59 PM

If it WERE legit.

Anyhow, I wonder for how long will Bannon hold the regency inside the circus. He seems too obvious with his agenda here..

edited 29th Jan '17 2:50:59 PM by vandro

higherbrainpattern Since: Apr, 2012
#170789: Jan 29th 2017 at 2:47:58 PM

For anyone who's skeptical of those pro-Trump ads airing on TV, I've been seeing a particular pro-Trump airing on CNN yesterday and today on the regular during commercial breaks.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#170790: Jan 29th 2017 at 2:48:12 PM

He serves at Trump's pleasure, so unless he gets charged with a felony only Cheeto can remove him. And Trump seems to trust Bannon more than anyone else.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
LinkToTheFuture A real bad hombre from somewhere completely different Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: What's love got to do with it?
A real bad hombre
#170791: Jan 29th 2017 at 2:48:40 PM

[up][up]Huh. The plot thickens. Did you catch what person or organization is behind the ads?

edited 29th Jan '17 2:49:03 PM by LinkToTheFuture

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." -Thomas Edison
vandro Shop Owner from The little shop that wasn't Since: Jul, 2009
Shop Owner
#170792: Jan 29th 2017 at 2:52:27 PM

I mean, with enough pushback from the inside he might be ousted. Depends on how much capital does this move burn and how quickly.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#170793: Jan 29th 2017 at 2:53:42 PM

Wikipedia article on the executive order. Take note of the

Experts also noted that "there was a random quality" in the selection of countries affected by the order; for example, Saudi Arabia and Egypt were not listed although many jihadist groups were established there, and Pakistan and Afghanistan were also not listed despite longstanding histories of extremism in those countries.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#170794: Jan 29th 2017 at 2:53:45 PM

At this point, I wonder how much (if any) push people like the VP, COS, etc actually have. Maybe his son-in-law could turn on Bannon, Trump trusts him.

edited 29th Jan '17 3:41:57 PM by Rationalinsanity

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#170795: Jan 29th 2017 at 3:22:52 PM

But the fact that (s)he somehow is overhearing every reunion between the POTUS and the "Unholy Trinity" as they call it, without anyone noticing, definitely isn't. Probably just someone telling all the left-wingers what they want to hear. I'm sure Pence is happy with the position he currently is in, and never dreamed it would be possible.

It's not one person. It's a group of people that are leaking things to each other or hearing from people who are talking about it during work.

And the news has already shown that Trump's staff is already leaking like crazy for the first week.

CenturyEye Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign? from I don't know where the Yith sent me this time... Since: Jan, 2017 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
#170796: Jan 29th 2017 at 3:24:26 PM

Anyhow, I wonder for how long will Bannon hold the regency inside the circus. He seems too obvious with his agenda here..
Well, the Yezhovshchina lasted a full year; though I'm still trying to figure out whether Trump put a Yezhov or a Heydrich on the National Security Council, or what to look out for of national security starts to become much more specific...

edited 29th Jan '17 3:27:46 PM by CenturyEye

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#170797: Jan 29th 2017 at 3:24:31 PM

Rogue POTUS Staff:

Suspicion that Bannon urging POTUS to egg on protests, then call in National Guard to disperse, as demonstration of power. #resistpeacefully

If this happens soon, I'd say there's a strong chance it's real.

RBluefish Since: Nov, 2013
#170798: Jan 29th 2017 at 3:25:31 PM

Senator Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says Trump should immediately rescind the Muslim ban. Would you look at that, another Republican briefly showing something resembling a soul.

"We'll take the next chance, and the next, until we win, or the chances are spent."
Zendervai Since: Oct, 2009
#170799: Jan 29th 2017 at 3:34:57 PM

Well, considering that this ban is doing quantifiable damage to the tech sector and the academic sector, especially since Canada is now actively trying to attract the people hit by these bans, some people are probably finally realizing how bad this is.

LinkToTheFuture A real bad hombre from somewhere completely different Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: What's love got to do with it?
A real bad hombre
#170800: Jan 29th 2017 at 3:35:42 PM

I feel like we have a conundrum on our hands: how to take back the government and restore sanity without accidentally giving rise to the Herbal Tea Party.

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." -Thomas Edison

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