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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
The Mod with the Migraine
Gallup now has Trump's approval at 45%, tying his highest record (when he entered office). His disapproval is at 50%, a record low. Now, this is only one poll, and the fallout from his international antics and (especially) the immigration detention issue probably isn't being reflected yet. But what is the world supposed to think and do when they see these numbers, hell (God forbid) what do we do if Trump manages to get over 50% despite all of this? At this point we (at least) have to view Republicans, and their voters, as the enemies of our countries.
Perhaps a trade war always create a rally around the flag effect (a small one granted, and probably limited to Republicans and a few Independents), even in the country that unilaterally started it on false and insulting premises. Though a lot of this might be due to North Korea as well.
In better polling news, 538 still has the Dems up about 7% in the generic ballot. Not as high as we'd like of course, but still comfortable and better than it has been.
DHS is doubling down on its child abuse policy BTW.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/18/politics/kirstjen-nielsen-immigration-policy/index.html
edited 18th Jun '18 10:12:54 AM by Rationalinsanity
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.Ann Coulter called the children crying at the border after being separated from parents "child actors." Trump Jr., meanwhile, liked a Breitbart tweet that quoted Coulter, who said the separated children had been "coached" by liberals and "given scripts to read." (The Hill / Newsweek)
http://thehill.com/homenews/media/392774-ann-coulter-calls-immigrant-children-child-actors
Can't get a full dump if today's WTF Just Happened Today feed, but this one jumped out at me
Seriously, if a 3 or 4 year old immigrant kid who's first language isn't even English can be coached to act convincingly and answer questions, I'm pretty sure they can be admitted into the country on merit. It's amazing how utterly divorced from reality Republicans are becoming. I'm hoping it will reach a point where they all spontaneously disappear and ascend (or "descend" more likely) to a different plane of existence.
If The Leftovers happened, except with just Republicans disappearing, it would be pretty great to be honest.
Oh yeah, Somalia has a slightly functioning state again now, so it doesn't work properly as ancap bait. Dammit, guess we have to fall back on getting them to invade Antarctica. We can dress up the stations in the UK territory and lay out a bunch of inflatable tanks as targets Operation Bodyguard style, it'll be great.
The full dump from today's WTF Just Happened Today?
1/ Hundreds of children separated from their parents are waiting inside cages in an old warehouse in south Texas while they wait to be turned over to shelters funded by the Department of Health and Human Services. The cages were described as the the type you'd see at a batting cage or a dog kennel. More than 1,100 people are being held inside facility, which is divided into separate wings for unaccompanied children, adults, and mothers and fathers with children. (Associated Press / NBC News)
https://www.apnews.com/9794de32d39d4c6f89fbefaea3780769
Ann Coulter called the children crying at the border after being separated from parents "child actors." Trump Jr., meanwhile, liked a Breitbart tweet that quoted Coulter, who said the separated children had been "coached" by liberals and "given scripts to read." (The Hill / Newsweek)
http://thehill.com/homenews/media/392774-ann-coulter-calls-immigrant-children-child-actors
2/ Lawmakers from both parties demanded that Trump stop his policy of separating children from their parents at the border. Republican lawmakers, Laura Bush, a conservative newspaper, and a former Trump adviser joined with Democrats in condemning the policy that has removed nearly 2,000 children from their parents over the last six weeks. Melania Trump, meanwhile, placed the blame on "both sides," saying that she "hates to see children separated from their families and hopes both sides of the aisle can finally come together." (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/17/us/politics/melania-trump-family-separation.html
3/ The White House continued to falsely blame Democrats for the Trump administration's policy of separating migrant children from their families. The separations stem from Jeff Sessions' "zero-tolerance" policy announced last month. Via tweet, Trump blamed Democrats for being "weak and ineffective with Boarder Security and Crime" while urging them to agree to immigration legislation and to fund his border wall. Trump added that "the United States will not be a migrant camp… not on my watch." (Washington Post / New York Times / NBC News)
Jeb Bush called on Trump to end the "heartless policy" of separating parents and children who cross the U.S. border illegally, saying "children shouldn't be used as a negotiating tool." (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/18/jeb-bush-trump-child-separations-650883
4/ The United Nations' top human rights official called for the U.S. to immediately stop separating children from their families at the border. Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein condemned the practice as "government-sanctioned child abuse," saying "the thought that any state would seek to deter parents by inflicting such abuse on children is unconscionable." U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley called al-Hussein's statement hypocritical, saying "neither the United Nations nor anyone else will dictate how the United States upholds its borders." (New York Times / The Hill)
5/ Trump warned that the U.S. must avoid Europe's immigration problems, falsely claiming that "crime in Germany is way up." The opposite, however, is true. Germany's crime rate has fallen to its lowest level since 1992. (New York Times / Vox)
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/6/18/17474600/trump-tweet-crime-germany
6/ Peter Strzok said he would be willing to testify without immunity and without invoking the 5th Amendment before the House Judiciary Committee and any other congressional committee. Strzok was removed from Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election for sending anti-Trump texts. Strzok's lawyer said: "He thinks that his position, character and actions have all been misrepresented and caricatured, and he wants an opportunity to remedy that." Trump, meanwhile, tweeted that Strzok was a "sick loser." (Washington Post / CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/17/politics/peter-strzok-house-judiciary-committee-testify/index.html
7/ Roger Stone met with a Russian national during the 2016 campaign who wanted Trump to pay $2 million for the political dirt on Hillary Clinton. Stone failed to disclose the May 2016 meeting with Henry Greenberg, who also goes by the name Henry Oknyansky, to congressional investigators. The meeting was set up by Trump campaign aide Michael Caputo. Stone rejected the offer and soon after Caputo texted Stone asking if anything interesting came of the meeting. Stone replied: "waste of time." Both Stone and Caputo did not disclose the Greenberg meeting during testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Caputo said he failed to disclose the encounter because he had "simply forgotten" about the meeting. Mueller is now investigating the previously undisclosed meeting. (Washington Post / NBC News)
Roger Stone is "not concerned" that he failed to tell Congress about his 2016 meeting with a Russian national offering dirt on Hillary Clinton. "I just didn't remember. 2016 was a pretty busy year," Stone said. "I don't think a failure of memory constitutes a perjury." (ABC News)
poll/ 56% of Americans oppose the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy of separating undocumented children from their parents. 27% of respondents, meanwhile, said they agreed with the policy. (Daily Beast)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/poll-republicans-approve-of-trumps-family-separation-policy
poll/ 54% of Americans believe it's unlikely that Trump's sit-down with North Korea's Kim Jong Un will lead Pyongyang to give up its nuclear arms. 42%, however, believe the meeting lessened the chance of war. (ABC News)
poll/ 57% of Americans site with how Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is handling Trump's personal attack and trade dispute. 37% approve of how Trump is handling the situation. (Globalnews.ca)
https://globalnews.ca/news/4276199/americans-justin-trudeau-trade-spat-donald-trump-poll/
Notables.
The Supreme Court declined to decide two challenges to partisan gerrymandering, allowing controversial district maps to stand and be used in the midterm elections. The justices sidestepped question of whether the the maps are legal. (New York Times / Washington Post / CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/18/politics/supreme-court-gerrymandering-decision/index.html
Trump will sign a space policy directive making it easier for commercial companies to operate in space. The directive also asks NASA to establish new guidelines to avoid the creation of new space debris. (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/18/trump-space-traffic-debris-630189
Trump directed the Department of Defense and the Pentagon to establish a Space Force as the sixth branch of the Armed Forces, saying: "We are going to have the Air Force and we're going to have the Space Force, separate but equal. It is going to be something, so important." (The Verge)
https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/18/17475466/trump-space-force-announcement-national-space-council
The Trump Tower in Chicago has never followed EPA rules for documenting how its use of the Chicago River for cooling water impacts fish. The Trump International Hotel and Tower is one of the largest users of Chicago River water for its cooling systems and is the only one that has failed to comply with the fish-protecting regulations. (Chicago Tribune)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-trump-tower-fish-kill-20180618-story.html
Anyone remember the Trump travel ban? Apparently a couple of former Consulate officials have publically and in court stated that there is no waiver process to get into the country legally.
Full article text
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It is a sad testament to these interesting times that the most interesting things there are the bottom two. On one hand, oh god please don't militarize space, but on the other hand Space Force seems so gloriously cheesy it makes my inner five year old want to break out my old Thunderbirds toys.
What's even left of the EPA at this stage after two years of being beaten on and being ran by a climate change denier?
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Coulter is a genuine fascist, and that is not hyperbole.
I'm seeing reports that a few blue states (Massachusetts and New York from what I can tell) are refusing to send their National Guard units to the border over concerns about detainee treatment/child abuse. Also, I think Colorado is reducing its cooperation with the feds on this file.
edited 18th Jun '18 12:25:16 PM by Rationalinsanity
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects."Japan isn't an autocratic state"
Yes and no, it's not Putinist, but it is 100% one party with some very shady shite that has destroyed democracy.
Things like the LDP engaging in wide scale media supression, labling opposition parties terrorists, indoctinating at a school book level....
There every thing the Republican party wishes they were.
edited 18th Jun '18 12:43:16 PM by Imca
Nah, LDP is too...polite to be the Republican ideal. They want to be Putin. They want to murder journalists. They want to jail people for blasphemy. They want to legalize corruption. They want to use their military, at home and abroad, without regard for the consequences.
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
I guess that is fair.
Still, Abe is not a Putin-style autocrat. You're not going to see Japan's eminently fair legal system used to suppress political dissent - that would require publically admitting that said dissent exists.
I keep wanting to quote this post because for the most part it hits the issue perfectly from the prespecitve of a native....
With one rather big catch, which is why I edited it out of the last post.
This is wrong, they sic the koanchosa cho on any party left of the constitution party (which is already pretty far right), declaring them as terrorists.... including the party of actual pacifists.
There not quite murdered or arrested for there beliefs unlike Putin, but the government does every thing it can to suppress them by observing, and attempting to break up gatherings.
edited 18th Jun '18 12:52:40 PM by Imca
