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

danime91 Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
#246151: Jun 19th 2018 at 2:49:17 PM

Even Trump can't technically control the military, as in he can't order them to whatever he wants whenever he wants. Chain of command and common sense get in the way of that.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#246152: Jun 19th 2018 at 2:49:18 PM

Turkey will be receiving F-35A's; despite Congressional concerns, Ankara's ties with Russia, and Turkey being a shit tier ally to the rest of NATO in general.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/19/politics/turkey-f35-congress-opposition/index.html

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Wariolander Since: Nov, 2017
#246153: Jun 19th 2018 at 2:54:29 PM

Still, what's happened recently is really making me think about going back to Europe for good before we're stopped from leaving the US and/or killed for dissenting. It really doesn't help that my Aunt has a Hispanic boyfriend, and his family live with her and visit us often...

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#246154: Jun 19th 2018 at 2:57:54 PM

What does this even mean?

WITCH HUNT! There was no Russian Collusion. Oh, I see, there was no Russian Collusion, so now they look for obstruction on the no Russian Collusion. The phony Russian Collusion was a made up Hoax. Too bad they didn’t look at Crooked Hillary like this. Double Standard!

Here's the rest of the tweets:

Yesterday:

Why was the FBI giving so much information to the Fake News Media. They are not supposed to be doing that, and knowing the enemy of the people Fake News, they put their own spin on it - truth doesn’t matter to them!

Why was the FBI’s sick loser, Peter Strzok, working on the totally discredited Mueller team of 13 Angry & Conflicted Democrats, when Strzok was giving Crooked Hillary a free pass yet telling his lover, lawyer Lisa Page, that “we’ll stop” Trump from becoming President? Witch Hunt!

The Democrats should get together with their Republican counterparts and work something out on Border Security & Safety. Don’t wait until after the election because you are going to lose!

“The highest level of bias I’ve ever witnessed in any law enforcement officer.” Trey Gowdy on the FBI’s own, Peter Strzok. Also remember that they all worked for Slippery James Comey and that Comey is best friends with Robert Mueller. A really sick deal, isn’t it?

Why don’t the Democrats give us the votes to fix the world’s worst immigration laws? Where is the outcry for the killings and crime being caused by gangs and thugs, including MS-13, coming into our country illegally?

The people of Germany are turning against their leadership as migration is rocking the already tenuous Berlin coalition. Crime in Germany is way up. Big mistake made all over Europe in allowing millions of people in who have so strongly and violently changed their culture!

We don’t want what is happening with immigration in Europe to happen with us!

Children are being used by some of the worst criminals on earth as a means to enter our country. Has anyone been looking at the Crime taking place south of the border. It is historic, with some countries the most dangerous places in the world. Not going to happen in the U.S.

CHANGE THE LAWS!

It is the Democrats fault for being weak and ineffective with Boarder Security and Crime. Tell them to start thinking about the people devastated by Crime coming from illegal immigration. Change the laws!

If President Obama (who got nowhere with North Korea and would have had to go to war with many millions of people being killed) had gotten along with North Korea and made the initial steps toward a deal that I have, the Fake News would have named him a national hero!

If President Obama (who got nowhere with North Korea and would have had to go to war with many millions of people being killed) had gotten along with North Korea and made the initial steps toward a deal that I have, the Fake News would have named him a national hero!

Comey gave Strozk his marching orders. Mueller is Comey’s best friend. Witch Hunt!

Today:

I can’t think of something more concerning than a law enforcement officer suggesting that their going to use their powers to affect an election!” Inspector General Horowitz on what was going on with numerous people regarding my election. A Rigged Witch Hunt!p

Crime in Germany is up 10% plus (officials do not want to report these crimes) since migrants were accepted. Others countries are even worse. Be smart America!

If you don’t have Borders, you don’t have a Country!

Democrats are the problem. They don’t care about crime and want illegal immigrants, no matter how bad they may be, to pour into and infest our Country, like MS-13. They can’t win on their terrible policies, so they view them as potential voters!

We must always arrest people coming into our Country illegally. Of the 12,000 children, 10,000 are being sent by their parents on a very dangerous trip, and only 2000 are with their parents, many of whom have tried to enter our Country illegally on numerous occasions.

#CHANGETHELAWS Now is the best opportunity ever for Congress to change the ridiculous and obsolete laws on immigration. Get it done, always keeping in mind that we must have strong border security.

He's loosing control of the narrative.

I also think something big is going to drop soon.

edited 19th Jun '18 3:01:51 PM by megaeliz

archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#246155: Jun 19th 2018 at 3:07:58 PM

[up]x4 If he ordered them to do something blatantly insane like bomb California you can bet that it wouldn’t happen. “Just following orders” isn’t a defense that flies in the US.

[up]x3 Huge, huge mistake.

They should have sent a poet.
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#246156: Jun 19th 2018 at 3:17:35 PM

https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2018/06/19/day-516/

Day 516: Infestation.

1/ The Trump administration has lost track of nearly 6,000 unaccompanied migrant children — thousands more than the Department of Health and Human Services had previously acknowledged. HHS placed more than 42,497 unaccompanied children with sponsors in fiscal year 2017. Officials tasked with reaching out to sponsors and children to check on their well-being said 14% of calls were not returned – meaning the Trump administration has lost track of 5,949 children. (Mc Clatchy DC)

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article213430099.html

2/ Trump accused Democrats of wanting "illegal immigrants … to pour into and infest our country." Trump also rejected a proposal by Senator Ted Cruz to end family separations, calling the plan to hire thousands of new immigration judges "crazy," suggesting that the judges could be corrupt and the lawyers representing detained immigrants were "bad people." (CNN / Buzz Feed News / New York Times)

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/19/politics/trump-illegal-immigrants-infest/index.html

3/ More than 600 members of Jeff Sessions' church filed a formal complaint accusing him of "child abuse," "immorality," and "racial discrimination" for his "zero-tolerance" immigration policy that has led to children getting separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. (ABC News)

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hundreds-sessions-church-file-formal-complaint-accusing-child/story?id=56003177

A bipartisan group of former U.S. Attorneys called on Jeff Sessions to end the policy of separating families at the border. Like a majority of Americans, "we are appalled that your Zero Tolerance policy has resulted in the unnecessary trauma and suffering of innocent children." (Medium)

https://medium.com/@formerusattorneys/bipartisan-group-of-former-united-states-attorneys-call-on-sessions-to-end-child-detention-e129ae0df0cf

4/ Trump threatened to shut down the government in September if Congress doesn't provide $25 billion for his border wall. Senators are currently willing to send Trump $1.6 billion this fall. If Trump follows through with his threat, a government shutdown would happen weeks before the midterm elections. (Politico)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/19/trump-border-wall-funding-immigration-653530

Trump Jr. has withdrawn from a fundraiser for George P. Bush because of criticism from the Bush family over immigration criticism. Yesterday, Jeb Bush tweeted: "Children shouldn't be used as a negotiating tool. @realDonaldTrump should end this heartless policy and Congress should get an immigration deal done that provides for asylum reform, border security and a path to citizenship for Dreamers." (CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/19/politics/donald-trump-jr-george-p-bush-fundraiser/index.html

5/ The U.S. will withdraw from the United Nations Human Rights Council. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley are scheduled to publicly discuss the decision today. The announcement comes a day after the U.N.'s human rights chief called Trump's policy of separating children from parents crossing the southern border illegally "unconscionable." (Bloomberg / Politico / Reuters)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-un-rights-usa/amid-withdrawal-threat-pompeo-haley-to-speak-about-u-n-human-rights-council-idUSKBN1JF24X

6/ Trump threatened China with another $200 billion in tariffs if Beijing refuses to narrow the trade deficit, which he says has put the U.S. "at a permanent and unfair disadvantage." China's Commerce Ministry accused Trump of initiating a trade war. In total, the Trump administration has threatened to impose tariffs on as much as $450 billion worth of goods. The U.S. imported $505 billion in goods from China last year. (New York Times / Washington Post / CNBC)

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/18/trade-war-watch-china-pledges-it-will-fight-back-firmly-if-trump-publishes-list-of-new-tariffs.html

The Dow fell nearly 300 points after Trump asked for $200 billion worth of Chinese goods for additional tariffs. The index erased all of its gains for the year and was on pace to post a six-day losing streak, its longest since March 2017. (CNBC)

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/19/us-stock-futures-trade-tensions-in-focus-for-investors.html

Notables.

Former CIA engineer Joshua Schulte was indicted on charges that he was responsible for providing classified documents to Wikileaks. Schulte faces a grand jury indictment for handing over a massive trove of U.S. government hacking tools known as "Vault 7" to Wikileaks, the details of which were published by the organization in March 2017. Schulte was already facing child pornography charges in New York. (Politico)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/18/cia-wikileaks-secrets-classified-653264

A foundation established by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and run by his wife is spearheading a real-estate deal backed by the chairman of the oil giant Halliburton, which stands to benefit directly from any decision by the Interior Department to open public lands for oil exploration. Zinke and his wife also own the property next door to the proposed resort. (Politico)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/19/ryan-zinke-halliburton-park-whitefish-montana-647731

The Senate passed a defense budget bill to reinstate penalties against Chinese telecom giant ZTE. The vote is a rebuke of Trump's attempt to make a deal with ZTE. (ABC News)

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/senate-votes-overwhelmingly-reverse-white-house-deal-chinese/story?id=55994166

Erik Prince has "spoken voluntarily to Congress" and has "cooperated with the special counsel" as part of the ongoing investigation into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia during the 2016 election. Prince reportedly met with Trump Jr., George Nader, and Israeli social media specialist Joel Zamel at a secret meeting in the Seychelles during the campaign. He also met with Russian sovereign wealth fund manager Kirill Dmitriev during the transition period to set up a backchannel between the Trump administration and Russia. (Daily Beast)

https://www.thedailybeast.com/erik-prince-i-cooperated-with-mueller

Rudy Giuliani said he was just posturing when he called on Trump to suspend Robert Mueller's investigation. "That's what I'm supposed to do," Giuliani said. "What am I supposed to say? (Politico)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/18/mueller-giuliani-suspend-probe-652939

Trump's 2020 reelection campaign manager called on Trump to fire Jeff Sessions and end Robert Mueller's investigation. "Time to fire Sessions," Brad Parscale said in his tweet. "End the Mueller investigation You can't obstruct something that was phony against you The IG report gives @realDonaldTrump the truth to end it all." (Politico / Washington Post)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/19/brad-parscale-fire-jeff-sessions-654199

John Kelly has given up hope of trying to control Trump and has resigned himself to the possibility of Trump being impeached. The two are reportedly "barely tolerating one another." (Politico / Vox)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/18/nielsen-trump-border-children-family-separation-653265

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#246157: Jun 19th 2018 at 3:20:02 PM

Michael Cohen hired a former federal prosecutor who used to be a high-ranking official in the Manhattan office that is now investigating him. This is Cohen's first smart move in a while, and it will lead to speculation that he will flip soon.

[1]

edited 19th Jun '18 3:24:12 PM by megaeliz

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#246158: Jun 19th 2018 at 3:26:19 PM

I forget, is Cohen charged with State crimes, Federal crimes, or both? I know Mueller's been focusing on state-level to cut off pardons but I'd be surprised if federal crimes weren't included.

Little "What if" that just hit me: Since Pardons are acknowledged by anyone outside Trump's circle as an admission of guilt, could accepting a Federal pardon be used as evidence in related State crimes?

edited 19th Jun '18 3:27:23 PM by sgamer82

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#246159: Jun 19th 2018 at 3:28:45 PM

[up] Both. The one we're talking about here however, is Federal, and is being pursued by the SDNY Federal Attorney's office.

Maybe. I'm not sure if there's a precedent for that though. I know there's a bill in New York that would close a Double Jeopardy loophole about them though.

edited 19th Jun '18 3:32:28 PM by megaeliz

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#246160: Jun 19th 2018 at 3:28:49 PM

He has yet to be charged with anything, but he's under investigation at both levels. Even if you put anything Trump related aside, he's looking at decades in prison for more mundane fraud, etc.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
DeathorCake Since: Mar, 2016
#246161: Jun 19th 2018 at 3:32:01 PM

@sgamer82

I much appreciate these regular news-ticker posts, although the way the important stuff on them have steadily been getting worse and worse reminds me of the better "bad alternate history" stories and Rumsfeldia in particular. Gives things a certain dreadful ambiance in the literal sense.

kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#246162: Jun 19th 2018 at 3:33:52 PM

@Megaliz:

I also think something big is going to drop soon.

What makes you think that?

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#246163: Jun 19th 2018 at 3:37:21 PM

I much appreciate these regular news-ticker posts, although the way the important stuff on them have steadily been getting worse and worse reminds me of the better "bad alternate history" stories and Rumsfeldia in particular. Gives things a certain dreadful ambiance in the literal sense.
Thanks. To be honest I've wondered if posting the WTF dumps isn't overdoing it or being more irritating than useful. Especially since it often repeats something that came up prior

Of all the stories on today's, the one that caught my eye this time was the one about John Kelly. It's mostly about Kirstjen Nielsen and how she's apparently not a full supporter of this situation, whatever she says in public and risks being scapegoated because she was part of the Hurricane Katrina response. The bit about Kelly is only a small detail at the end of the article.

But Kelly’s status in the White House has changed in recent months, and he and the president are now seen as barely tolerating one another. According to four people close to Kelly, the former Marine general has largely yielded his role as the enforcer in the West Wing as his relationship with Trump has soured. While Kelly himself once believed he stood between Trump and chaos, he has told at least one person close to him that he may as well let the president do what he wants, even if it leads to impeachment — at least this chapter of American history would come to a close.

In recent months, his Secret Service detail has often been spotted standing outside the gym in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in the middle of the day — and White House officials who pass it on the way to meetings view his late morning workouts as an indication of him having thrown in the towel on trying to have any control inside the West Wing.

edited 19th Jun '18 3:44:22 PM by sgamer82

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#246164: Jun 19th 2018 at 3:38:32 PM

[up][up] it might just be because his campaign manager just went to prison, but generally when trump really gets going on Twitter, big news tends to drop later.

It's just a pattern I noticed.

edited 19th Jun '18 3:41:23 PM by megaeliz

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#246165: Jun 19th 2018 at 3:41:49 PM

If nobody's said it before now, ~megaeliz, you are a brave, brave soul to be so willing to go through Trump's tweets as regularly as you do, and regularly enough to spot behavioral patterns, at that.

InkDagger Since: Jul, 2014
#246166: Jun 19th 2018 at 3:43:37 PM

One thing I've really yet to understand about the world.

All the time in stories we have some big moment where the bad guys do something reprehensible to make sure the audience is never on their side and we know exactly who the bad guys are. Darth Vader blowing up Alderan is a big one that comes to mind, but most entires on Kick The Dog would probably be examples.

But the second it happens in real life, we instead have people arguing FOR the dog kicking inquestion and siding with something that, in ANY story, would be the 'These are the bad guy' indications.

I don't get it. I think "If its something the villain in a terrible movie would do to prove how eviulz he is" its probably the wrong move is a pretty fair rule to go through life with.

fruitpork Since: Oct, 2010
#246167: Jun 19th 2018 at 3:45:31 PM

I think this separation policy may end up being the policy that sticks with people.

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#246168: Jun 19th 2018 at 3:46:28 PM

[up][up]I don't disagree. Another version I have, from Thud is "you can't call yourself the good guys and do bad guy things".

I think, in some areas, it's a bit of Sunk Cost Fallacy. The GOP wasn't so insane, once upon a time, but now we've got Trump doing what he's doing and gradually eroding the GOP's support. The ones sticking around, however, either double down and go with it even more or acknowledge that their support for the party has wasted X years of their lives. It's almost like questioning a cult leader at this point.

edited 19th Jun '18 3:46:39 PM by sgamer82

LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#246169: Jun 19th 2018 at 3:54:03 PM

Also, a lot of people consider it intelligent to go "nothing in life is black-and-white". Admitting not only that some areas are, and the Republicans are on the "black" side with most if not all of their positions, simply isn't something that they'll accept.

edited 19th Jun '18 3:58:03 PM by LSBK

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#246170: Jun 19th 2018 at 3:55:10 PM

Which is why we get the "Both Sides are Just as Bad" argument even now, even as the worst of the Demoncrats' "badness" is rendered more and more moot.

DeathorCake Since: Mar, 2016
#246171: Jun 19th 2018 at 3:56:05 PM

[up][up]

Insert Mitchell and Webb sketch here.

One thing I have noticed about the right-wing Tory supporters over here that might well carry over to the Republicans and maybe even a couple of Blue Dogs is the insistence that leftie policies are idealistic and childish even if they sound nice, so they have this kind of dismissive mental reflex that attributes anything bad done by their lot to Hard Men Making Hard Decisions (while hard, presumably). That reinforces the "austerity is fiscal responsibility" surface narrative when it comes to economics, too.

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#246172: Jun 19th 2018 at 3:56:42 PM

I got way too much enjoyment out of this article.

What life is like for Paul Manafort in jail

(CNN) Just before dusk on Friday, a white van pulled into Northern Neck Regional Jail, a green-roofed, low-slung building about three miles from the bank of the Rappahannock River in Virginia.

Inside the van sat former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

The white van had left the federal courthouse in downtown Washington, DC, with Manafort inside three hours earlier.

In the federal system, there is no mugshot nor perp walk. If he's found guilty and sent to prison for the amount of time prosecutors hope, the 69-year-old man may never be seen outside again.

Manafort was last seen wearing a navy pinstripe suit, crisp white shirt and burgundy tie in a federal courtroom in DC on Friday, the same courtroom he's appeared in almost a dozen times since his arrest in October. He had lived for the last eight months in his Alexandria, Virginia, condo under house arrest — a circumstance so confined and uncomfortable, a doctor wrote to the judge regarding his conditions.

But court marshals had to follow the judge's order after a tense proceeding Friday morning. They took Manafort's belt, wallet and tie minutes after he was ordered into custody, leaving the man who once spent $130,000 at a clothing store in Beverly Hills without the comforts he'd entered the building wearing.

Then, Manafort disappeared. Suddenly under custody of the US Marshals Service, Manafort was taken into the back halls and basement of the courthouse along Pennsylvania Avenue. His attorneys, wife and family friends had left the premises, and the more than 100 journalists, photographers, lawyers and spectators had long dissipated. Manafort stayed within that fortress-like building for more than five hours, unable to stride out on his own accord to the waiting Range Rover he'd relied on before.

Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw, Virginia, has him now—his name's listed among upwards of 500 people they're holding.

His housing unit listed on the jail's website: "VIP." He was the only inmate at the jail with that housing unit description as of Saturday.

The legal reason he's there is listed as a vague "federal statute" offense, according to the jail's online list of inmates. Manafort is technically there for witness tampering; he awaits his two trials in July and September after a federal judge revoked his bail for allegedly committing a crime since his arrest. He will still be tried for the offense. He has maintained his innocence in the face of 25 criminal charges that range from obstruction of justice and conspiracy, to foreign lobbying registration violations and bank fraud. A spokesman for Manafort declined to comment for this story.)

Manafort not the first big-name inmate

This is not the type of offense that fills up this jail.

Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw, Virginia, opened in 1995 and is primarily owned and used by the Virginia counties that surround it. That means much of the crimes represent a cross-section of local incidents, like drug offenses, thefts and assaults.

The federal government rents space for inmates. One architecture companies' overview of the place says it's a building "in harmony with its rural surroundings" — but with a maximum security perimeter.

The jail isn't overcrowded and houses few homeless people, according to a state study two years ago on mental health in Virginia's jails. The jail also had no reports of inmate aggression toward other inmates in the month used for the study's snapshot.

Yet the jail has had its fair share of high-profile inmates and incidents. Michael Vick, the former NFL quarterback sent to prison for a dogfighting conspiracy, stayed in a dorm-sized cell with a toilet, shower and sink for two months in late 2007, according to descriptions published by ESPN The Magazine. And the R&B singer Chris Brown waited inside Northern Neck for his misdemeanor assault trial in 2014, which he ultimately avoided by pleading guilty.

Like many jails, it has faced wrongful death and injury lawsuits in recent years and has had inmates commit suicide, according to local news reports.

The jail's Facebook page (yes, it has one, though it may not be officially sanctioned) listed an aggregate 2.1 out of 5 stars in its review section before Manafort's arrival. Among the one-star reviews, one person said the "inmates are treated worse than livestock." Another says this: "We're all utterly miserable in this hell hole!"

Inmate no. 45343

Family and friends have visiting privileges for one hour once a week. If several commenters online are to be believed, Manafort will be receiving letters from strangers.

This jail, of all jails in the area, was the best for Manafort at this time, the US Marshals determined.

Typically, the DC federal court where he so often appears keeps its jailed defendants not far away in the DC jail. That environ, with a population more prone to violent crime and homelessness, was too risky for a man like Manafort, who at one time was touted as the steady hand needed for Donald Trump's campaign only to flame out under a crush of news stories and other pressure 144 days after his hiring. Since his departure from the campaign, countless stories have chronicled his alleged misdeeds, especially those involving millions of dollars, a cushy lifestyle and contacts with Russians and Ukrainians.

A small pool of angered critics swarmed his court arrivals and exits in recent months with chants of "lock him up" and "traitor." One man always brings a Russian flag, which he has occasionally thrown at Manafort.

It will take Manafort's handful of attorneys in DC two hours by car to meet with their client as they prepare for trial.

Inmate number 45343 will wear a jail-issued jumpsuit for hearings with a judge. When he appears before a jury, he will be allowed to wear clothes that family members bring him.

"He's going to be identified by a number, maybe by his last name. No one is really kind in a jail," said a DC-based attorney who's represented people in Northern Neck and has consulted for clients about the Russia investigation. Until now, "When he went to Starbucks, they said good morning."

If Manafort pleads guilty to white-collar crime or a jury determines him so, a federal prison or prison camp could await him. That's much different — inmates are sorted into low- to high-security facilities based on their crimes and histories.

But until his trial, Manafort's days will fall into a forced routine, as described on a private website that chronicles the nation's jails. Wake up early, roll call, breakfast. Participate in school or a work program. Lunch, roll call, work. Evenings in your cell or in a common pod with a TV. Repeat.

edited 19th Jun '18 4:03:12 PM by megaeliz

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#246173: Jun 19th 2018 at 3:57:21 PM

[up][up]The problem is that, more and more, the "hard men" are hard because they're getting off on it, not because they find any of these decisions actually difficult.

edited 19th Jun '18 3:57:34 PM by sgamer82

TheWanderer Student of Story from Somewhere in New England (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Student of Story
#246174: Jun 19th 2018 at 4:01:14 PM

4/ Trump threatened to shut down the government in September if Congress doesn't provide $25 billion for his border wall. Senators are currently willing to send Trump $1.6 billion this fall. If Trump follows through with his threat, a government shutdown would happen weeks before the midterm elections. (Politico)

This is an item I saw elsewhere and was tempted to post. Go ahead, Donny, I dare ya. cool We're all curious to see how many self-inflicted wounds you can give yourself before the mid-terms.

Some other items of interest:

Georgia Senator David Perdue loses patience when asked about child separation during a budget cutting conference, calls it "current shiny object of the day"

GOP Sen. David Perdue became visibly frustrated with a question about the separation of immigrant children from their parents at the southern border during a press conference on spending and the debt Tuesday, saying the press conference's focus was the debt, not the "current shiny object of the day."

The separation, a result of the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" policy on illegal border crossings, has sparked outrage from Democrats and Republicans. But the Georgia Republican made it clear to reporters Tuesday he wanted to keep the press conference with a handful of other Republican senators, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana that he wanted to keep the focus on President Trump's request to Congress to cut $15 in spending.

Perdue called the debt crisis the "number one topic" in the country today, and said he didn't want the few minutes they had "hijacked "by the "current shiny object of the day."

Perdue made the comments after his colleagues had already addressed the separation issue in the press conference. Cruz, one of the members at the presser, said he is introducing legislation to put an end to the family separation.

The Trump administration has blamed the family separation policy on Democrats, even though it is the administration's decision to treat the border crossings as criminal, rather than civil offenses. Speaking to the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) on Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Trump said the change is up to Democrats, although Republicans control the White House, House and Senate.

Trump is stepping up attempts to get GOP to pass a comprehensive immigration bill, Congressional GOP doesn't want to deal with that hot potato and is trying to work out something narrow to address child separation, because they don't want that to be a lodestone around their necks

    Immigration 
Trump called on Congress to authorize the government “to detain and promptly remove families together as a unit,” which he said was “the only solution to the border crisis.” And he went on to mock current security measures at the borders as insufficient and castigated the immigration court system as corrupt, appearing to reject a proposal by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) that would keep migrant families intact in part by increasing the number of immigration court personnel.

“We have to have a real border, not judges,” Trump said during a midday speech to the National Federation of Independent Business. “Thousands and thousands of judges they want to hire. Who are these people? . . . Seriously, what country does it? They said, ‘Sir, we’d like to hire about 5,000 or 6,000 more judges.’ Five thousand or 6,000. Now, can you imagine the graft that must take place?”

In remarks before a gathering of business owners in Washington, Trump argued that undocumented immigrants could “game the system” by taking counsel from immigration lawyers and reading statements prepared for them. And on Twitter, Trump continued to repeat his false claim Tuesday that Democrats were responsible for the separation of parents from children consistent with the “zero-tolerance” policy that Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced with fanfare this year.

Trump’s visit with House Republicans was ostensibly to lobby them on broad immigration legislation aimed at ending the separations while also providing billions of dollars for his long-sought border wall and other security priorities. But Trump earlier also indicated that he would want to make changes to the bill — which White House officials had previously said he supports and would sign.

The latest in confusing remarks from Trump concerned Republican lawmakers, who want clarity and political cover from the president as they confront an issue that has long stymied the party.

“I’m hoping it was just an off-the-cuff comment,” Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), chairman of the Republican Study Committee, an large bloc of conservative lawmakers, said of Trump’s remarks that he was considering revising the carefully negotiated bill.

In the Senate, Republicans are drafting narrow legislation to address the issue of family separations. GOP senators are coalescing around a framework that would allow families to be detained together and rework the docket of immigration cases so those families are sent to the front of the line of migrants waiting for a court hearing.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mc Connell (R-Ky.) said he hoped the Senate could pass such a bill by the end of the week, although that timeline appeared optimistic.

Trump and top administration officials are unwilling — at the moment, at least — to unilaterally reverse its separation policy. The president seemed especially animated in his speech before business owners and agitated about the way his administration’s family separation policy is being portrayed in the media.

Republicans are eager to find a legislative end to the turmoil sparked by the new “zero tolerance” policy at the border — although Trump in recent days has hinted that only a broader bill that included the border wall and other enforcement measures would pass muster.

The Department of Homeland Security has said 2,342 children have been separated from their parents since last month.

As the numbers have mounted, stories of parents in despair and images of children held in chain-link cages have prompted a stream of Republican lawmakers to break with the president and call for him to unilaterally halt the policy while Congress pursues a solution.

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), along with 11 other Senate Republicans, wrote to the Justice Department calling for a pause on separations until Congress can pass a legislative fix.

In the House, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), a prominent conservative leader introduced another stand-alone bill intended as an alternative if the more-sweeping bills set for House votes this week fail.

While Republicans scrambled to craft legislation, it was not clear whether Democrats would support the measure. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said Tuesday that he and other Democrats would object to any modification of an existing court settlement that limits the detention of migrant children held by federal authorities.

Democrats, Merkley said, “are not going to try to overturn a court decision that was designed to protect kids.”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has presented her own plan that would halt family separations. All 49 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus support it. No Republicans have signed on.

Governors of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and other states are removing their National Guard troops from the border and refusing to assist Trump with his immigration detention policies

Meanwhile, Congressional Democrats are calling on DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to resign

A group of Democrats is pushing for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to step down, with such calls growing after two heated press appearances on Monday when she declined to apologize for the administration’s family separation practices and falsely blamed Congress for originating the policy.

According to the Huff Post and NBC News, more than 10 Democrats have said that Nielsen should resign, including Sens. Kamala Harris (CA), Dianne Feinstein (CA), Richard Blumenthal (CT), Mazie Hirono (HI), Jeff Merkley (OR), and Tina Smith (MN).

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA) and Reps. Barbara Lee (CA), Ted Lieu (CA), Kathleen Rice (NY), and Donald Payne (NJ) have also spoken out. Most of the lawmakers who are ramping up the pressure on Nielsen come from historically blue states and have been vocal critics of Trump’s immigration policies.

Harris — who’s also been a major proponent of preserving DACA protections for young undocumented immigrants — was among the earliest to take a stand on Monday. “The government should be in the business of keeping families together, not tearing them apart. And the government should have a commitment to transparency and accountability,” she said in a statement. “Under Secretary Nielsen’s tenure, the Department of Homeland Security has a track record of neither.”

Pelosi made a similar push after paying a visit to a San Diego site where children who’ve been taken from their parents are currently being held. “We have zero tolerance for your neglect and for your policy of selecting — of separating children from their parents,” Pelosi said.

...

Nielsen did little to quell critics at two contentious press appearances on Monday, during which she said the administration would “not apologize” for separating families and “doing our job.”

As Vox’s Jen Kirby reports, Nielsen has shifted the blame for family separations to Congress, a claim touted by Trump that’s patently untrue.

“Congress and the courts created this problem, and Congress alone can fix it,” Nielsen said at a White House press conference. “Until then, we will enforce every law we have on the books to defend the sovereignty and security of the United States. Those who criticize the enforcement of our laws have offered only one countermeasure: open borders.”

Joe Hagin, the Deputy Chief of Staff and one of the few professionals of the administration, who has worked for every Republican administration since the Reagan era and who planned the North Korea Summit in Singapore, announced his resignation this week. His last day will be July 6th, no one is scheduled to replace him. More than 60% of senior staff in the Trump administration have left since inauguration day.

More Conservative "news" stupidity: The Drudge Report, an online conservative news site, published a photo of a bunch of kids with guns and claimed they were among those taken near the border. The only problem is the photo is from Syria in 2012, the guns are toys, and the kids were playing in the street after the FSA claimed their town. Whoops.

In the middle of a growing national controversy about the US’s family separation policy at the Mexico border, one of the most highly trafficked conservative news outlets has depicted the issue with a photo of Syrian kids holding toy guns.

...

The Drudge Report largely aggregates news stories from around the globe with a conservative spin, typically tagging them with a headline and photo.

In this case, the Drudge link goes to a Washington Examiner story noting that “[t]he Trump administration could be holding 30,000 illegal immigrant children by the end of August as a result of its push to enforce federal immigration laws, which has led to the separation of children from their parents and guardians as those adults are prosecuted.” Syria is never mentioned in the story.

Nonetheless, the Drudge Report used a 2012 photo taken by Christiaan Triebert. The photo’s caption: “Four young Syrian boys with toy guns are posing in front of my camera during my visit to Azaz, Syria. Most people I met were giving the peace sign. This little city was taken by the Free Syrian Army in the summer of 2012 during the Battle of Azaz.”

Triebert told me that Drudge’s use of the photo is “an obscene misrepresentation of what the photo actually depicts.” He also took issue with Drudge not attributing him for the image, and for Drudge’s possible commercial use of the photo — both of which violate the licensing terms under which it was uploaded under.

The Drudge Report did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This is, first, a case of “wrong brown people.”

It also carries some pretty wrong implications about the people coming over the border. It is not the case, despite President Donald Trump’s remarks, that immigrants are much more likely to bring crime and violence to the US. In fact, the opposite is true.

edited 19th Jun '18 4:02:14 PM by TheWanderer

| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#246175: Jun 19th 2018 at 4:02:58 PM

People in WW 2 made hard decisions.

These guys are just racist assholes.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.

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