U.S. Politics 2018

[tomahawk6]

Homeland security think the group has ISIS and MS13 with them.

 

[Jarnhamar]

I read that as a flip floppy yes he can still launch marines.

There are a lot of rules and policies the CAF generally adheres to but can circumvent when needed. Same principle?

 

[mariomike]

Homeland security think the group has ISIS and MS13 with them.

Do you have a link for that?

QUOTE

CBS

April 3, 2018, 6:33 PM

"The National Guard has received no notice to prepare to deploy to the border. The Department of Homeland Security referred all questions to the White House."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-calls-for-military-on-the-border-as-caravan-of-migrants-moves-through-mexico/

In 2006, President George W. Bush sent 6,000 unarmed National Guard troops to provide technical, engineering and office support. President Obama dispatched 1,200 members of the National Guard to the southern border in 2010. In both instances, they did not act as law enforcement personnel. 

END QUOTE

 

[Altair]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/us-tariffs-chinese-imports-1.4603826

The Trump administration said on Tuesday it would hit China with 25 per cent tariffs on some 1,300 industrial technology, transport and medical products as part of its drive to force changes in Beijing's intellectual property practices.

The U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) office unveiled a list of mainly non-consumer products representing about $50 billion US of annual imports that would nonetheless hit supply chains for many manufacturers

Yeah,  this is going to end well.

 

[Altair]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/china-tariffs-hike-1.4604182

China quickly hit back on Wednesday at the Trump administration's plans to slap tariffs on $50 billion US in Chinese goods, retaliating with a list of similar duties on key American imports including soybeans, planes, cars, whisky and chemicals.

The speed with which the trade struggle between Washington and Beijing is ratcheting up — the Chinese government took less than 11 hours to respond with its own measures — led to a sharp sell-off in global stock markets and commodities.

That was fast.

 

[Edward Campbell]

Here, from the South China Morning Post is a run down of the immediate and short term winners and losers in Arsehole's Trump's stupid trade war.

Here, from the Spectator is another analysis which says that Chinese producers and US consumers will be the losers.

There will be no winners ... there never are in trade wars. They are stupid things and Trump is a stupid man who knows nothing at all about making deals ... unless he has a bankruptcy court for back-up. Sorry, Dumbass Mr President, no bankruptcy judge will save you or America this time ... you've screwed the bloody pooch!

_____

Edited to add: I apologize for the tone of my remarks about Donald Trump, they go against what I have said many times about good manners, but he is sui generis, isn't he? He puts himself above the rules so he (and his apologists) ought not to complain when others break them in talking about him.

 

[FJAG]

Here, from the South China Morning Post is a run down of the immediate and short term winners and losers in Arsehole's Trump's stupid trade war.

Here, from the Spectator is another analysis which says that Chinese producers and US consumers will be the losers.

There will be no winners ... there never are in trade wars. They are stupid things and Trump is a stupid man who knows nothing at all about making deals ... unless he has a bankruptcy court for back-up. Sorry, Dumbass Mr President, no bankruptcy judge will save you or America this time ... you've screwed the bloody pooch!

_____

Edited to add: I apologize for the tone of my remarks about Donald Trump, they go against what I have said many times about good manners, but he is sui generis, isn't he? He puts himself above the rules so he (and his apologists) ought not to complain when others break them in talking about him.

Don't apologize. Far too many people have been far too reserved when describing the terrible damage this man is doing to his country and to innocent bystanders.

Just to show that trade isn't the only thing he's running amok about, here's a little snapshot on his latest immigration rants.

Trump is on a tear about immigration. What's really behind it By Michael D'Antonio

(CNN)President Donald Trump is on a tear about immigration again. Often mercurial and dark, Trump is using the power of the presidency to share his fear and anxiety with the country, and to stir the same feelings in its citizens.

He does this instead of directly addressing the nation's domestic problems -- in this case, a long-broken immigration system -- pushing the buttons of his base and re-energizing them on this divisive issue. In this scenario, governance and leadership lose, and fear-driven policy can result.
Thus, over the holiday weekend, he issued a series of tweets stoking a familiar (and unfounded) fear of border-crossing bogeyman who are hell-bent on committing violent crimes. And Tuesday, he announced several proposals to address this alleged issue, including stationing military troops along the border with Mexico.

Trump's immigration tirade began with a Twitter rant about pardons issued by California Gov. Jerry Brown to five people facing deportation. The topic had just been featured on Fox News, which often functions as an outrage factory for the President and his followers.

The President's tweet came as he spent the weekend at his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, with current and former Fox bigwigs, including Sean Hannity and former executive Bill Shine. Away from the moderating influence of chief of staff John Kelly, Trump was free to marinate in the fact-challenged political stew that comes from the likes of Hannity, Shine and other visitors including Jeanine Pirro.

Notably, these Trump influencers have apparently been devouring "The Camp of the Saints," a right-wing immigrant fear fantasy novel, which has surfaced on Fox News in recent days -- including on Tucker Carlson's show. The Southern Poverty Law Center has referred to the novel as "a favorite racist fantasy of the anti-immigrant movement." All of which is to say, Trump is getting his immigration talking points from commentators reaching dangerously far outside the mainstream.

After targeting Brown, Fox reported breathlessly on a "caravan of illegals headed to US." Any viewer could easily conclude that some sort of invasion was imminent. In fact, the "caravan" is an annual journey of more than 1,000 people who travel across Mexico to ultimately seek asylum in the United States. Many of them claim they are trying to escape violence and political unrest in their home countries, such as Honduras.

Only a propagandist would omit all the context of this caravan in order to sow fear. Hence Trump's Easter morning rant about how Mexico must act to "stop the big drug and people flows." In the same tweet, he alleged that Mexicans "laugh at our dumb immigrant laws." That last bit about the laughing was supposed to make Mexican authorities seem mean and nasty, and Americans feel shamed and furious.

The basic fact regarding immigration on the southern border is that more undocumented Mexicans in the United States are leaving than entering, and this has been true for a decade. The President is correct that Mexican cartels are responsible for the flow of some illegal drugs into the United States, but Americans also create the demand for those drugs.
Anyone who had any doubt about the President's intent to rile public outrage only needed to consult his most concise tweet, which said "Getting more dangerous. 'Caravans' coming. Republicans must go to Nuclear Option to pass tough laws NOW. NO MORE DACA DEAL!"

The "caravans," as Trump imagined them, were not entirely real. The situation at the border is not getting more dangerous. The crisis over DACA, which involved nearly 800,000 young people who signed up for the program, is Trump's own creation. He canceled the program. He could make a deal immediately by reinstating it. Instead, he cruelly manipulates the plight of DACA recipients, keeping them and their families in limbo.

Make no mistake. Trump's immigrant rants are all about hype. And it is hype that is his stock-in-trade. For decades prior to becoming President, Trump hyped real estate, casinos, consumer products and his reality TV show. In every case, he proved to himself, as he cashed various checks, that propaganda pays.

In business, propaganda is known by other names like marketing and advertising -- but everyone involved, including the consumer, knows that's going on. A candy bar company can tout its chocolate as "the best," and no one expects proof.

But presidents have an even greater power than businessmen -- they can directly shape policies to comport with their views, and Trump has certainly done that. In addition to rescinding DACA, he has ended Temporary Protected Status for Haitians, Nicaraguans and Sudanese. He has banned nationals of several Muslim majority nations. And he has reduced refugee admissions to their lowest levels since 1980. And with each decision, he has used the power of his propaganda machine to justify his decision.

Unfortunately, Trump's propaganda comes at great cost -- and not just to immigrants, but to the entire country, which seems to grow more and more divided. Rather than doing the hard work of creating responsible and well thought out policies, he has placed that burden on the American people, who must question and challenge his tweets almost daily.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/03/opinions/trump-immigration-propaganda-machine-opinion-dantonio/index.html

:not-again:

 

[McG]

All the discussions about the "evils" that Mexico allows to cross into the US seem to omit what the US is allowing to flow back into Mexico ... and in some cases enacting legislation to protect the identity of US businesses profiting from it.

America's guns: Made in the US, killing in Mexico

America's Guns: Arming Mexico's Cartels

...

The violence and chaos fuelled by these smuggled firearms are so widespread and devastating that it's been a significant motivating factor in the desire of many in that country to flee to the north.

Of course, it won't be lost on anyone with an appreciation of painful ironies that this kind of desperate migration is precisely why President Trump wants to build a wall along the frontier between the two nations.

It seems that it's OK for deadly munitions to travel one way but not for the prospective victims of those munitions to go the other.

...

Battle to stop gun smuggling on US-Mexico border hampered by officials

Why Mexico’s drug cartels love America’s gun laws

More than 70,000 guns recovered from crime scenes in Mexico between 2009 and 2014 could be traced back to the United States, according to a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. That represents 70 percent of all crime guns recovered and traced in Mexico during that period.

The report underscores the extent to which American firearms are a contributor not just to crime in the United States, but also to violence that happens south of the border. Half of the seized weapons were long guns -- shotguns or rifles. "According to Mexican government officials, high caliber rifles are the preferred weapon used by drug trafficking organizations," the report found. ...

...

A 2013 University of San Diego report found that nationally, the illegal firearms trade with Mexico accounted for $127 million in annual revenue for the U.S. firearms industry, or 2.2 percent of all gun sales. For certain sellers along the border, this percentage is likely to be much higher.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has data on exactly which of these retailers are disproportionately likely to sell guns that end up in the hands of cartels. But neither you nor I nor researchers nor state and local governments are allowed to see that data thanks to Congress. In 2005, they passed a bill prohibiting ATF from sharing this data with the public, government agencies, and even with researchers who could help figure out how to try to stanch the flow of illegal guns.

...

2,000 Illegal Weapons Cross US-Mexico Border Per Day: Report

 

[Bird_Gunner45]

Don't apologize. Far too many people have been far too reserved when describing the terrible damage this man is doing to his country and to innocent bystanders.

Just to show that trade isn't the only thing he's running amok about, here's a little snapshot on his latest immigration rants.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/03/opinions/trump-immigration-propaganda-machine-opinion-dantonio/index.html

:not-again:

John Stewart does a great job of showing the issue in the video attached. Hannity is just a terrible person.

"You just want that person to give you your country back because you feel you're this country's rightful owners. There's only one problem with that: This country isn't yours. You don't own it. It never was."

http://www.businessinsider.com/jon-stewart-takes-over-for-colbert-to-tell-trump-supporters-they-dont-own-america-2016-7

 

[Jarnhamar]

All the discussions about the "evils" that Mexico allows to cross into the US seem to omit what the US is allowing to flow back into Mexico ... and in some cases enacting legislation to protect the identity of US businesses profiting from it.

Yes we shouldn't forget the Obama era 2009-2011 Operation Fast and Furious gun walking scandal that saw 2000ish disappear into Mexico thanks to the ATF.
American guns found at 170 crime scenes and estimated more that 200 Mexicans killed with them. 

As well one of the guns used in the November 2015 Paris attacks that saw 130 dead and 400 injured allegedly was connected to this program.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Yup, certainly, there hasn't been any worse POTUS. He's just riding Obama's coattails, right.  :

I was certainly more aware and genuinely worried when Kennedy brought us to the brink of nuclear war, than I am about Trump and Fat Boy in NK.

 

[TheHead]

Yes we shouldn't forget the Obama era 2009-2011 Operation Fast and Furious gun walking scandal that saw 2000ish disappear into Mexico thanks to the ATF.
American guns found at 170 crime scenes and estimated more that 200 Mexicans killed with them. 

As well one of the guns used in the November 2015 Paris attacks that saw 130 dead and 400 injured allegedly was connected to this program.

First,  wasn't ATF gun walking first used in 2006?  Our boy Bush was president when the program started. Not Obama  This may be an over simplification of the issue but lets give credit where credit is due.

The gun was owned by the NRA supporting gun dealer but there is no proof it was tied to Fast and Furious other than a very poorly wrote article, with no sources, by Judicial Watch. 

 

[Jarnhamar]

The fast and furious was 2009 to 2011. I haven't read if another iteration was earlier too.

Even if the gun wasn't used in Paris that hardly absolves the government and ATF.

 

[Journeyman]

I was certainly more aware and genuinely worried when Kennedy brought us to the brink of nuclear war...

Cuban Missile Crisis = Oct 1962.

Not even pretending to question your age or political acumen at 1962 and at 2018.

 

[FJAG]

The fast and furious was 2009 to 2011. I haven't read if another iteration was earlier too.

Even if the gun wasn't used in Paris that hardly absolves the government and ATF.

Operation Wide Receiver was 2006 - 2008

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATF_gunwalking_scandal#2006%E2%80%932008:_Operation_Wide_Receiver_and_other_probes

:cheers:

 

[kkwd]

President Trump is sending National Guard troops to the border, here it is. Now I will wait for the internet lawyers saying he can't do it.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1485110/dod-dhs-to-work-with-governors-to-deploy-guardsmen-to-southern-border/

 

[Journeyman]

Now I will wait for the internet lawyers saying he can't do it.

I can't imagine how tough it is being so concerned about what total strangers do or don't say about another country's leader.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Cuban Missile Crisis = Oct 1962.

Not even pretending to question your age or political acumen at 1962 and at 2018.

I'll humour your attempt to be sarcastic at my expense, yet again. I was a nine year old kid that understood the effects of war, daily civil defence rehersals and drills, honest thoughtful journalists like Walter Cronkite, the gold standard. David Brinkley, whose tv style made what was happening easy for immigrants and 9 year old kids to understand. Young? Yup. Impressionable? Absolutelty. Trusting of what the news was saying? Definitely. Smart enough that if the world and grownups were panicking, maybe I should find out as much as could absorb on the subject. After all, everyone was extremely aware at that time, and because the above type newscasters, what they said was genuinely trusted. Trusted to tell you everything they could without the spin. Politics? I said nothing about politics, that was you, but here, so you can have your chuckle for being clever. My dad, blue collar, conservative, old union man, two red book carrying sisters and their Guevara boyfriends and my grit mother, trying to hug everyone. Politics? The democratic west was good and right and mostly Christian. Soviet Union, USSR, communist heathens, who should have been taken care of right at the end of the war, like Patton said. At 9, I had a good enough understanding of the soviets, the missles, Cuba, the risk and the game of chicken being played by both.

Today? I've still got a pretty good handle on things. 18 year olds today are eating tide pods and snorting condoms. You judge.

 

[Journeyman]

I'll humour your attempt to be sarcastic at my expense, yet again.

Absolutely no sarcasm intended.

Incredulity at your supposed 1962 political wisdom, given what you post in 2018, yes.  But sarcasm, no.

 

[mariomike]

I was a nine year old kid < snip >

I was eight. I remember a lot of tension. A lot of fire drills. As we kids ran around the neighborhood playing war, I had no idea that the real thing was actually taking place.

I remember a sense of joyous relief in the community when the Crisis ended.

Funny thing I remember ten years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, when I started working, was the number of homes you would be sent into with pictures of Jesus Christ and President Kennedy hanging side-by-side on the wall.