If this isn't obvious to all . .. this behavior is normal to them and that would mean that they are ill also ...
I guess this is what tax cuts produce in education.... and we need tests before citizens can watch fox news/ alex/all theboyz .. we need to learn if persons can distinguish between truth and bullshit..
Trump’s Trade War May Have Already Begun A crane operates next to shipping containers in Chongqing, China. As the Trump administration threatens to impose punitive tariffs on imported goods, American allies are looking to China, which has capitalized on a leadership vacuum in world affairs by offering itself as a champion for global trade and engagement. JAN. 30, 2017 LONDON — America’s traditional allies are on the lookout for new friends. They have heard the mantra “America First” from the new president, divining a Trump doctrine: global cooperation last. Europeans have taken note of Mr. Trump’s denigration of the European Union and his apparent esteem for the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin. In Asia and Latin America, leaders have absorbed the deepening possibility that Mr. Trump will deliver on threats to impose punitive tariffs on Mexican and Chinese imports, provoking a trade war that will damage economic growth [ https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/10/business/economy/trump-rides-a-wave-of-fury-that-may-damage-global-prosperity.html ] and eliminate jobs around the world [ https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/02/business/economy/trump-manufacturing-jobs-world-trade-china.html ]. Some allies are shifting focus to other potential partners for new sources of trade and investment, relationships that could influence political, diplomatic and military ties. Many are looking to China, which has adroitly capitalized on a leadership vacuum in world affairs by offering itself — ironies notwithstanding — as a champion for global engagement. “We’ve always said that America is our best friend,” Jeroen Dijsselbloem, president of the Eurogroup — comprising finance ministers from countries sharing the euro currency — said in an interview with The New York Times on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this month. “If that’s no longer the case, if that’s what we need to understand from Donald Trump, then of course Europe will look for new friends.” “China is a very strong candidate for that,” he added. “The Chinese involvement in Europe in terms of investment is already very high and expanding. If you push away your friends, you mustn’t be surprised if the friends start looking for new friends.” [...] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/business/economy/trumps-mexico-china-tariff-trade.html
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The clearest articulation of what Trump wants to do to America's economy comes from one person Peter Navarro, the head of Trump's National Trade Council. Jan 31, 2017 It is sometimes difficult to get a detailed, direct answer from President Trump and his surrogates on their economic policy. During the campaign he slid past substance by making sweeping claims of how, under a Trump administration, the US would '"win bigly" and "stop being taken advantage of." Those pronouncements continue. But luckily there is one voice coming from the White House that clearly articulates the direction in which it wants this country to head economically. That voice belongs to Peter Navarro, the head of Trump's newly formed National Trade Council. Over the past few weeks, Navarro has given a number of interviews that explain the administration's propensity for victimhood, an obsession with Germany, and a deep-seated desire to change the face of the American economy as we know it. All these factors have contributed to growing fears that this administration will start a trade war with any of the countries it has scapegoated — Mexico, China, or, yes, now Germany. [...] http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-trumpenomics-according-to-peter-navarro-2017-1
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A barb at Germany puts Trump administration on collision course with EU The headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) are illuminated with a giant euro sign at the start of the 'Luminale, light and building' event in Frankfurt, Germany, March 12, 2016. U.S. President Donald Trump speaks by phone with Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. January 28, 2017. Jan 31, 2017 For seven years, the United States has fought to keep the euro zone intact, urging European officials toward action and supporting international bailout programs to keep the 17-nation currency union from cracking apart. That appears to have changed less than two weeks into Donald Trump's new administration. A sharp shift in tone toward Germany, casting the euro as fuel for that country's massive trade surplus, has raised concerns that the U.S. president's trade-centric world view may see the euro not as a geopolitical plus, but as another needless bit of multilateralism. While Trump has refrained from commenting directly on the euro, he praised Britain's decision to exit the European Union as a "great thing" and predicted that others would leave the bloc as the result of an influx of refugees. In comments published in the European press on Tuesday, Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro said the "grossly undervalued" euro served as a currency for Germany alone, allowing the country to "exploit" the United States and others. On Capitol Hill, Treasury Secretary-designate Steven Mnuchin softened the traditional U.S. "strong dollar" mantra, suggesting that the dollar's current strength may be working against what has become perhaps the administration's central economic priority: reviving U.S. manufacturing and exports. Framed narrowly, that could put the United States on a clear a collision course with Germany, the world's fourth-largest economy and home to companies that rival top U.S. industrial giants, as it is with Mexico or China. "There seems to be this desire to go back to a divide and conquer style strategy where the U.S. negotiates against individual countries," said Douglas Rediker, executive chair of International Capital Strategies and a former U.S. executive board member at the International Monetary Fund. "To single (Germany) out when they don't have authority to manipulate their currency, requires you to make a leap - which is to say that 'We don't care that there actually is a common currency. We are going to take you to account.'" Monetary policy in the euro zone is set by the European Central Bank, and it is the ECB's money creation policies that have contributed to the euro's recent decline in value. Like the U.S. Federal Reserve's quantitative easing, those efforts have been regarded internationally as a reasonable response to the region's dangerous economic weakness - not as an effort to cheapen the currency to gain a trade advantage. "The question is how far will the new administration go with this?" said Jeromin Zettelmeyer, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a former German economic official. Trump could, for example, try to tax German goods to offset any perceived advantage gained from a cheap euro, Zettelmeyer said. An import duty has already been suggested as a way to redress alleged currency manipulation by China. [...] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-germany-analysis-idUSKBN15F2WP
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EU's Tusk calls on Europe to rally against Trump threat European Council President Donald Tusk arrives for the state funeral of former German President Roman Herzog in Berlin, Germany, January 24, 2017 Jan 31, 2017 European Council President Donald Tusk said on Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump has joined Russia, China and radical Islam among threats to Europe and called on Europeans to stick together to avoid domination by three other continental powers. In a letter to national leaders before a summit that he will chair in Malta on Friday to prepare the Union's future after Britain leaves, the conservative former Polish prime minister said Trump's more protectionist trade policy offered the EU a chance and it should do more now to set up free trade deals. Saying the EU faces its biggest challenges in its 60-year history, Tusk said an "assertive China", "Russia's aggressive policy" toward its neighbors, "radical Islam" fuelling anarchy in the Middle East and Africa were key external threats. These, he said, "as well as worrying declarations by the new American administration, all make our future highly unpredictable". Tusk's remarks were among the strongest directed at the new U.S. president since Trump took office 11 days ago and reflects a growing sense in many European capitals of a need to respond to his policy moves, notably the ban at the weekend on the entry of refugees and others from seven Muslim-majority countries. Leaders in Brussels have been particularly concerned that Trump has supported Brexit and spoken of other countries following Britain out of the bloc. "The disintegration of the European Union will not lead to the restoration of some mythical, full sovereignty of its member states, but to their real and factual dependence on the great superpowers: the United States, Russia and China," Tusk wrote to the EU leaders. "Only together can we be fully independent. [...] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-eu-tusk-idUSKBN15F1F8
For Leaders of U.S. Allies, Getting Close to Trump Can Sting President Trump with Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain at the White House on Friday. A close relationship with American presidents is regarded as vital by allies and foes alike, but particularly by countries like Britain, Canada, Japan and Mexico. JAN. 30, 2017 LONDON — It had all been going so well. Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain had just left Washington on Friday evening after a tense but successful first visit with President Trump for a 10-hour flight to Ankara, Turkey, for her next awkward encounter, with the increasingly autocratic Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. By the time she had landed in Turkey, however, Mr. Trump had signed his executive order [ https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/29/us/politics/white-house-official-in-reversal-says-green-card-holders-wont-be-barred.html ] halting entrance to the United States of all Syrian refugees and of most citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries. Mrs. May was beginning to feel the backlash. After she termed the executive order an American issue, criticism erupted even among her own members of Parliament. She was accused of appeasement [ https://twitter.com/TFletcher/status/825405947333976065 ] by a former British diplomat. Protesters gathered outside Downing Street on Monday night, and more than 1.5 million signatures collected on an internet petition demanding that Mrs. May rescind her invitation [ https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/171928 ] for Mr. Trump to visit Queen Elizabeth II. A close relationship with any American president is regarded as crucial by allies and foes alike, but especially by intimates like Britain, Canada, Japan and Mexico. Yet like moths to the flame, the leaders of those nations are finding that they draw close to Mr. Trump at their peril. [...] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/world/europe/donald-trump-us-alllies.html
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White House aides who wrote Trump's travel ban see it as just the start Senior aides to President Trump are determining whether to expand the travel bans he ordered Friday. January 30, 2017 Even as confusion, internal dissent and widespread condemnation greeted President Trump’s travel ban and crackdown on refugees this weekend, senior White House [ http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics-government/government/white-house-PLCUL000110-topic.html ] aides say they are only getting started. Trump and his aides justified Friday’s executive order, which blocked travel from seven majority-Muslim countries for 90 days and halted refugees from around the world for 120, on security grounds — an issue that they say they take seriously. But their ultimate goal is far broader. Trump’s top advisors on immigration, including chief strategist Steve Bannon and senior advisor Stephen Miller [ http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics-government/stephen-miller-PEGPF00219-topic.html ], see themselves as launching a radical experiment to fundamentally transform how the U.S. decides who is allowed into the country and to block a generation of people who, in their view, won’t assimilate into American society. That project may live or die in the next three months, as the Trump administration reviews whether and how to expand the visa ban and alter vetting procedures. White House aides are considering new, onerous security checks that could effectively limit travel into the U.S. by people from majority-Muslim countries to a trickle. [...] http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-immigration-20170130-story.html [with embedded video, and comments]
On the Monday, January 30th 2017 broadcast of the Alex Jones Show, we break down the media's overreaction to President Donald Trump’s immigration orders, which do not ban all Muslims as the press continues claiming. We'll also look at the media fallout over other executive orders. On today's show, former Navy Seal and author Matthew Bracken discusses Trump's first days, and writer Michael Snyder breaks down how rioting and violence can ultimately lead to widespread civil unrest. And Dr. Iris Mack joins the program to look at Trump's renegotiation of NAFTA and dumping the TPP.
Suspect in Quebec Mosque Attack Quickly Depicted as a Moroccan Muslim. He’s a White Nationalist. January 30 2017 [...] White House press secretary Sean Spicer exploited the attack [ https://twitter.com/Mikeggibbs/status/826139966883364866 ] to justify President Trump’s ban on immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries. “It’s a terrible reminder of why we must remain vigilant and why the president is taking steps to be proactive rather than reactive when it comes to our nation’s safety and security,” Spicer said [ https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C3cMwtUWMAAMNCs.jpg ] at this afternoon’s briefing when speaking of the Quebec City attack. But these assertions are utterly false. The suspect is neither Moroccan nor Muslim. The Moroccan individual, Mohamed Belkhadir, was actually one of the worshippers at the mosque [ https://twitter.com/mshafiquk/status/826146045906255872 ] and called 911 to summon the police, playing no role whatsoever in the shooting. The actual shooting suspect is 27-year-old Alexandre Bissonnette, a white French Canadian who is, by all appearances, a rabid anti-immigrant nationalist. A leader of a local immigration rights group, François Deschamps, told a local paper [ http://www.lapresse.ca/le-soleil/justice-et-faits-divers/201701/30/01-5064449-attentat-a-quebec-la-sq-confirme-un-seul-suspect.php ] he recognized his photo as an anti-immigrant far-right “troll” who has been hostile to the group online. The Globe and Mail added [ https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/quebec-city-mosque-attack-suspect-known-for-right-wing-online-posts/article33833044/ ] that he “was known in the city’s activist circles as a right-wing troll who frequently took anti-foreigner and anti-feminist positions and stood up for U.S. President Donald Trump.” And Bissonnette’s Facebook page — now taken down but still archived [ https://archive.is/u2Hex ] — lists among its “likes” the far-right French nationalist Marine Le Pen, Islam critics Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, the Israeli Defense Forces, and Donald J. Trump (he also “likes” the liberal Canadian Party NDP along with more neutral “likes” such as Tom Hanks, the Sopranos, and Katy Perry). [...] https://theintercept.com/2017/01/30/suspect-in-quebec-mosque-attack-quickly-depicted-as-a-moroccan-muslim-hes-a-white-nationalist/ [with comments]
This bird has two right wings. Basically, it ain't gonna fly.
This video is mainly addressed to people I would define as ultra right wing radical Christians in America. Some people tell me that Islam is worse, because at least the Christians aren't beheading people who don't respect their religion. The whole point of this video is "beware what you wish for". The reason certain Christians don't do such things is simply because they live in a secular society that won't allow such things, but they want that to change. They want the theocracy. They want people like me to be punished. They are the Taliban that is not allowed to act like the Taliban. This video is a cautionary comparison, and it is absolutely valid. Furthermore, far more Muslims have been killed by Christians, than the other way around, today and throughout history. It's just that we tend to label it differently.
I've often been told by Christians, "Hey, if you were in a Muslim country, making fun of religion, you'd be dead by now," (John Lennox has said stuff like this). Basically, that means "At least we Christians let you live." Um...thanks. Those are some mighty low standards you have there. I don't trust radicals on either side. I'm alive because the secular government won't allow you to kill me - not because there's a shortage of Christians who would be ready, willing, and able to do it. Of that, I have no doubt.
Trump-Era Political Violence Begins As Liberal Activists Are Beaten, Hospitalized Ryan Clayton said he was thrown down the steps and kicked in the head. Ryan Clayton being dragged with someone’s arm around his neck. Jason Charter at the hospital. Two progressive activists were attacked an event featuring conservative provocateur James O’Keefe. 01/30/2017 Updated January 30, 2017 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/james-okeefe-event-beating_us_588f8339e4b02772c4e8265f?t8e7pb82eu3qbbj4i [with embedded videos, and comments]
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Trump fires acting AG over travel ban dissent
The Rachel Maddow Show 1/30/17
Rachel Maddow reports that Donald Trump has fired Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, a hold-over from the Obama administration while Trump's nominee awaits confirmation, after Yates ordered DoJ lawyers not to defend Trump's travel ban. NBC's Hallie Jackson joins with further details. Duration: 7:37
Trump threatens independence of Justice Department with firing
The Rachel Maddow Show 1/30/17
Lawrence Tribe, professor of constitutional law at Harvard, talks with Rachel Maddow about the remarkable nature of Donald Trump's firing of acting attorney general Sally Yates, and the threat Trump's action represents to the independence of the Department of Justice. Duration: 6:35
Washington AG seeks nationwide stay against Trump travel ban
The Rachel Maddow Show 1/30/17
Attorney General Bob Ferguson of Washington state, talks with Rachel Maddow about the news of Donald Trump firing the acting U.S. attorney general, and his legal effort to secure a national restraining order against Trump's immigration and refugee order. Duration: 4:46
Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor at Slate, talks with Rachel Maddow about the significance of Donald Trump's firing of the acting U.S. attorney general and the danger of politicizing the Justice Department. Duration: 5:02
Rachel Maddow talks with Lawrence O'Donnell about the chaotic style of the Donald Trump regime, and how Trump's haphazard orders and timing destabilizes the government institutions involved. Duration: 3:20
Monday Night Massacre: Trump fires acting Attorney General
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell 1/30/17
President Donald Trump fired his acting Attorney General, Sally Yates, after she defied him by refusing to defend his executive order on immigration. It comes after a weekend of defiance from female judges. Duration: 9:39
Trump fires acting Atty Gen who refused to defend travel ban
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell 1/30/17
Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, who the Trump team asked to stay on until a new AG was confirmed, was fired because she questioned the legality of Trump's travel ban. Lawrence discusses with Rachel Maddow, Jonathan Alter, Omar Jadwat, & Richard Ben-Veniste. Duration: 16:58
Pres. Trump fires acting attorney general over immigration order
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 1/30/17
MSNBC's Brian Williams explains the breakneck action in DC that led to the President firing the acting attorney general, & gets more from NBC News White House Correspondent Kristen Welker. Duration: 4:20
Chaotic night in DC ends with Trump firing acting Atty. Gen.
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 1/30/17
MSNBC's Brian Williams discusses Trump firing the acting attorney general over his action on immigration with Nicolle Wallace, Ed Rollins, & Jeremy Bash. Duration: 7:35
Published on Jan 30, 2017 by The Alex Jones Channel
Reports are flooding in that liberals are buying guns, and that liberals distrust their government. Surprise! You're starting to get it. Now you can all thank Trump for rousing you from your slumber. You're welcome!
After President Trump signs an executive order banning travel from several Muslim-majority countries, Hasan Minhaj examines the uplifting public response.
From healthcare to climate change to torture, President Trump has already moved the country back to 2004. If this keeps up, pretty soon Stephen's going to launch the Colbert Report.
Trump keeps Obama official at ICE despite campaign criticism
The Rachel Maddow Show 1/31/17 [this and the following segment from second live Maddow show, late evening January 30, 2017, which began at midnight ET]
Christina Wilke, White House reporter for The Huffington Post, talks with Rachel Maddow about a shuffle at the top of ICE that has the Donald Trump putting an Obama official in charge despite having criticized Obama on immigration throughout his campaign. Duration: 5:30
David Sanger, national security correspondent for The New York Times, talks with Rachel Maddow about the sloppy job Donald Trump has done trying to rush through his travel ban executive order. Duration: 4:59
Seth takes a closer look at the second straight weekend of massive protests against President Trump - this time after he issued a ban on refugees and visitors from seven majority-Muslim countries.
Pope Has Sold Out The Catholic Church And Embraced SATAN
Published on Jan 31, 2017 by The Alex Jones Channel
Everyone in Italy and the rest of Europe will “soon be Muslim” because of our “stupidity”, warned Monsignor Carlo Liberati, Archbishop Emeritus of Pompei. Liberati claimed that, thanks to the huge number of Muslim migrants alongside the increasing secularism of native Europeans, Islam will soon become the main religion of Europe. “All of this moral and religious decadence favours Islam”, Archbishop Liberati explained.
Full Show - Trump's Supreme Court Pick Fulfills Promise - 01/31/2017
Published on Jan 31, 2017 by The Alex Jones Channel
On this Tuesday, January 31 broadcast of the Alex Jones Show, we will discuss Trump's upcoming Supreme Court nomination announcement and his decision to fire acting AG Sally Yates. We'll be joined by journalist and editor of WND, Dr. Jerome Corsi, to talk about Google's Eric Schmidt trying to cozy up with President Trump. Dr. Steve Pieczenik also joins the show to cover Trump's fight against ISIS and more.
Jewish Community Centers Face Third Wave of Bomb Threats Nationwide Jan 31 2017 At least 13 Jewish Community Centers were evacuated Tuesday, after the third wave of bomb threats this month was made against the religious centers. This latest spate of threats, which came in between 10 a.m. and noon, targeted JCCs in at least 11 states and is being investigated by the FBI. [...] http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jewish-community-centers-face-third-wave-bomb-threats-nationwide-n715086
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Will the 'rule of law' survive under Trump?
All In with Chris Hayes 1/31/17
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman discusses his decision to join an ACLU lawsuit against the president’s 'unconstitutional' travel ban. Duration: 3:29
Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor and legal correspondent for Slate, talks with Rachel Maddow about what is known about Neil Gorsuch, Donald Trump's nomination for Supreme Court justice. Duration: 11:08
Rachel Maddow reviews the history of nominees to the Supreme Court and their confirmation by the Senate, noting that the process became significantly more contentious after the 2000 election. Duration: 7:44
GOP blanking of Garland casts shadow on Gorsuch nomination
The Rachel Maddow Show 1/31/17
Kenji Yoshina, professor of constitutional law at NYU Law School, talks with Rachel Maddow about the judicial record of Neil Gorsuch, Donald Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court, and the political environment in which the nomination is being considered. Duration: 7:17
Senator Jeff Merkley talks with Rachel Maddow about his intention to filibuster Donald Trump's Supreme Court pick, Neil Gorsuch, after Republicans refused to give former President Obama's nominee a hearing. Duration: 10:01
President Trump announced his Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch amid outrage over his executive orders and the firing of acting Attorney General. Now, more than a thousand diplomats have signed a dissent letter. Lawrence talks with David Corn and David Frum. Duration: 12:29
Several Democratic senators announced they will oppose the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Chad Griffin of the Human Rights Campaign and Alencia Johnson of Planned Parenthood join Lawrence to talk about why they oppose this "radical" judge. Duration: 6:07
San Francisco became the first city to file a lawsuit over Donald Trump's executive order blocking federal funds from sanctuary cities. San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera joins Lawrence O'Donnell. Duration: 3:59
Pres. Trump names Judge Neil Gorsuch as Supreme Court nominee
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 1/31/17
MSNBC's Brian Williams details what we know about the President's SCOTUS nominee and talks with Pete Williams, Nina Totenberg, & Nicolle Wallace. Duration: 9:05
Gov. Chris Christie on Trump's SCOTUS pick Neil Gorsuch
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 1/31/17
Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) joins MSNBC's Brian Williams and Nicolle Wallace in an 11th Hour exclusive to discuss Trump's SCOTUS pick Neil Gorsuch and how the White House handled his roll out. Duration: 2:20
Gov. Christie defends Pres. Trump: 'This is not a Muslim Ban'
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 1/31/17
Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) joins MSNBC's Brian Williams & Nicolle Wallace in an 11th Hour exclusive to discuss the president's executive action on immigration. Duration: 9:17
Will Democrats fight Trump Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch?
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 1/31/17
MSNBC's Brian Williams is joined by Nicolle Wallace, Charlie Sykes, & Ashley Parker to discuss the politics of Pres. Trump's Supreme Court nominee. Duration: 5:06
The purpose of the order was not to protect Americans from radical jihadists hell-bent on murder, as the order states. Trump’s subsequent conduct confirms this, as we shall see.
The order justifies itself by declaring that increased vetting of immigrants, refugees, and visitors after the 9/11 attacks “did not stop attacks by foreign nationals who were admitted to the United States.”
What the order unquestionably did was give aid and comfort to ISIS and other apostate Muslim organizations. Even if you believe that Trump and Steve Bannon—his modern Rasputin [ http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/08/22/steve-bannon-trump-s-top-guy-told-me-he-was-a-leninist.html ]—had no such intent, the result is what matters. Presidents don’t get a pass for being ignorant or bigoted. Presidents are accountable for their actions.
When 100 State Department officials used an official channel to express their concerns that the executive order would put Americans in danger, the White House response was retaliatory. Sean Spicer, the press secretary, said they should get in line behind Trump or quit. Never mind that these diplomats acted properly, expressing their concerns under a policy that promises no retaliation. Never mind that American presidents are not dictators, at least not yet.
Yates was the only Justice Department official with authority to obtain surveillance warrants vital to protecting Americans by intercepting terrorist telecommunications.
What makes the firing revealing is that it was gratuitous.
If Trump cared about the safety and security of Americans, he could have used his authority to hire outside counsel to represent the government in defending his order while keeping Yates in place so new surveillance warrants could be obtained when needed until the Senate confirms a new attorney general.
While Trump demands "extreme vetting" of people from Muslim-dominated countries, his order was so poorly vetted that it is unlikely to survive appeals, and an experienced lawyer like Yates knew that.
In reply, the White House said Yates, who it called “very weak,” has “betrayed the Department of Justice.”
Ironically, when Yates was up for confirmation, she was asked: “Do you think the attorney general has the responsibility to say no to the president if he asks for something that’s improper?”
Yates answered that she would always act to ensure the integrity of the Justice Department by defending the Constitution.
The person asking her that? Senator Jeff Sessions, Trump’s attorney general nominee who at his own hearing made a similar pledge to be independent.
Trump’s surrogates keep saying he is just keeping the promises he made to the American people. His executive orders so far make it very clear how far he intends to go to keep those promises, regardless of what actually fulfilling them could mean to the nation and the world.
So let’s take a closer look at some of those promises, which are cause for more fear than the terror threat Trump keeps insisting he will somehow solve.
Let's turn to what Trump surrogates keep telling us: that the president is now faithfully carrying out what he promised on the campaign trail. So what else did he promise that's relevant to this ill-considered executive order?
In his inauguration address Trump promised to “unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the earth.”
Bombs can kill. Drones and assassins can take out jihadi leaders. But only nuclear weapons can wipe something from the face of the earth.
That the whole point of nuclear weapons is to never use them is lost on Trump, whose ignorance on many issues I documented in my book The Making of Donald Trump [ https://www.amazon.com/Making-Donald-Trump-David-Johnston/dp/1612196322 ]. The man does not know a Shia from a Sunni or even a Sikh, nor the reasons those differences matter. The executive order shows that he does not understand that banning people from Iraq and Sudan—including those who worked with American soldiers, spies, and diplomats at great personal risk—can only put Americans in more danger.
Reviving blind and murderous hatred of America until there are new terrorist attacks helps Trump draw more power into the Oval Office. Think about the travel-ban executive order in relation to Trump’s elevating the nationalist Bannon—whose avowed goal is “to bring everything crashing down”—to his national security meetings [ http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/01/29/trump-elevates-bannon-sabotages-himself.html ] while the Joint Chiefs at the Pentagon henceforth can attend only by invitation.
These are not the actions of a servant of the American people temporarily imbued with authority to act in our name, but of a know-nothing hell-bent on doing whatever he wants.
So, don’t be surprised if an American tactical nuclear weapon gets used against ISIS. I expect that he will at least try to get the military to do so—and I hope the generals say no.
But whether Trump sticks by that campaign promise or not, expect more official actions designed to inflame the world, to turn annoying minor problems like the dwindling ranks of ISIS into conflagrations that can serve as an excuse for ever more White House power.
As for fear, don’t be afraid of pipsqueak ISIS so much as our president misusing our government to make us ever less safe and then offering himself as our only protection.
The Disastrous Rollout of Trump's Immigration Ban: The Daily Show
Published on Feb 1, 2017 by The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
President Trump dismisses acting Attorney General Sally Yates after she announced that she would not uphold his possibly unlawful ban on travel from Muslim-majority countries.
Stephen Looks At Washington And Wonders: What's Happening?
Published on Jan 31, 2017 by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Stephen examines the latest chaotic news out of D.C. including a Supreme Court nomination, the Monday Night Massacre, and audio issues plaguing the Democrats.
"Carl Bernstein: 'There Is Open Discussion' Among GOP Officials That Trump Is Mentally Unstable"
Andrew Rosenthal FEB. 8, 2017
President Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times
Any parent who has had children in middle school is familiar with their teenage excuses. First, they complain that the teachers are mean and assign too much homework, then that the reading is boring, and then when all else fails, they give you that aggrieved look and whine, “It’s tooooo haaaaard.”
The point is that whatever happens, it’s someone else’s fault.
It’s annoying when it comes from a 13-year-old. When it comes from the president of the United States and his team, it’s downright terrifying.
In a chilling article in The Times .. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/05/us/politics/trump-white-house-aides-strategy.html .. this week, Glenn Thrush and Maggie Haberman described President Trump’s Keystone Kops White House where aides meet in the dark because they can’t figure out how to use the light switches (setting them to “on” might be worth trying), and Trump wanders around his living quarters in his bathrobe watching CNN and obsessing about how mean everyone is to him.
When his executive order putting Steve Bannon into the top circle of the National Security Council drew howls of protest, Trump got mad — because, Thrush and Haberman reported, he had not been fully briefed on the order before he signed it.
Not fully briefed? Didn’t Trump think he should at least have a conversation about the ramifications of setting aside a seat in the Situation Room for a purely political aide with no known national security credentials? (And no, Bannon’s seven years as a junior Navy officer do not amount to national security expertise.) Did Bannon just write the order himself without telling Trump what was in it?
Apparently there was not sufficient discussion of the anti-Muslim refugee and visa ban, either. Maybe the White House got overloaded with math homework or finding the light switches and couldn’t get to it. Nor was there time to discuss an order that gave the Central Intelligence Agency the power to go back into the “black site” prison business, or one that rolled back protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. (The first was revised and the second, apparently, scrapped.)
Now, we learn from the Times article, Reince Priebus has had the brilliant idea of actually looping the president in on the creation of executive orders and not just leaving the job to Bannon and to the White House policy director, Stephen Miller. There will be a 10-stage process for vetting such orders that will include thinking about how to communicate them to the public. It’s quite an innovation, except that it was standard procedure in previous administrations.
But it may make it harder for Trump to blame other people for his own problems, as he did when he attacked the federal judiciary over his visa ban, which presumably sets the stage for blaming the judges if there is a terrorist attack in the future. In the same spirit, Trump’s failure to win a majority in the national popular vote apparently was the fault of illegal immigrants and dead people.
The juvenile whining was in its glory during the one-hour argument this week in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which is considering whether to allow the visa and refugee ban to resume while legal challenges proceed.
At one point, a judge asked for evidence that the visa ban would actually make the government safer, and the government’s lawyer, August Flentje, responded with the “it’s too hard” dodge. He told the judges that the government had not had a chance to present evidence because “these proceedings have been moving quite fast, and we’re doing the best we can.”
Why hadn’t the administration gathered evidence to support its claim before issuing the visa ban?
Trump was back on Twitter on Wednesday morning attacking the appellate court judges — an astonishing attempt by a president to interfere in the judicial process. “If the U.S. does not win this case as it so obviously should, we can never have the security and safety to which we are entitled,” Trump said.
The logic of that eludes me. If Trump loses this case, he’ll pick up his marbles and go home and not try anything else to keep America safe? He’ll hold his breath until he turns blue? Or will he just pass notes around to all the other eighth graders about how mean the teachers are?
Twit Trump's tweet reveals his ignorance .. again.
“We've worked long and hard to get to a protocol where heads of state, finance ministers, and central banks don't target and specifically mention levels of their currency,” one financial analyst told Bloomberg. “He [Trump] just blew that.”
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