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NEVERENDING ♾️ The NEVERENDING Political Discussion Thread

TOFB said:
Of course you did! :D
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It's funny -- I have a travel bag for the horn, so it draws comment. Packing it up in the rental car turn-in area, I was asked (in all sincerity) if it was a flotation device. (When I fly to NOLA, *everyone at the Louis Armstrong airport knows exactly what it is.)

Heading there, I put too much heavy stuff in it, so I not only got charged for a checked bag, but also overweight. Then a FB buddy mentioned a baggage clerk helping him remove items from a checked bag to put into a carry-on, which is why I picked up the kiddie suitcase at a thrift store.

Bonus: at check-in I paid the $25 checked bag fee, and that was not adjusted at the counter. Will follow that procedure going forward.

horn case 3.jpg

Still looking for more video evidence.

 
Veloise said:
It's funny -- I have a travel bag for the horn, so it draws comment. Packing it up in the rental car turn-in area, I was asked (in all sincerity) if it was a flotation device. (When I fly to NOLA, *everyone at the Louis Armstrong airport knows exactly what it is.)

Heading there, I put too much heavy stuff in it, so I not only got charged for a checked bag, but also overweight. Then a FB buddy mentioned a baggage clerk helping him remove items from a checked bag to put into a carry-on, which is why I picked up the kiddie suitcase at a thrift store.

Bonus: at check-in I paid the $25 checked bag fee, and that was not adjusted at the counter. Will follow that procedure going forward.

View attachment 5730

Still looking for more video evidence.

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I've got a couple beater axes I may have to paint for the inevitable future marches. . . .
 
gtpeach said:
So... anyone wanna talk about this? https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...485447148486&tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.af71d478c0b5

I can't decide if I want to applaud them or be angry at them for leaving us to Tillerson without at least some experience in the highest levels of the State department. Or maybe I'm overblowing it and this is no big deal?
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From other stuff I've been reading over the past few weeks it sounded like almost all the deputy/under-secretary level folks were going to be replaced across the board (the Trump transition team had even issued an order that all ambassadors needed to be out of their respective posts by the time he was sworn in because he wanted to make his own appointments for EVERY. SINGLE. AMBASSADORSHIP.) so these folks probably saw the writing on the wall and figured there was little incentive to hang around just waiting for the inevitable. I would imagine that their counsel was not even being listened to after Trump and his team officially took over last week so they figured, what's the point?

Yes, the sudden collective loss of institutional knowledge is a blow to the State Department but there is likely a bigger pipeline of knowledgeable career level foreign service personnel willing and able to step into these positions than what today's articles say. There are plenty of SES-level folks or those working at think tanks with focuses on international policy, relations, defense/security, and development who would be qualified and the State Department will be able to continue with their operations. Those who walked out likely had objections with the direction they saw policy headed so decided to make the little bit of a show of it that they could, but the administration will not have a hard time finding people to nominate for these posts in relatively short order. Of course, the question now is will the Trump administration actually pick qualified folks?
 
I'm just questioning the lock down on the EPA. So now scientific articles have to be reviewed by the White House first if I'm understanding it right. WTF?
 
WSU MUP Student said:
From other stuff I've been reading over the past few weeks it sounded like almost all the deputy/under-secretary level folks were going to be replaced across the board (the Trump transition team had even issued an order that all ambassadors needed to be out of their respective posts by the time he was sworn in because he wanted to make his own appointments for EVERY. SINGLE. AMBASSADORSHIP.) so these folks probably saw the writing on the wall and figured there was little incentive to hang around just waiting for the inevitable. I would imagine that their counsel was not even being listened to after Trump and his team officially took over last week so they figured, what's the point?

Yes, the sudden collective loss of institutional knowledge is a blow to the State Department but there is likely a bigger pipeline of knowledgeable career level foreign service personnel willing and able to step into these positions than what today's articles say. There are plenty of SES-level folks or those working at think tanks with focuses on international policy, relations, defense/security, and development who would be qualified and the State Department will be able to continue with their operations. Those who walked out likely had objections with the direction they saw policy headed so decided to make the little bit of a show of it that they could, but the administration will not have a hard time finding people to nominate for these posts in relatively short order. Of course, the question now is will the Trump administration actually pick qualified folks?
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from what I've read in an updated article, they were told their services were no longer required (presidential for You're Fired)




So far now the hairy cheeto has; 1) suppressed the press, 2) gag order on non-profits that receive federal or foreign aid for abortions, 3) gag order of EPA employees, - oh never mind, I'll be typing for a week...
 
Some people are going to be very upset when they find out 'Obamacare' and the ACA are the exact same thing.


So the hairy cheeto has banned immigration - where will he find his next wife?
 
I have been sitting back to watch the discussion. No I did not vote for Trump, nor will I defend many of his actions.

The few observations that I will make is that the Media sucks, many of Trump's appointments should not be entry level for the positions that they will lead, and there is an interesting Ted talk style video where some guy explains immigration using gumballs that is quite interesting.
 
Oh one other thing. I am good with Trump using executive orders to undo the bad Executive Orders that Obama did and the few procedural things that all the presidents have to do such as assigning secret service protection for his family. However everything else should go through Congress. Things like building a wall, immigration restrictions, and most of what he has done so far should follow the process intended by the founding fathers.

Trump needs to realize that he is part of a process and not the whole process.
 
michaelskis said:
Oh one other thing. I am good with Trump using executive orders to undo the bad Executive Orders that Obama did and the few procedural things that all the presidents have to do such as assigning secret service protection for his family. However everything else should go through Congress. Things like building a wall, immigration restrictions, and most of what he has done so far should follow the process intended by the founding fathers.

Trump needs to realize that he is part of a process and not the whole process.
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He's just fast tracking it all. There's no point in going through Congress and creating a stir when it's going to go through anyways. It's also a power thing for him. The more he can do by himself, the more power he believes he has.
 
I think Trump will cause much more upheaval than any political body could have imagined.

His words were one thing. People laughed them off as silly, stupid, ignorant, or simple.

He is now trying to actually do what he said he would do, and people are angry.

---

I think Trump is going to keep pushing, picking a crazy right wing SC nominee. He will spend 24B on a wall that won't do anything, but will keep his campaign promise. He will make good on lots of his promises.

Then in 2018 there will be a huge voting out of Republicans. And 2020 will again be back to 2008.

Trump and his policies will only be for 4 years if he doesn't figure out his shit pretty quick.
 
From Slate article:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slat...the_muslim_ban_with_his_business_in_mind.html


No one from any of the seven countries his ban affects directly is known to have been responsible for a fatal terror attack on U.S. soil in the past two-plus decades. None. Zero. Zilch. And, once again, the same can’t be said for those nations that were left off it.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt together accounted for 18 of the 19 hijackers responsible for 9/11, an attack the president specifically cited in his order imposing a travel ban that affects none of those three countries. According to data compiled by the Cato Institute, meanwhile, nationals from the trio have accounted for the overwhelming majority—94.1 percent—of all American deaths in terrorist attacks on U.S. soil committed by foreign-born individuals between 1975 and 2015. Also unaffected by Trump’s ban is Turkey, where the State Department last week began warning American visitors about “increased threats from terrorist groups.”


so very sad
 
Planit said:
From Slate article:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slat...the_muslim_ban_with_his_business_in_mind.html


No one from any of the seven countries his ban affects directly is known to have been responsible for a fatal terror attack on U.S. soil in the past two-plus decades. None. Zero. Zilch. And, once again, the same can’t be said for those nations that were left off it.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt together accounted for 18 of the 19 hijackers responsible for 9/11, an attack the president specifically cited in his order imposing a travel ban that affects none of those three countries. According to data compiled by the Cato Institute, meanwhile, nationals from the trio have accounted for the overwhelming majority—94.1 percent—of all American deaths in terrorist attacks on U.S. soil committed by foreign-born individuals between 1975 and 2015. Also unaffected by Trump’s ban is Turkey, where the State Department last week began warning American visitors about “increased threats from terrorist groups.”


so very sad
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I keep hearing that the seven countries identified in the ban were chosen because they were identified by the Obama administration, and that seems to be somewhat legitimate. What I would say, though, is that this is very lazy policy-making. "Let's just take what the last guy was doing, and explode it 1,000 times" basically.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/29/politics/how-the-trump-administration-chose-the-7-countries/.
 
Follow the money. Why do you think Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt aren't on the list? We do a TON of business with them. And it's not new for the current administration. It's gone on for decades. Anyone who thinks for one second that the people in charge are going to allow anything to happen to their ability to profit, even at the sake of national security are misguided. Again, follow the money.
 
MD Planner said:
Follow the money.
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That is going to be the backbone of the next 4 years. You put a businessman in the White House, who blatantly made it clear he intends to run government like a business, and you get someone who does things for money, instead of the public good.

Follow the money. We are all going to be honey badgers by the end of this.
 
This is my little bit of credit for the voter fraud thing. Some states like Kansas have a tough time purging the voter roles. So I could move to Texas and register and then I'll be registered in two states. I wouldn't be surprised to find out I'm still registered in Arizona. The illegal part comes in with voting in two states. I'm just not sure how I would manage that, but I understand people have done it accidentally. There should be a deadline to register for the election so this kind of thing doesn't happen.
 
AG74683 said:
Saturday Night Massacre anyone? This will be a turning point. People are going to begin to turn against him now.
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I disagree that people will be turning against him, but perhaps become more divided regarding his approach. I base this on when I browse the comment sections on Facebook, and seeing the posts of a few friends with political ideals that differ from mine; the general response I am seeing from the growing fringe is is a doubling down on their praise for Trump. It doesn't help that Brannon is buddy-buddy with the far-right media sources, so they're spinning everything as positive. If you happen to believe that all other sources are part of the liberal-media bias, then you're going to follow the Breitbart narrative. Meanwhile, the rest of us are in shock.
 
Ah....what??

dvdneal said:
This is my little bit of credit for the voter fraud thing. Some states like Kansas have a tough time purging the voter roles. So I could move to Texas and register and then I'll be registered in two states. I wouldn't be surprised to find out I'm still registered in Arizona. The illegal part comes in with voting in two states. I'm just not sure how I would manage that, but I understand people have done it accidentally. There should be a deadline to register for the election so this kind of thing doesn't happen.
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The whole registered in two or three places is a farce. When I move into a new state, they take my old drivers license and return/report my new license. The State I left better purge me from their voter records when that takes place, otherwise blame them, not a political party. If a State like Kansas is too stupid to fully fund their elections department and won't pay for a data download every year from the other states to compare and purge voters, they get what they pay for....nothing.

After all, I register to vote when I get my drivers license. When someone finds more than a few examples of people voting in more than one State, let me know. It'll be the first time I've ever seen any evidence of it. If I don't drive and still register to vote, same idea applies.
 
The One said:
The whole registered in two or three places is a farce. When I move into a new state, they take my old drivers license and return/report my new license. The State I left better purge me from their voter records when that takes place, otherwise blame them, not a political party. If a State like Kansas is too stupid to fully fund their elections department and won't pay for a data download every year from the other states to compare and purge voters, they get what they pay for....nothing.

After all, I register to vote when I get my drivers license. When someone finds more than a few examples of people voting in more than one State, let me know. It'll be the first time I've ever seen any evidence of it. If I don't drive and still register to vote, same idea applies.
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I don't think there's a standard policy for states to notify each other when someone moves or gets a new license. I didn't have to surrender my Minnesotan license when I moved back to Virginia. Maybe some states do it that way and some don't.
 
The only surefire way that I can think of that would ensure people aren't registered in multiple states would have to be some sort of federal registry (i.e. a national ID card). I cannot imagine that sounds like a good idea to many on the right who are usually concerned about the federal overreach into responsibilities that are typically left to the individual states or the federal government collecting too much information on individuals. I'm not saying I agree with that viewpoint.
 
Gedunker said:
The First Cheetoh's nominee for Supreme Court is the son of Ann Gorsuch Burden, who was EPA director under Ronny Raygun. It did not go well. Ann Gorsuch Burden WaPo Obit. Hasn't that family already done enough to harm the US?
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Eh, I can't hold that against him though, he had no control over it and it certainly wasn't his fault. I disagree with Gorsuch on many positions, however his record is impeccable, his legal decisions are clear, concise, well written, and even a little entertaining. He's definitely Scalia 2.0, but he's not the worst Trump could have done.

The Dems are looking completely foolish with their appointment hearing boycotts. Stop looking like sore losers and do your damn job.
 
AG74683 said:
The Dems are looking completely foolish with their appointment hearing boycotts. Stop looking like sore losers and do your damn job.
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I agree to a point, but they are still mad because the Rs refused to even hold a hearing for Merrick Garland. Obama was elected to a 4-year term, but his powers were limited by the Rs to 3 years. I think they recognize it will all be for show, but they need to show and not roll over.
 
Planit said:
I agree to a point, but they are still mad because the Rs refused to even hold a hearing for Merrick Garland. Obama was elected to a 4-year term, but his powers were limited by the Rs to 3 years. I think they recognize it will all be for show, but they need to show and not roll over.
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Yeah I get that too, so hold up the Gorsuch hearing, not those for cabinet positions.
 
Gorsuch doesn't change the balance of the court. He just replaces Scalia's votes. Now if Ginsburg goes down then we've got something to really talk about. Roe v. Wade seems to be the big issue but it isn't like that's going to get in front of the USSC anytime soon. First, some state has to pass a law making it illegal and then it has to work its way through the process. By the time that happens one-term Trump will likely be gone.
 
Samuel Johnson (1758)
"Among the calamities of war may be jointly numbered the diminution of the love of truth,
by the falsehoods which interest dictates and credulity encourages."
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"Protest"
by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (November 5, 1850–October 30, 1919), from her 1914 book Poems of Problems

To sin by silence, when we should protest,
Makes cowards out of men. The human race
Has climbed on protest. Had no voice been raised
Against injustice, ignorance, and lust,
The inquisition yet would serve the law,
And guillotines decide our least disputes.
The few who dare, must speak and speak again
To right the wrongs of many. Speech, thank God,
No vested power in this great day and land
Can gag or throttle. Press and voice may cry
Loud disapproval of existing ills;
May criticise oppression and condemn
The lawlessness of wealth-protecting laws
That let the children and childbearers toil
To purchase ease for idle millionaires.
Therefore I do protest against the boast
Of independence in this mighty land.
Call no chain strong, which holds one rusted link.
Call no land free, that holds one fettered slave.
Until the manacled slim wrists of babes
Are loosed to toss in childish sport and glee,
Until the mother bears no burden, save
The precious one beneath her heart, until
God's soil is rescued from the clutch of greed
And given back to labor, let no man
Call this the land of freedom.
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AIB
An Anthem Against Silence: Amanda Palmer Reads Ella Wheeler Wilcox's Piercing and Prescient 1914 Protest Poem
https://www.brainpickings.org/2017/01/31/protest-poem-ella-wheeler-wilcox-amanda-palmer/
 
Trump is a disaster. I still chuckle that he beat Hillary.

I pray that we get better candidates in the future and that the US survives Trump.
 
michaelskis said:
Trump is a disaster. I still chuckle that he beat Hillary.

I pray that we get better candidates in the future and that the US survives Trump.
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Agreed. I'm still fascinated that he found a way to win the electoral college while losing the popular vote by 3 million. I honestly didn't think it was possible for there to be that significant of a disparity between the electoral and popular while still winning the electoral. I understand how it happened, I'm just fascinated that it actually did. I think there is a real issue in the electoral college framework pertaining to equal value of votes. A vote in Wyoming actually counts more, as a proportion of an electoral vote, than a vote in Texas. There are reasons for this, but I think it is emerging as a significant problem now in what has become an urbanized, versus agrarian, country.
 
Suburb Repairman said:
Agreed. I'm still fascinated that he found a way to win the electoral college while losing the popular vote by 3 million. I honestly didn't think it was possible for there to be that significant of a disparity between the electoral and popular while still winning the electoral. I understand how it happened, I'm just fascinated that it actually did. I think there is a real issue in the electoral college framework pertaining to equal value of votes. A vote in Wyoming actually counts more, as a proportion of an electoral vote, than a vote in Texas. There are reasons for this, but I think it is emerging as a significant problem now in what has become an urbanized, versus agrarian, country.
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I'm not a conservative by any stretch of the imagination, but that's the best argument for giving as much power as possible to the lower levels of government, right? I was thinking about this on the way in to work. My issue is that this results/has resulted in extreme inequities, but when you try to make policies that meet the needs of both urban and rural areas, you end up compromising to a point where it doesn't really help either of them much. Or you end up favoring one over the other - and usually that's the urban areas since that's where the voters are.
 
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