Author Topic: The Trump Presidency  (Read 399853 times)

Offline ka9q

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #105 on: February 17, 2017, 05:36:48 PM »
When I was a kid, the Russians always seemed to have "fishing trawlers" in international waters off the US coast, especially near areas like central Florida. I hadn't heard about this for some time, but neither had I heard that they stopped.

Offline Obviousman

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #106 on: February 18, 2017, 05:00:37 AM »
Hmmm AGIs.

Offline Zakalwe

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #107 on: February 18, 2017, 06:46:37 AM »
This week he signed Resolution 38 which overturns a law passed in December last year that stopped coal mining firms from dumping spill and pollution into streams. Whilst surrounded by a bunch of coal mining firm's lawyers and Republicans. And Pruitt was confirmed yesterday as head of the EPA in a rush to get him appointed before thousands of emails between him [Pruitt] and fossil fuel companies are published on Tuesday following a court order. Pruitt has been fighting the release of these emails for two years. Pruitt, the same guy that has tried to sue the EPA 14 times to stop them imposing rules on fossil fuel companies.

The Republican party will not stop supporting Trump as long as he continues to dismantle the regulations on big business, especially the fossil fuel industry. And Trump's ranting at the press, the media, clouds etc. means that the headlines are filled with column inches that hide the real damage that's being done in plain sight.

This is the guy that was going to "drain the swamp" and cut corruption. America, you deserve a slap for electing this puppet. I'm gone beyond caring that he messes up your country, but this muppet, and his Republican controllers, will damage the rest of the world.
"The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.' " - Isaac Asimov

Offline gillianren

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #108 on: February 18, 2017, 01:37:16 PM »
And some friend of ToSeek's on Facebook is suggesting that we "give him a chance" until September before passing judgement.
"This sounds like a job for Bipolar Bear . . . but I just can't seem to get out of bed!"

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Offline Glom

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #109 on: February 18, 2017, 07:03:39 PM »
Maybe in September democracy will not have collapsed. He certainly sounds scary. Always atttacking courts and media.

Offline Glom

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #110 on: February 22, 2017, 04:47:34 AM »
Not looking good. A UK citizen was refusrd entry despite having a valid visa. We don't know why but some suspect he may have had a stamp from one of the countries on the list.

Offline twik

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #111 on: February 22, 2017, 10:17:25 AM »
I wonder if Trump's supporters are happy with how U.S. Customs agents forced a NASA scientist to unlock his secured phone http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/nasa-scientists-detained-border-phone-unlock-trump-immigration-a7577906.html? Despite being, you know, the scientist in question being a citizen born in the U.S.

Offline Glom

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #112 on: February 22, 2017, 11:22:22 AM »
The only weird thing is that the article says he was travelling on a valid US visa. They must have meant passport.

Offline JayUtah

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #113 on: February 22, 2017, 11:26:19 AM »
When I was a kid, the Russians always seemed to have "fishing trawlers" in international waters off the US coast, especially near areas like central Florida. I hadn't heard about this for some time, but neither had I heard that they stopped.

Russian "trawlers" and "cargo ships" routinely shadowed U.S. Navy operations.  I lived overseas for a while during the Cold War in a NATO port city and saw a lot of Navy traffic there, always accompanied by the same few Russian "cargo ships."  We got to recognize them.  They would arrive in port the day after some warship and depart the day after.  There was always a lot of activity on the ship while in port, almost none of it seeming to have anything to do with loading or unloading cargo.  Also, do cargo ships need antennas that big?
"Facts are stubborn things." --John Adams

Offline JayUtah

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #114 on: February 22, 2017, 11:40:13 AM »
This week he signed Resolution 38 which overturns a law passed in December last year that stopped coal mining firms from dumping spill and pollution into streams.

Sort of.  Congress passes laws, which are general, and the executive -- usually a specific agency directed by statute -- implements them as rules, which are extremely specific.  A law that takes only a few paragraphs to spell out in the United States Code may expand to thousands of pages in the Code of Federal Regulations, which the executive agencies use to actually create an enforceable policy.  It is these detailed policies embodied in the CFR that are what need to be followed.  The so-called Streams rule you refer to was a monumental piece of environmental regulation, painstakingly worked out by more than just the Obama administration.  Because the process of executive rulemaking is surprisingly more time-consuming than the legislative process, the steps required to remove a regulation, once adopted, are similarly monumental.  However, there is a provision that allows Congress, within 90 days of a rule's adoption, to simply legislate it away.  And the President signs it as with any other piece of legislation, and an entire thousand-page book of regulation can be wiped away with the stroke of a pen -- a measure that would normally take careful deliberation.  That's what happened here.

Oh, but it gets better.  This particular provision is considered a nuclear option.  It's a vast intrusion by Congress on the power of the executive, so prior to Trump taking office it was used only once previously in its entire history to overturn a set of regulations regarding OSHA and ergonomics.  The reason it's a nuclear option is that if a regulation is done away with by this means, no similar rule can ever be written, ever again.  Not only does this do away with clean water restrictions on the mineral industry for the term of this administration, it does away with it for all time.

The escalation of partisan politics to include such nuclear options should frighten people.
"Facts are stubborn things." --John Adams

Offline JayUtah

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #115 on: February 22, 2017, 12:12:04 PM »
Maybe they will support impeachment if it means it will improve their own chances of re-election. Otherwise they might just get tossed out in two years.

We're doing our best here to toss out Jason Chaffetz.  There are credible GOP contenders, and he's losing support here even among Republicans.  (Why not elect a Democrat or an independent?  Because Utah.)  I tried to get into his now-infamous town hall meeting a while back, but like most people who wanted to attend I had to be satisfied with hovering outside.  Chaffetz' committee has oversight responsibility for the executive, but simply refuses to exercise it over Trump with respect to his conflicts of interest.  In response to the chants of "Do your job!" Chaffetz' answer was predictably evasive.  He simply said the President was "exempt" and that was supposed to be the end of it.  Well, yes, except from one conflict-of-interest law, but not from the general need to avoid emolument.

Further, Chaffetz' committee isn't ja law-enforcement agency.  The executive is limited to investigating violations of laws that already exist.  The legislature is not, and it can make laws as needed.  One of the reasons we allow Congress the power to investigate is to determine whether new laws are warranted.  In other words, maybe the President shouldn't be exempt from conflict-of-interest laws, and maybe it's Chaffetz' duty to collect facts that either support or refute that proposition.  Past presidents have voluntarily divested their conflicting interests, so there's an evident moral mandate for such a law.  Maybe the reason no one thought before to hold the President accountable for conflicts of interest was because other Presidents held themselves accountable without being asked, and demonstrated that accountability convincingly.  Gee, if everyone drove 100 km/h or slower on the freeway without being told to, it wouldn't matter if there were a speed limit law and if some drivers were exempt from it.  It's only when that one jerk drives recklessly fast and causes a wreck that we begin to consider the need for regulation and enforcement.

To paraphrase Rand Paul, "Republicans don't investigate other Republicans."  That seems to be the conventional partisan wisdom so far.  We'll get no meaningful oversight so long as partisan politics overshadow constitutional checks and balances.  As for re-election, the tap dancing required to separate races for different branches of government within a single party are well established.  Should the need arise -- and it probably will -- GOP candidates for Congress in 2018 and later will already have the rhetoric in place to separate themselves just enough from Trump to make a credible showing.  The only way a GOP Congress would impeach President Trump is if he were to do something so treasonous as to make it inevitable political suicide to continue to support him.
"Facts are stubborn things." --John Adams

Offline LunarOrbit

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #116 on: February 22, 2017, 09:03:15 PM »
Maybe they will support impeachment if it means it will improve their own chances of re-election. Otherwise they might just get tossed out in two years.

We're doing our best here to toss out Jason Chaffetz.

Keep it up! :)

I've been watching the news reports of the anger being expressed at GOP town halls, and it is reassuring to me that people are speaking up and resisting. But I do worry that it will lose steam before the next election.

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Chaffetz' committee has oversight responsibility for the executive, but simply refuses to exercise it over Trump with respect to his conflicts of interest.

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To paraphrase Rand Paul, "Republicans don't investigate other Republicans."  That seems to be the conventional partisan wisdom so far.  We'll get no meaningful oversight so long as partisan politics overshadow constitutional checks and balances.

The "party first, country second" attitude is so frustrating to me. It's not just limited to the Republicans, or even the United States, but Republicans do seem to take it to extremes. And when we're talking about issues that affect the entire planet (such as the destruction of the environment, or even situations that could lead to war) we have to put our political loyalties aside. Republicans have to take the concerns about Trump more seriously.

I was skeptical that the "checks and balances" were going to be effective when Republicans  basically control everything, so it was reassuring that the courts blocked the travel ban.

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The only way a GOP Congress would impeach President Trump is if he were to do something so treasonous as to make it inevitable political suicide to continue to support him.

It sure sounds like if the intelligence agencies keep digging they will find something treasonous. But it no longer surprises me when Republicans do mental gymnastics to justify their continued support of Trump despite his behaviour.
It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth.
I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth.
I didn't feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.
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Offline Glom

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #117 on: February 23, 2017, 03:05:34 AM »
So no law that prevents industry from polluting rivers can ever be implemented in the future? That's ridiculous.

We have the principle that no Parliament can bind future Parliaments.

Offline gillianren

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #118 on: February 23, 2017, 11:35:32 AM »
Side note, happy belated, Jay.  Are you not on Facebook anymore?
"This sounds like a job for Bipolar Bear . . . but I just can't seem to get out of bed!"

"Conspiracy theories are an irresistible labour-saving device in the face of complexity."  --Henry Louis Gates

Offline Glom

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Re: The Trump Presidency
« Reply #119 on: February 23, 2017, 11:43:10 AM »
Even the Constitution can be amended. This doesn't sound right. Do you mean those rules can't be introduced under the current law but Congress could pass a new law?