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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Open Thread: Rising Damp (Diapers)

Open Thread: Rising Damp (Diapers)

by Anne Laurie|  November 16, 20158:22 pm| 56 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Republican Venality, Decline and Fall

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This is like blaming fleeing German Jews for Hitler in 1939. https://t.co/haInkvPYgq

— Thomas Oatley (@thoatley) November 16, 2015

15 House Republicans rally behind new proposal to block funds for Syrian resettlement program, @John_Hudson reports https://t.co/y2GTNv3r0a

— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) November 16, 2015

From the article, the rollcall of the shameful:

… The growing momentum behind new legislation, still being drafted, sets up a future clash between the White House and Congress as the Obama administration seeks to offer residency to 10,000 Syrian refugees who currently live outside the conflict zone. Currently, 60 million people worldwide have been forced from their homes or are otherwise considered refugees — higher than at any other time in recorded history. An estimated six million to eight million displaced people are still in Syria, and more than four million Syrian refugees are in Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon.

The draft legislation, a copy of which was obtained by FP, is backed by Reps. Brian Babin, Lou Barletta, Diane Black, Mo Brooks, Jeff Duncan, John Duncan, Blake Farenthold, Louie Gohmert, Frank Guinta, Gregg Harper, Walter Jones, Steve King, Mike Pompeo, Mark Meadows, and Bill Posey. It would prevent funding for the resettlement of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa until authorities adopt “processes to ensure that refugee and related programs are not able to be co-opted by would-be terrorists.” Once those processes are in place, details of the security checks must be given to Congress in both classified and public forums, and the administration must establish a “longer-term monitoring process” to track refugees in the U.S…

Additionally, House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul plans to raise the issue of blocking Syrian refugee resettlement at a Tuesday meeting with fellow Republicans, according to two congressional sources.

In a Monday letter to President Barack Obama, McCaul called on the White House to immediately “suspend” the admission of all additional Syrian refugees…

A senior Obama administration official, speaking to FP on condition of anonymity, said security concerns about incoming refugees were unfounded — in large part because they undergo “the highest level” of scrutiny by intelligence and security government agencies.

“All refugees, including Syrians, are admitted only after successful completion of this stringent security screening regime,” the official said….

Yet according to the NYTimes number-crunchers, the odds are that these pants-wetters won’t even get what they’re looking for — namely, more votes for the Coalition of the Fearful:

… How long-lasting an effect will the Paris attacks have on the United States presidential race? Absent further attacks, the suggestion that Paris will prove to be a “game changer” is unlikely to be correct. Though unexpected events like Mitt Romney’s “47 percent” taped remarks or the Ebola outbreak often seem tremendously important at the time, their effects on the polls and the content of debate are often less durable than we expect. Even the killing of Osama bin Laden had little discernible effect on President Obama’s approval ratings. One initial piece of evidence in favor of this hypothesis: Prices in betting markets tracked by David Rothschild of Microsoft Research over the weekend showed virtually no change in the expected winners of the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations or the general election…

With that said, the attacks may prompt a sustained focus on foreign policy among Republicans, who are still searching for an issue to run on against Democrats in 2016. With the economy growing relatively steadily, the prospects for a classic referendum campaign against the party in power are uncertain. That’s why so many G.O.P. candidates seized on the events in Paris, which allow them to emphasize an issue in which their party has tended to have an advantage in recent decades. A September Gallup poll found that Republicans enjoyed a 52 percent to 36 percent edge over Democrats on which party would do a better job of protecting the country from international terrorism and military threats.

If the economic expansion continues, don’t be surprised if you hear Republicans frequently invoking the Paris attacks as a reminder of Mrs. Clinton’s failure to help head off the ISIS threat when she was secretary of state. Politically, it’s easiest for opposition parties to run against a weak economy, but fear may be second best.

Once again: Repubs only win if the average American loses.

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Reader Interactions

56Comments

  1. 1.

    lamh36

    November 16, 2015 at 8:25 pm

    Damnit…I hope folks go out and vote, cause John Bel Edwards is bringing it to Vitter

    @Taniel

    30s30 seconds ago
    Vitter: “I have worked hard to earn the redemption from that low point… Redemption and forgiveness is something people can relate to.”

    Edwards: “We’re obligated as Christians to forgive. Doesn’t mean we have to forget… No obligation to vote for someone who commits a crime”

  2. 2.

    Corner Stone

    November 16, 2015 at 8:26 pm

    The draft legislation, a copy of which was obtained by FP, is backed by a legion of stupid so dense it would pop your noggin just to merely see their names in rapid succession.

  3. 3.

    lamh36

    November 16, 2015 at 8:26 pm

    Ted Cruz says his Cuban refugee father is different than Syrian refugees, who are bad bc they’re Muslim.

  4. 4.

    lamh36

    November 16, 2015 at 8:27 pm

    @owillis
    if only we had a seasonally appropriate story about middle eastern people seeking refuge being turned away by the heartless

  5. 5.

    dmsilev

    November 16, 2015 at 8:27 pm

    Question: Can we kick out Rep Peter King (R-IRA) for his support of Christian terrorists?

  6. 6.

    Corner Stone

    November 16, 2015 at 8:30 pm

    a future clash between the White House and Congress as the Obama administration seeks to offer residency to 10,000 Syrian refugees

    10,000? Ten freaking thousand? We are truly horrible people.

  7. 7.

    Corner Stone

    November 16, 2015 at 8:32 pm

    In light of recent events, how sad are the Papa John’s commercials with Peyton in them? On a scale of wah wah wah to gleeful snorking.

  8. 8.

    Corner Stone

    November 16, 2015 at 8:33 pm

    Having problem loading page every third click on this site is becoming efgoldman levels of tedious.

  9. 9.

    Corner Stone

    November 16, 2015 at 8:34 pm

    Hey! An actual tackle by first contact defender on the Texans! Yay!

  10. 10.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    November 16, 2015 at 8:35 pm

    There are conflicting reports, but it looks like there’s a good chance that the refugee passport found at the crime scene was a deliberate plant. Last I saw, all of the perps who have been identified were French or Belgian residents.

    Good job falling for a deliberate forgery, idiot Republicans!

  11. 11.

    lamh36

    November 16, 2015 at 8:38 pm

    Whoa! Glad it didn’t end the way it could have. I love Abbie on NCIS.

    ‘I almost died tonight’: ‘NCIS’ actress tweets about violent attack

  12. 12.

    NotMax

    November 16, 2015 at 8:39 pm

    Just got off the phone with USPS inspection division.

    First class letter arrived today (16th); mailed and postmarked Nov. 3.

    Envelope had been opened and was empty, contents (letter and a check) gone.

    Grrr.

  13. 13.

    Woodrowfan

    November 16, 2015 at 8:40 pm

    we really are a nation of bed wetters. If you live in some small town or city in “the heartland” you are not going to be an ISIS target.

  14. 14.

    lamh36

    November 16, 2015 at 8:40 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): I said from jump that it was way convenient to have that Syrian Passport found near NOT on the attacker…smh.

  15. 15.

    goblue72

    November 16, 2015 at 8:42 pm

    These are the same people that 80 years ago would have been perfectly ok with forcing Jews to wear yellow stars on their clothing. 120 years ago, they are the same people hanging No Irish Need Apply signs in their shop windows. And they are the same people that probably question why we let the “Japs” out of the internment camps.

  16. 16.

    JPL

    November 16, 2015 at 8:42 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): It’s amazing that it was in one piece. Passports must be made of something stronger than body parts. So far those identified are from France and Belgium. Some had traveled to Syria to fight though.

  17. 17.

    Redshift

    November 16, 2015 at 8:45 pm

    This is like blaming fleeing German Jews for Hitler in 1939.

    Which would be more shocking if Ben Carson hadn’t already done that.

    Also, these clowns are the ideological heirs of the people who didn’t want to let in the Jews in the 30s.

  18. 18.

    Baud

    November 16, 2015 at 8:45 pm

    @lamh36:

    Whoa!

  19. 19.

    Myiq2xu

    November 16, 2015 at 8:47 pm

    It would prevent funding for the resettlement of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa until authorities adopt “processes to ensure that refugee and related programs are not able to be co-opted by would-be terrorists.” Once those processes are in place, details of the security checks must be given to Congress in both classified and public forums, and the administration must establish a “longer-term monitoring process” to track refugees in the U.S.

    Except it is not about blaming, it is about protecting our country from the possibility that terrorists posing as refugees might sneak into the country and perform atrocities like they did in Paris.

    BTW – The Tsarnaev brothers were admitted to the US as refugees.

  20. 20.

    Botsplainer

    November 16, 2015 at 8:48 pm

    @Woodrowfan:

    If I was an ISIS planner, I’d be aiming for a suburban mall in Jacksonville, a megachurch in Dallas, a convention in Nashville, a basketball game in Charlotte, a high school in Odessa, a hospital in Little Rock, a police station in Nashville….

  21. 21.

    lamh36

    November 16, 2015 at 8:52 pm

    All Paris attackers identified so far are European nationals, according to top EU official 8

  22. 22.

    Anne Laurie

    November 16, 2015 at 8:52 pm

    @goblue72: Hell, these are the same “good citizens”, now d/b/a Christians, who’d’ve called for Governor ‘Punch’ Pilate to release the mere felon Barabbas and subject that filthy rabble-rouser and cult leader Jesus to the death penalty.

    (Also: Matthew 25:41)

  23. 23.

    lamh36

    November 16, 2015 at 8:56 pm

    Was there ever a movement to stop Cuban refugees from coming into the US?

    I ask because imagine if wayback when it was decided since Cuba was considered an enemy of the US that we wouldn’t accept any Cuban refugees…what would have happened to baby Marco Rubio?

    For that matter, if the US had adopted the same “close the borders” immigration laws that Bobby Jindal has latched on to..what would have happened to baby Bobby (first of all, there would probably be no baby “Bobby”, he’d more than likely still be going by his birth name) or baby Rafeal Cruz?

  24. 24.

    jl

    November 16, 2015 at 8:56 pm

    Apparently none of attackers has been definitely ID’d as a refugee yet, at least I see no mention of a fingerprint ID tying an attacker to a refugee in the Guardian piece. The passport connection to someone who was among the refugees is the only evidence mentioned.

    Why Syrian refugee passport found at Paris attack scene must be treated with caution
    The Guardian
    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/15/why-syrian-refugee-passport-found-at-paris-attack-scene-must-be-treated-with-caution

    So we have growing and definite evidence that most of the terrorists were home grown in Belgium and France, but the scared bedwetters and cynical manipulators want to focus on what is, so far, a minor element of the attack. Why? Easier to scaremonger over what is, so far, speculation. And easy solution (in the short run): just keep them out.

    Of course, how much worse things will get if we allow GOP loons to keep them out and allow them to block funds to help with refugee crisis in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, and destabilize things there? But so what? Can always blame whatever happens on Obama and the Dems.

  25. 25.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    November 16, 2015 at 8:57 pm

    @Myiq2x0:

    So far, all of the Paris attackers have been identified as French or Belgian residents. But, hey, let’s block refugees just in case.

    And, really, the Tsarnaevs? That’s all you’ve got for decades of refugees is two assholes who couldn’t even build an effective bomb or figure out how to leave Boston city limits?

  26. 26.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 16, 2015 at 8:59 pm

    Open thread?

    Chapter 31 is up on my fish story.

  27. 27.

    Anne Laurie

    November 16, 2015 at 9:00 pm

    @Myiq2xu:

    The Tsarnaev brothers were admitted to the US as refugees.

    And “fast tracked” for refugee status because their Uncle Ruslan had CIA connections — speaking of blowback.

  28. 28.

    amk

    November 16, 2015 at 9:00 pm

    @Myiq2xu:

    McVeigh and Nichols were ‘refugees’ too, asshole?

  29. 29.

    lamh36

    November 16, 2015 at 9:01 pm

    DanaHoule 32s33 seconds ago
    I don’t know why people say it would be hard to determine whether a refugee is Christian. Haven’t these people heard of the Inquisition?

  30. 30.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 16, 2015 at 9:03 pm

    @Myiq2xu: Coward.

  31. 31.

    Ruviana

    November 16, 2015 at 9:07 pm

    @Anne Laurie: @Mnemosyne (iPhone): And the brothers were 9 and 15 when the family emigrated. Not spooky islamofascists(/snark) then.

  32. 32.

    amk

    November 16, 2015 at 9:07 pm

    hey bedwetting cowards

  33. 33.

    lamh36

    November 16, 2015 at 9:13 pm

    Anti-Defamation League blasts governors shunning refugees

  34. 34.

    Villago Delenda Est

    November 16, 2015 at 9:20 pm

    @Woodrowfan: “Home of the Brave” my ass.

    Time to start expelling cowards from Congress.

  35. 35.

    Anoniminous

    November 16, 2015 at 9:20 pm

    Deleted.

    Do Not Feed the Troll.

  36. 36.

    Villago Delenda Est

    November 16, 2015 at 9:22 pm

    @Anne Laurie: Trivial details for fetid dogshit like Myiq2xu.

  37. 37.

    Villago Delenda Est

    November 16, 2015 at 9:23 pm

    @Botsplainer: Strike at centers of the coward nation. Yup, a plan. Maximize terror in the bed wetters.

  38. 38.

    Villago Delenda Est

    November 16, 2015 at 9:25 pm

    @Redshift: They’re the ideological heirs of those who wanted to “resettle” the Jews to the East…

  39. 39.

    RaflW

    November 16, 2015 at 9:29 pm

    That’s why so many G.O.P. candidates seized on the events in Paris, which allow them to emphasize an issue in which their party has tended to have an advantage in recent decades.

    Has tended to have. I don’t think past advantages are in play in 2016. The current crop of duck and cover GOP fraidy-cats are making themselves look like cowards, hateful bastards and all too eager to send your kids off to another terrible ground war. A trifecta of fail.

  40. 40.

    Frankensteinbeck

    November 16, 2015 at 9:30 pm

    @Corner Stone:
    John Schnatter made a commercial that’s not about himself?! Tell me he’s at least in it, right?

    That man’s narcissism is breathtaking.

  41. 41.

    Corner Stone

    November 16, 2015 at 9:36 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: Oh, of course he is in them. But it’s the one with the rando fan dreaming about eating, living, working out like a pro football player. And then Peyton says, “You can eat like an NFL player. You just can’t steal my shorts.”
    Au Contraction monsieur Peyton! He absolutely *can* steal your shorts!

  42. 42.

    RaflW

    November 16, 2015 at 9:38 pm

    @Woodrowfan:

    we really are a nation of bed wetters. If you live in some small town or city in “the heartland” you are not going to be an ISIS target.

    If you live in virtually any city in America your statistical chances of being a Daesh target are remarkably small. Not zero, of course. But not worth worrying about. FFS Keep Calm and Carry On.

  43. 43.

    Frankensteinbeck

    November 16, 2015 at 9:39 pm

    @Corner Stone:
    ‘Look at me on television with my personal sports hero.’ Got it.

  44. 44.

    RaflW

    November 16, 2015 at 9:43 pm

    @eliasisquith
    Hitler didn’t use gun control to kill the Jews. You know what he did do? He made them stateless persons — refugees.

  45. 45.

    Villago Delenda Est

    November 16, 2015 at 9:54 pm

    @RaflW: DING DING DING DING DING

  46. 46.

    sukabi

    November 16, 2015 at 10:03 pm

    @RaflW: if you live in the US your chances of getting killed by a gun nut or a cop are probably about 1000 times greater than getting killed by an imported terorist.

  47. 47.

    jl

    November 16, 2015 at 10:10 pm

    @RaflW: I read that actually, Hitler loosened gun control on ethnic Germans, but made it stronger, essentially banning guns, among Jews.

    Which, by the way, is similar to proposals made by white reactionary racist GOPers here to ban guns among Muslims and African-Americans.

    For those who don’t know history, it repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as monstrous hideous farce.

  48. 48.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    November 16, 2015 at 10:17 pm

    @Ruviana:

    The recent school shooter in Oregon killed three times more people than the Tsarnaevs (10 vs 3). But we’re supposed to be terrified of self-styled “jihadists” and ignore the disgruntled rural white dudes who have higher body counts because shut up, that’s why.

  49. 49.

    sandtu2001

    November 16, 2015 at 10:28 pm

    If only there were some seasonally appropriate story about middle eastern people searching for a place to stay only to be turned away by the heartless.

  50. 50.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 16, 2015 at 10:35 pm

    @sandtu2001: Hi, Oliver.

  51. 51.

    catclub

    November 16, 2015 at 10:59 pm

    @Botsplainer: The fact that they have not done so is evidence of how few there are and how hard it is to get actual terrorist active in the US. 9/11 was incredibly lucky – and uniquely unrepeatable.

    They also have less understanding of the US then it may seem.
    Hence no attacks in the described style.

  52. 52.

    Matt McIrvin

    November 16, 2015 at 11:08 pm

    Just think how reluctant other countries would be to admit American refugees. The two things we’re known for are superhero movies and mass murders.

  53. 53.

    Jeffro

    November 16, 2015 at 11:19 pm

    If the economic expansion continues, don’t be surprised if you hear Republicans frequently invoking the Paris attacks as a reminder of Mrs. Clinton’s failure to help head off the ISIS threat when she was secretary of state. Politically, it’s easiest for opposition parties to run against a weak economy, but fear may be second best.

    Or first, second, and lastest best.

    They got nothin’, so we are getting a 9/11-level fear/froth response to a few coordinated shootings in a country that until very, very recently was the epitome of surrender-ism to these wingnuts. Call ’em out loud and long on this, Dems.

  54. 54.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    November 16, 2015 at 11:42 pm

    @catclub:

    As I said earlier today, the 9/11 hijackers basically had to get their entire team into the US in order to pull off their attack, because they had no base of support here.

  55. 55.

    Sherparick

    November 17, 2015 at 7:36 am

    Sadly, and one of the black marks on FDR’s administration, is that, responding to much of the same “Know-Nothing” agitation of the “Real Muricans” in the Redneck wing of the Democratic Party, and the strong Nativist and Anti-Semitic of the WASP elite at the time, did not let in refugees Nazis during the years 1933-44. There was this particularly sad and agonizing story which was famous until the 1970s, but is forgotten today. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_St._Louis

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