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You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Hail to the Hairpiece / Let’s Just Pretend We’re Not Bigots

Let’s Just Pretend We’re Not Bigots

by John Cole|  January 24, 20177:07 pm| 180 Comments

This post is in: Hail to the Hairpiece, Just Shut the Fuck Up, Teabagger Stupidity

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So since a ban on Muslims is too unpalatable politically, unadulterated and uncondensed shitweasel Ted Cruz has come up with a new idea:

Two Republican lawmakers on Tuesday introduced a measure that would let governors bar refugees from their states.

The State Refugee Security Act requires the federal government to notify a state at least 21 days before resettling a refugee there. Under the law, governors could block refugees from being resettled in their states unless federal officials can provide “adequate assurance” that the individual doesn’t pose a security threat.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) reintroduced the bill this week, after initially pushing it late last year in the previous Congress. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) is co-sponsoring the measure.

“The first obligation of the president is to keep this country safe as commander in chief,” Cruz said in a statement. “I am encouraged that, unlike the previous administration, one of President Trump’s top priorities is to defeat radical Islamic terrorism.”

Cruz has long criticized U.S. efforts to resettle Muslims fleeing conflict in Syria and Iraq, arguing that terrorists could use the resettlement program as a sort of Trojan horse to enter the U.S. He has suggested resettling only Christian refugees from the region, arguing that members of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria would not try to hide among Christians.

This way, they can wrap up rejecting scary Muslims under the auspices of “safety and security” rather than them being icky heathens. Unfortunately, this bill will not address the movement of members of the Christianist intifada that is actually terrorizing America.

Bonus fact- this bill still does nothing but make bigots feel good. First, even if the governors of heavily gomerized states like Alabama and Texas ban the resettling of immigrants for whatever reason they come up with on the spot, these are people, not fucking objects. They aren’t inert objects like the Statue of Liberty or Ted Cruz’s conscience. So once an immigrant is welcomed into a state with actual human beings like New York or California, guess what? THEY CAN CROSS FUCKING STATE LINES, just like guns. And why the fuck would they want to go to Texas anyway? They can livestream SXSW, which is the only reason I can think of for wanting to go there.

Bonus fact #2: The President’s first duty isn’t to protect Americans. It’s to uphold the Constitution. You know, that old piece of paper they routinely wipe their ass with when they introduce bills like this,

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180Comments

  1. 1.

    KG

    January 24, 2017 at 7:11 pm

    They can livestream SXSW, which is the only reason I can think of for wanting to go there.

    Eh, livestreaming a show, let alone a festival of that magnitude, just isn’t the same.

  2. 2.

    Corner Stone

    January 24, 2017 at 7:12 pm

    And why the fuck would they want to go to Texas anyway? They can livestream SXSW, which is the only reason I can think of for wanting to go there.

    Excuse me Cole, West Virginia is holding on line #1 for you.

  3. 3.

    hovercraft

    January 24, 2017 at 7:12 pm

    Reposting from dying thread downstairs.

    Report: Trump Complains Negative Press Means He Can’t ‘Enjoy’ White House

    By ESME CRIBB Published JANUARY 24, 2017, 6:56 PM EDT

    President Donald Trump thinks that unfavorable media coverage of his first weekend in office has not allowed him to “enjoy” the White House, according to a Tuesday report by the Associated Press.

    Trump believed that the media would cover him more favorably after he was inaugurated, according to an Associated Press report citing two anonymous sources close to the President, but instead believes it has worsened.

    The President said that the negative press has not allowed him to “enjoy” the White House on his first weekend in office, according to an anonymous source who spoke with him also cited in the report.

    Trump’s administration faced a rocky weekend of media coverage on its first weekend in the White House.

    Thousands of marchers attended protests on Saturday along the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as well as in hundreds of other cities across the United States and around the world, many carrying anti-Trump signs. And an official estimate from D.C. Metro authority showed that the transit system had its second-busiest day ever on the day of the Women’s March on Washington, far surpassing its ridership on the day of Trump’s inauguration.

    Following reports of low attendance at his swearing-in ceremony on Friday, Trump pushed White House press secretary Sean Spicer to issue a fiery public response, according to a Washington Post report published Sunday citing interviews with Trump’s advisors and confidants as well as a number of senior White House officials.

    In his Saturday remarks railing against the media, Spicer included a number of incorrect figures which were quickly highlighted as baseless. Trump, however, thought that Spicer’s statement was not forceful enough, according to the Washington Post’s report.

    Spicer continued to condemn the media’s treatment of Donald Trump in his first daily briefing with reporters from the White House on Monday, saying that it is “demoralizing” for the President to see unfavorable coverage.

    “There is this constant theme to undercut the enormous support that he has,” Spicer said. “I think it’s unbelievably frustrating when you’re continually told it’s not big enough, it’s not good enough, you can’t win.”

  4. 4.

    Hal

    January 24, 2017 at 7:13 pm

    Any European national or citizen with terrorist leanings/intentions/sympathies could hop aboard a plane anywhere in Europe and be in the US within 24 hours. What would be the point in “sleeper” agents that may take years to act, and in the very least, many months to make it through the screening process? It makes no sense at all.

  5. 5.

    Roger Moore

    January 24, 2017 at 7:15 pm

    The point of this isn’t to accomplish anything positive; it’s to show how tough they are. If “tough” means “willing to beat up on completely defenseless people”, which is what Republicans appear to believe.

  6. 6.

    ThresherK

    January 24, 2017 at 7:17 pm

    THEY CAN CROSS FUCKING STATE LINES, just like guns.

    Hey, if we can just post LEOs at the state line to enforce stuff, when can we start applying the “stop every car and consfiscate illegal guns” part? States’ rights, dontcha know.

  7. 7.

    CarolDuhart2

    January 24, 2017 at 7:17 pm

    Also, some of the welcoming blue states need more population. If refugees settle there, there could be potentially more House seats, especially if they were settled in less populated parts of the state.

  8. 8.

    Moebym

    January 24, 2017 at 7:18 pm

    @hovercraft: Get used to it. What your party had done to Obama, expect twofold coming your way. We’re going to make your life miserable.

  9. 9.

    John Cole

    January 24, 2017 at 7:19 pm

    @Corner Stone: I drive 5 miles and I am in Pennsylvania. 50 and I am in Maryland. You drive 5 miles you are in Texas, 50, and you are in Texas. Shut up.

  10. 10.

    CarolDuhart2

    January 24, 2017 at 7:22 pm

    @Hal: If I recall 2001, that’s exactly who they were, people who came over on a tourist or student visa. It’s easier for a Bin Laden to bring in people with no ties and proven loyalty than it would be to get people who already have roots in the community and conflicting commitments to join and become incogito to friends and family.

  11. 11.

    hovercraft

    January 24, 2017 at 7:23 pm

    @John Cole: @Corner Stone:
    You guys are arguing over being poisoned or hung, both slow painful deaths ;-)

  12. 12.

    Corner Stone

    January 24, 2017 at 7:24 pm

    @John Cole: When you fall out of bed in the middle of the night, where do you land? When you break a shoulder slipping on ice chasing a doggie on a poopie mission, where do you lay screaming cursing your God? When you get a call saying the Soob is rolled in a field, where is that farmer located? I would ask about the mustard but only FSM herself knows where that thing is.

  13. 13.

    Corner Stone

    January 24, 2017 at 7:26 pm

    These fucking union idiots talking up Trump. Fucking white people.

  14. 14.

    trollhattan

    January 24, 2017 at 7:27 pm

    O/T somebody find Huell, there’s a new cash pile to test.

  15. 15.

    Mike in NC

    January 24, 2017 at 7:27 pm

    These idiots keep pitching dumb ideas that are neither legal nor enforceable. People can move any place they so choose.

  16. 16.

    Roger Moore

    January 24, 2017 at 7:30 pm

    @CarolDuhart2:

    If refugees settle there, there could be potentially more House seats, especially if they were settled in less populated parts of the state.

    The number of additional House seats doesn’t depend on where in the state they settle. Also, too, since they won’t be able to vote any time soon, they’d actually help more by moving to bluer areas rather than redder ones. Districts lines are based on the total number of residents rather than the number of voters, so adding a lot of people who are ineligible to vote magnifies the importance of the people who can.

  17. 17.

    sharl

    January 24, 2017 at 7:38 pm

    @John Cole, @Corner Stone:

    Only now do I realize I’ve missed these friendly little exchanges between you two.

  18. 18.

    EriktheRed

    January 24, 2017 at 7:44 pm

    @Corner Stone: This is part of how it starts, I guess. These are real ‘Murican hard-hat trade unionists. They’re different form the commie schlubs in other unions.

  19. 19.

    ? Martin

    January 24, 2017 at 7:45 pm

    @John Cole: I just checked. El Paso is closer to Los Angeles than some parts of California.

  20. 20.

    Mike J

    January 24, 2017 at 7:46 pm

    @EriktheRed: The building trades tend to be more conservative than nurses unions or the SEIU.

  21. 21.

    mai naem mobile

    January 24, 2017 at 7:46 pm

    Dumbasses. How is this going to work? ?Maybe when they first move here. After that who is going to stop them? Anyhow, from what I have heard thesee people in general are educated people. They’ll end up becoming job creators. First generation immigrants are usually highly motivated. And they will remember the people who didn’t want them .

  22. 22.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    January 24, 2017 at 7:47 pm

    Say goodbye to the tech industry in Texas. Not to mention universities like U of Texas(Austin) or Rice, will suffer.

  23. 23.

    MomSense

    January 24, 2017 at 7:48 pm

    @Hal:

    It’s even more likely now that our president is fighting with the IC and not receiving all the daily briefings.

  24. 24.

    p.a.

    January 24, 2017 at 7:49 pm

    @EriktheRed: can’t dig a foundation, frame, wire, plumb a house from East Asia, so tRump hasn’t helped these workers at all. In fact, he tries to screw trade unions every chance he gets. Trade unions in general are run by assholes. Good pay, decent bennies though. Until Rethug policies crash the economy.

  25. 25.

    debbie

    January 24, 2017 at 7:49 pm

    @hovercraft:

    Trump is one major sicko. Did we hurt your feefees, you sick orange shit?

  26. 26.

    JPL

    January 24, 2017 at 7:51 pm

    @sharl: haha

  27. 27.

    Smiling Mortician

    January 24, 2017 at 7:52 pm

    @hovercraft: I think you mean hanged? Most dudes I know would definitely rather be hung than poisoned.

  28. 28.

    Sam

    January 24, 2017 at 7:53 pm

    I hope they pass it. Unconstitutional, no practical effect except to put their bigotry front and center for a few more news cycles. Just in case anyone was forgetting…

  29. 29.

    Ian G.

    January 24, 2017 at 7:53 pm

    Big Bend National Park, Cole. I really want to go there. And admire the undeveloped Rio Grande border that will still be undefended 4 years from now because the shitgibbon will never have his fucking wall built.

    Also, San Antonio is a nice blue island with good food and the Castro brothers.

  30. 30.

    JPL

    January 24, 2017 at 7:54 pm

    So tomorrow when Trump stops refugees from the middle east coming into our country, can we stop pretending to care about babies washing up on to shores, trying to escape war torn countries. You just can’t have it both ways.

  31. 31.

    p.a.

    January 24, 2017 at 7:57 pm

    @Sam: They must know with Sessions their gerrymanders, vote suppression, caging, intimidation ensure a majority no matter how bad national polls look. Hope they’re wrong. I’d like to take a trip and piss on Lewis Powell’s grave.

  32. 32.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    January 24, 2017 at 7:59 pm

    The President’s first duty isn’t to protect Americans. It’s to uphold the Constitution.

    Sez you John Cole. Who should I believe*, you or a Harvard edumacated lawyer, who I’m told is brilliant?

    *I’m not going with Mr. Harvard Lawyer on this one.

  33. 33.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    January 24, 2017 at 8:00 pm

    @KG:

    Eh, livestreaming a show, let alone a festival of that magnitude, just isn’t the same.

    Possibly true, the the alternative is to travel to Texas.

  34. 34.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    January 24, 2017 at 8:00 pm

    @hovercraft: Oh that poor baby.

  35. 35.

    Corner Stone

    January 24, 2017 at 8:02 pm

    @Smiling Mortician:

    Most dudes I know would definitely rather be hung than poisoned.

    As Cole so tempestuously points out. Size matters to him as much as it does to Trump.

  36. 36.

    ingressus sum

    January 24, 2017 at 8:04 pm

    …members of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria would not try to hide among Christians.

    Reminds me of — Who could have imagined anyone might weaponize a passenger aircraft?

  37. 37.

    Mike J

    January 24, 2017 at 8:06 pm

    carl hulse Verified account @hillhulse
    On SCOTUS, Sen McConnell hopes “our Democratic friends treat Trump’s nominees same way we treated Clinton and Obama.” Hmmmm

  38. 38.

    Yarrow

    January 24, 2017 at 8:06 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Districts lines are based on the total number of residents rather than the number of voters

    And how long will that be true? We know they want to restrict voting to property owners. Isn’t a big leap to redesign how population is counted. I hear 3/5 was a popular percentage at one time. I’m sure the “constitutional originalists” would love to bring that back.

  39. 39.

    p.a.

    January 24, 2017 at 8:07 pm

    @Mike J: Gingrich

  40. 40.

    p.a.

    January 24, 2017 at 8:10 pm

    @efgoldman: Maybe he thinks there’s 48 Manchins…

  41. 41.

    La Caterina (Mrs. Johannes)

    January 24, 2017 at 8:13 pm

    @Corner Stone: Yeah. Did you check out the list? Mostly heads of rogue construction locals. None of my UAW brothers or sisters would be caught dead meeting with Orangina.

  42. 42.

    NeenerNeener

    January 24, 2017 at 8:13 pm

    @hovercraft: The White House is not a resort; he’s NOT SUPPOSED TO ENJOY IT! He’s there to do a job. He’s the Slacker-In-Chief.

  43. 43.

    Mike J

    January 24, 2017 at 8:13 pm

    @efgoldman: I went and checked Hulse’s timeline, and the very next tweet was responding to somebody that yes, really, he said that.

  44. 44.

    Mary G

    January 24, 2017 at 8:15 pm

    Dear President Trump: This is your honeymoon. Wait until we really get negative on you, crybaby.

  45. 45.

    amk

    January 24, 2017 at 8:16 pm

    @Mike J: yeah, I hope so too, mcturtle, I hope so too.

  46. 46.

    Corner Stone

    January 24, 2017 at 8:17 pm

    This Katie Packer fool who was so NeverTrump all during the general election.

  47. 47.

    Roger Moore

    January 24, 2017 at 8:18 pm

    @Yarrow:
    They’ve already challenged drawing districts based on total population, so we know they’re going after it. The Supreme Court shot down their argument 8-0, but that was on the deliberately narrow grounds that it was permissible for states to draw district lines based on total population rather than number of eligible voters. You can bet that the next time they redistrict, some state, probably one with an immigrant-heavy population like Texas or Arizona, will try drawing lines based on number of registered voters rather than total population and wait for it to be challenged.

  48. 48.

    amk

    January 24, 2017 at 8:20 pm

    freedom of speech, mate? sure.

    cole redux

    the Constitution. You know, that old piece of paper they routinely wipe their ass with when they introduce bills like this,

  49. 49.

    Gin & Tonic

    January 24, 2017 at 8:22 pm

    Anybody who’s been following the kerfuffle with the Twitter account of Badlands NP will be happy to know that the Internet has come to the rescue, and there’s now an alternative. Try https://twitter.com/BadIandsNPS for the lulz (yeah, that’s an upper-case I instead of a lower-case l.)

  50. 50.

    Mike J

    January 24, 2017 at 8:24 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Golden Gate NPS Verified account @GoldenGateNPS
    “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” -Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

  51. 51.

    Josie

    January 24, 2017 at 8:26 pm

    @John Cole: This is just not fair, John. There are many people and places in Texas that are very pleasant to live in – lots of diversity and love. I know, because I live in one. We are outnumbered right now, but we will not always be. If you noticed, many of us were out protesting and marching last Saturday and we will not be silenced. You should be ashamed to paint all of us with such a broad brush.

  52. 52.

    Roger Moore

    January 24, 2017 at 8:27 pm

    @efgoldman:

    I don’t understand why the hypocrisy doesn’t burn them up, like an acid bath does, or sunlight on a vampire.

    Hypocrisy would only burn them up if they were capable of feeling shame or remorse. Not gonna happen. Also, too, acid baths do relatively little to flesh, regardless of what TV shows like Breaking Bad might show*. Concentrated alkali is much more effective; it essentially turns cell membranes into soap.

    *Hydrofluoric acid is still really, really nasty stuff. Unlike almost any other acid, it will dissolve glass. More importantly, it has the very dangerous combination of being relatively toxic- a burn the size of the palm of your hand can be fatal- and destroying nerves so that it’s easy not to notice burns until it’s too late. I work with concentrated HF, but I avoid it whenever possible and use the smallest practical amount when I do. It is not something to mess around with.

  53. 53.

    Mnemosyne

    January 24, 2017 at 8:29 pm

    @Mike J:

    Since Governor Brown’s State of the State address today can be fairly summarized as “Fuck Trump,” I assume that the National Parks located in California feel pretty comfortable ignoring the moron-in-chief.

  54. 54.

    Mike J

    January 24, 2017 at 8:31 pm

    @Mnemosyne: The employees of national parks work for the federal government, not the state. They know they’re risking their jobs.

  55. 55.

    Yarrow

    January 24, 2017 at 8:31 pm

    @Roger Moore:
    Yep. Here’s an example of a place where they’ll try it. Ties in nicely with Cole’s Texas rant.

    Ending a streak of thin electoral margins, Harris County — the biggest battleground in ruby red Texas with a population larger than 25 other states — turned solidly blue on Tuesday with the largest presidential margin of victory in more than a decade.

    The blue wave was apparent up and down the ballot on a banner night for the county’s Democrats.

    They swept up every single countywide seat, including the district attorney and sheriff’s offices. They flipped a Texas House district in Pasadena. And with a presidential fight at the top of the ticket, Democrats shored up their lead in the fight for the typically purple county with Hillary Clinton beating Donald Trump by more than 160,000 votes — up from the 971 votes with which Obama took the county in 2012.

    Houston, the nation’s fourth largest city, is located in Harris County.

    But with an incredibly diverse population that only continues to grow in the state’s biggest county, it appears that — more than in previous elections — demographics determined the electoral outcome in Harris County.

    Despite little overall change in areas of the state with large Hispanic populations, it appears Hispanic voters were, in part, behind Democrats’ victories in Harris County.

    About 17 percent of in-person early voters in Harris County had a Hispanic-sounding surname — up from 11 percent in 2012, according to Hector de Leon, director of communications and voter outreach for the county clerk.

    Latino population increasing a lot. So the thing the Republicans will try to do is to restrict voting rights for Latinos and change how population is counted so the Latinos don’t count as much. Fun times ahead.

  56. 56.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    January 24, 2017 at 8:32 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I’m old enough to remember when Governor Brown still had fucks left to give. Maybe his first term(he’s on number 4).

  57. 57.

    p.a.

    January 24, 2017 at 8:33 pm

    We’re not even a week in and I think a national strike day is in order. In my fantasy world, at least.

  58. 58.

    wuzzat

    January 24, 2017 at 8:33 pm

    @Roger Moore: You probably already know this if you’re working with HF, but keep a tube of calcium gluconate gel handy and replace it when it expires.

  59. 59.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 24, 2017 at 8:34 pm

    @JPL: Exactly. The legislation isn’t going to make it through the Senate, but it won’t matter as the White House has teased that an Executive Order banning all refugees from the Middle East is going to be issued tomorrow.

  60. 60.

    Chet Murthy

    January 24, 2017 at 8:35 pm

    @John Cole: Oh John, don’t be so hard on poor Corner [email protected] S/he lives in Texas. Isn’t that punishment enough? I lived there grades 6-16 continuously. Then finally got out, and never looked back. Hellhole.

  61. 61.

    A Ghost to Most

    January 24, 2017 at 8:37 pm

    @Roger Moore:
    Nerd question – how do you store something that will eat through glass?

  62. 62.

    Chet Murthy

    January 24, 2017 at 8:37 pm

    @CarolDuhart2: And it’s precisely people embedded in communities, who, if they -do- turn terrorist, get reported by their law-abiding neighbors. Or parents. B/c immigrants are/can be patriots too.

  63. 63.

    amk

    January 24, 2017 at 8:38 pm

    @A Ghost to Most: plastic containers.

  64. 64.

    jake the antisoshul soshulist

    January 24, 2017 at 8:39 pm

    If I were an Jihadi, I would hide out among the Christians. Everyone knows all the Muslims are on triple-secret probation.

  65. 65.

    weaselone

    January 24, 2017 at 8:40 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Exactly. The legislation isn’t going to make it through the Senate, but it won’t matter as the White House has teased that an Executive Order banning all refugees from the Middle East is going to be issued tomorrow.

    Isn’t there a risk that Middle Eastern states, even those not listed in the EO could retaliate politically or economically?

  66. 66.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 24, 2017 at 8:41 pm

    @A Ghost to Most: Diamond? Steel?

  67. 67.

    amk

    January 24, 2017 at 8:42 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    e.o’s are sooo obama. lame. come on, shitgibbon. you got the mandate. can’t you do any better? / signed wingnutz.

  68. 68.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 24, 2017 at 8:42 pm

    @efgoldman: I haven’t seen the wording, just caught someone mentioning its been teased as coming tomorrow. The devil will be in the details.

  69. 69.

    weaselone

    January 24, 2017 at 8:42 pm

    @A Ghost to Most:

    Plastic.

  70. 70.

    JPL

    January 24, 2017 at 8:42 pm

    AJC Luckovich the suit still doesn’t fit SAD

    https://cmgajcluckovich.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/lk012517_color.jpg

  71. 71.

    Sam

    January 24, 2017 at 8:43 pm

    (OT) I think we need a serious, ongoing discussion on whether Trump is mentally ill. I am becoming convinced of it. His behavior is too irrational and erratic. I mean it, we need some discussion on this topic.

  72. 72.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 24, 2017 at 8:43 pm

    @weaselone: Unlikely. Its not like Americans are seeking refugee status in Tunisia. And the only real economic weapon is oil and the price of that is up to the Saudis who control OPEC.

  73. 73.

    p.a.

    January 24, 2017 at 8:43 pm

    @efgoldman: With the Bannon crew in place I wouldn’t be surprised if temples as well as mosques are updating their security measures.

  74. 74.

    FlyingToaster

    January 24, 2017 at 8:44 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Is Minnesota like some New England states, where anybody can “introduce” any whacko bill they like, where it is immediately sent to The Committee to Kill Whacko Bills to die?

    That’s one of the best features of the Massachusetts Constitution — you can propose any fucking referendum. Seriously, anything. And you bring your 200,000 whackjob signatures to the AG, who if it isn’t blatantly unconstitutional passes it to the SoC to certify the signatures, who then sends it on to the Legislature. Then the Lege has to meet in joint session (“Massachusetts General Court”) and if you can’t get 25% of them to agree with your 200K whackos, your referendum is DEAD.

    I liveblogged that General Court for FuckedCompany. The tears of anguish from Kris Mineau and the Article 8 Crazies were delicious.

  75. 75.

    A Ghost to Most

    January 24, 2017 at 8:44 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: This is sure an interesting world, if/when you get past all the willfully ignorant assholes.

  76. 76.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 24, 2017 at 8:45 pm

    @p.a.: I spent four hours last week consulting with a synagogue on security. They are scared!

  77. 77.

    Another Scott

    January 24, 2017 at 8:46 pm

    @A Ghost to Most: Back in olden days before plastic was invented, they used wax-lined glass.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  78. 78.

    p.a.

    January 24, 2017 at 8:46 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Well the house of Saud does consider itself the defender of the faith, I believe.

  79. 79.

    Mike J

    January 24, 2017 at 8:46 pm

    @A Ghost to Most: Willpower.

  80. 80.

    weaselone

    January 24, 2017 at 8:47 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Unlikely. Its not like Americans are seeking refugee status in Tunisia. And the only real economic weapon is oil and the price of that is up to the Saudis who control OPEC.

    What about restrictions on US business travelers, or changes in the allocations of Sovereign wealth funds?

    Also, they could engage in economic activities that put a crimp on Trump’s overseas businesses even in other countries.

  81. 81.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 24, 2017 at 8:47 pm

    @A Ghost to Most: If you’re intent is to insult me, feel free to make it explicit, because right now I’m not sure whether you’re talking about me or someone else.

  82. 82.

    Yoda Dog

    January 24, 2017 at 8:48 pm

    @Sam: He’s clearly ill. What’s there to talk about?

  83. 83.

    JPL

    January 24, 2017 at 8:48 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I’d love to know if Trump understands what Semite means.
    My guess is not.

  84. 84.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 24, 2017 at 8:48 pm

    @weaselone: The last one would have an impact. I highly doubt a travel restriction would make a dent. The average American is not vacationing in Morocco or Tunisia – no matter how nice those places are to visit.

  85. 85.

    amk

    January 24, 2017 at 8:48 pm

    @A Ghost to Most: or minds of republican voters?

  86. 86.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 24, 2017 at 8:49 pm

    @JPL: I doubt he’s given it much thought.

  87. 87.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 24, 2017 at 8:50 pm

    @efgoldman: Or be in the legislature.

  88. 88.

    Yarrow

    January 24, 2017 at 8:51 pm

    @JPL: Interesting drawing. He’s given Spicer kind of half a Hitler mustache. I think it’s supposed to be shading but it does suggest a certain former German leader.

  89. 89.

    A Ghost to Most

    January 24, 2017 at 8:52 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    No, no, not at all. Referring to those people who want to shut science down. We spend so much energy on fighting them, we lose the little wonders, like an acid that eats glass but not wax.

    Sorry.

  90. 90.

    Another Scott

    January 24, 2017 at 8:52 pm

    @Yoda Dog: PK’s convinced. I’ve been convinced for months, myself.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  91. 91.

    amk

    January 24, 2017 at 8:53 pm

    Kitty Chandler @mightybattlecat

    The year is 2017. America is a tire fire. The resistance is led by Teen Vogue, Badlands National Park, and the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

    4:07 AM – 25 Jan 2017

  92. 92.

    JPL

    January 24, 2017 at 8:53 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: You are definitely right, because he only cares about his bottom line, and how people perceive him.
    Scary times.

  93. 93.

    Lizzy L

    January 24, 2017 at 8:53 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I was visiting friends last Friday, and dropped into the coffee house around the corner to get some joe on my way to them. Mike, the owner, who is from the ME and Muslim, told me that T is the best thing that has happened to this country, that he’s going to get the economy moving and make the corporations bring jobs back to the U. S.

    I smiled and said “Let’s not talk about it.” I wonder how he’s going to react when T signs those EO restricting immigration from predominantly Muslim countries.

    The WaPo article about this says T’s also going to use an EO to “go after” sanctuary cities. It will be interesting — as a resident of the Bay Area — to find out what that means.

  94. 94.

    zhena gogolia

    January 24, 2017 at 8:56 pm

    This WaPo piece would be funny if anything were funny right now.

  95. 95.

    Cynn

    January 24, 2017 at 8:57 pm

    I am inducing a metaphysical coma

  96. 96.

    Peale

    January 24, 2017 at 8:58 pm

    @efgoldman: I don’t know if there’s going to be much that the courts can really do about refugees. My guess is that there’s very wide discretion given as to which refugees are taken in and which are not. Unlike, say, immigration visas and the naturalization process. Those they’ll play with by making them as difficult as possible, but I don’t think potential immigrants are allowed to sue in court because the lines are too long.

    As cruel as the Executive order is, I think we should be a little relieved that it is an EO which can be undone. The one we will have to fight is to protect the refugees that are already here. He did promise to send them all back and make Saudi Arabia pay for it. Refugees are legal immigrants and we need to focus on protecting them. It would be great to have a magnanimous country that takes in refugees, especially in places where it has been partially responsible for the wars and poverty. Just like it would be great if we built hospitals and roads in other countries. However, we do not live in that country because we are an American Christian nation and the hallmark of Christianity as it is practiced here is that it is not generous to outsiders, strangers, and is rather hostile to the poor and sick.

  97. 97.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 24, 2017 at 8:58 pm

    @hovercraft:

    BOO to the Fucking HOO.

  98. 98.

    Roger Moore

    January 24, 2017 at 8:58 pm

    @A Ghost to Most:

    how do you store something that will eat through glass?

    There are a lot of plastics it won’t eat through. IIRC, there are also ways of treating metal surfaces (“passivating” is the term of art) so it doesn’t attack them; I think relatively pure iron does this naturally.

  99. 99.

    JPL

    January 24, 2017 at 9:00 pm

    @Yarrow: I did not notice that, but I doubt that it was accidental.

  100. 100.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 24, 2017 at 9:01 pm

    @efgoldman: yeah, but it’s text. He’ll never be aware of it unless somebody on CNN reads it aloud.

    I wonder if he ever watches MSNBC, and as I type that, I should add “outside of Morning Joseph”

  101. 101.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    January 24, 2017 at 9:01 pm

    @Sam: Keith Olbermann agrees with you.

  102. 102.

    amk

    January 24, 2017 at 9:01 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    He won the popular vote, too.

    fiiinally, she got to the point.

  103. 103.

    Roger Moore

    January 24, 2017 at 9:02 pm

    @Lizzy L:

    The WaPo article about this says T’s also going to use an EO to “go after” sanctuary cities. It will be interesting — as a resident of the Bay Area — to find out what that means.

    I’m interested to learn if he knows what a sanctuary city actually is. That would be important if you wanted to create a policy to deal with them.

  104. 104.

    weaselone

    January 24, 2017 at 9:02 pm

    If the EO has a specific religious test, i doubt it passes muster. Refugees and immigrants have first amendment rights, too.

    From what I’ve seen, it’s going to be a list of countries and won’t specify religion, but I could be wrong.

  105. 105.

    sharl

    January 24, 2017 at 9:02 pm

    @A Ghost to Most: Like others have already said, hydrofluoric acid (HF) is stored in plastic bottles. I’ve never looked at the container labeling, so off the top of my head I’m guessing high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or polypropylene.

    HF is really dangerous stuff, but also weird compared to other common mineral acids. It reacts with silicon oxide compounds, including glass, to form the very (chemically) stable hexafluorosilicate anion [SiF6(-2)]. However, it is a rather weak acid (as we chemists use that term), and it’s a “nonoxidizing” acid as well, so lots of plastics can handle it OK for very long periods of time.

  106. 106.

    Mike J

    January 24, 2017 at 9:03 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Refugees and immigrants have first amendment rights, too.

    Scalia explicitly said constitutional rights only apply to citizens. Thank god he’s dead.

  107. 107.

    weaselone

    January 24, 2017 at 9:04 pm

    @Lizzy L:

    You should have asked him who he thought was going to be the new owner of his coffee shop.

  108. 108.

    Emerald

    January 24, 2017 at 9:06 pm

    @Mike J:

    I wouldn’t be surprised if California, at least, turns our National Parks into state parks and rehires the rangers and employees if Lumpy tries to mess with ’em.

    We ain’t takin’ this shit in California.

  109. 109.

    amk

    January 24, 2017 at 9:07 pm

    @Mike J: who knows? mebbe he will resurrect and the dumbshit will appoint him again.

    that’s why interring doesn’t cut it, people.

  110. 110.

    Lizzy L

    January 24, 2017 at 9:08 pm

    @Roger Moore: He doesn’t have to know. He’s not creating the policy; Bannon and Co. are. He won’t read it. They’ll tell him it protects America and will make people see how great a president he is, and he’ll sign what they put in front of him.

  111. 111.

    chris

    January 24, 2017 at 9:09 pm

    Come to Canada you guys! We only want screen immigrants for “anti-Canadian values.” So says the banner at the top of the main page right now. It’s an ad for Kellie Leitch who is running for leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada, dog help us.
    Seriously, the shitgibbon’s people must have been watching Canada the last few years. Our previous CPOC majority (about 6000 votes) government tried this and also damaged their last election campaign by harping on Muslim women and their headgear. They also muzzled scientists, destroyed scientific libraries and brought in a sort of voter ID law. They got it all from the Republicans of course.

  112. 112.

    ? Martin

    January 24, 2017 at 9:12 pm

    Send them to California. Intel was founded by a refugee. Google and Tesla by immigrants. Apple by the son of an immigrant, from Syria no less.

    We’ll create another hundred thousand jobs off of one of these refugees.

  113. 113.

    Peale

    January 24, 2017 at 9:12 pm

    @weaselone: My guess is that is it too. No refugees from Syria, Eqypt, Palestine, Nigeria, etc. As long as he doesn’t blanket ban refugees (although my guess is that he will. The list of countries where they will be allowed will probably be limited to Iceland and Greenand), he’s probably within his powers. This isn’t the same thing as banning other types of immigration from these countries. These are refugees, not parents, spouses and siblings or H1B professionals, tourists or students, etc. I don’t think he can change the quotas of those types of immigrants without legislation. Nor can he, say, introduce his religious tests for tourists.

    We really are going to need an immigration law expert to let us know what leeway he has. My guess is that he’ll just rearrange the staffing so that it will be impossible to obtain any sort of visa from a Muslim country – so that there will say, be 20 people working on visa applications from Greenland, and 1 for all of Mexico.

    ETA: And yes, I do believe “Mexico” will be included.

  114. 114.

    FlyingToaster

    January 24, 2017 at 9:13 pm

    @Lizzy L:

    The WaPo article about this says T’s also going to use an EO to “go after” sanctuary cities. It will be interesting — as a resident of the Bay Area — to find out what that means.

    Oh FFS. How the hell is he equipped to “go after” sanctuary cities? Camberville already have their legal teams drafting the lawsuits if anythings “defunded”, as does California’s AG. The Orange Shitgibbon is proving himself deranged. Not to mention failing to keep his eyes on the prize (going after sanctuary cites will not shrink the budget and will not let him-n-his grift).

  115. 115.

    Corner Stone

    January 24, 2017 at 9:13 pm

    @A Ghost to Most:

    how do you store something that will eat through glass?

    We could try pouring it into KAC and see what happens. Just a thought.

  116. 116.

    sukabi

    January 24, 2017 at 9:14 pm

    @Mike J: oh, so he wants dems to block them indefinitely…
    I could get behind that

  117. 117.

    p.a.

    January 24, 2017 at 9:15 pm

    @chris: they can’t root for the Leafs! That’s unAm… uhh never mind.

  118. 118.

    Lizzy L

    January 24, 2017 at 9:15 pm

    @Corner Stone: I like the way you think. Wanna go steady?

  119. 119.

    Corner Stone

    January 24, 2017 at 9:16 pm

    @Mike J:

    Scalia explicitly said constitutional rights only apply to citizens. Thank god he’s dead.

    Has there ever been another year in modern times where there was only one top line celebratory event?

  120. 120.

    Gin & Tonic

    January 24, 2017 at 9:16 pm

    @Emerald: Fuck that. Last year my wife and I turned 62 and got that $10 lifetime National Parks pass deal. Last year we weren’t thinking that the President of the US would turn that into shit.

  121. 121.

    Corner Stone

    January 24, 2017 at 9:18 pm

    @Lizzy L: I like smooching, but don’t have any pets. Dealbreaker?

  122. 122.

    Another Scott

    January 24, 2017 at 9:18 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: The original BadlandsNP Twitter Feed is still up (last updated 7 hours ago). The alternative one you site is funny though.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  123. 123.

    trollhattan

    January 24, 2017 at 9:20 pm

    @FlyingToaster:
    No more Interstate highways for San Francisco! You’ve been warned.

  124. 124.

    amk

    January 24, 2017 at 9:22 pm

    @Another Scott: only the ‘offensive’ tweets were shitcanned. selective censoring.

  125. 125.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    January 24, 2017 at 9:23 pm

    @Smiling Mortician:

    A Blazing Saddles quote:

    “They told me you wuz hung!”

    Sheriff Bart: “And they wuz RIGHT!”

    Proceed…

  126. 126.

    p.a.

    January 24, 2017 at 9:24 pm

    I qualify for Italian citizenship; have had the instructions on a computer for years. May have to start the process just in case. Currently all I can do in Italian is order a sandwich and a glass of water. And get my face slapped.

  127. 127.

    Lizzy L

    January 24, 2017 at 9:25 pm

    @Corner Stone: Not at all. I have an aged dog.

    I am trying to imagine KAC with a pet. A tank of snakes, perhaps. Or a really nasty-tempered chihuahua.

  128. 128.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 24, 2017 at 9:27 pm

    the President of the United States of America tweeted this today. A couple of hours ago

    Donald J. TrumpVerified account
    Congratulations to @ FoxNews for being number one in inauguration ratings. They were many times higher than FAKE NEWS @ CNN – public is smart!

  129. 129.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    January 24, 2017 at 9:28 pm

    @sharl:

    Trigger Warning: suicide

    Some years ago when I was in LE as a civilian Evid Tech/CSI, we had a case in which a woman killed herself by drinking HF mixed with orange juice. It was not a quick death.

  130. 130.

    chris

    January 24, 2017 at 9:30 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: That’s some gravitas right there. WASF

  131. 131.

    p.a.

    January 24, 2017 at 9:30 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I imagine his handlers just place paperwork in front of him: “Here. Sign this.”

  132. 132.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    January 24, 2017 at 9:31 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    What a maroon… what an ultra-maroon. Seriously.

  133. 133.

    Gin & Tonic

    January 24, 2017 at 9:32 pm

    @chris: Vladimir Vladimirovich and Xi Jinping are laughing at him, not with him.

  134. 134.

    amk

    January 24, 2017 at 9:34 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    No murkka, it’s not a bad dream.

  135. 135.

    Lizzy L

    January 24, 2017 at 9:35 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: OMFG. I am imagining this man dealing with a serious crisis; for example, a North Korean missile which strikes South Korea, or a large-scale terrorist attack in the U.S. How can the Republicans sleep at night?

  136. 136.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 24, 2017 at 9:37 pm

    @A Ghost to Most: Okay, because I was preparing several stout replies just in case.//

  137. 137.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 24, 2017 at 9:37 pm

    The Dutch are sucking up to Trump. Lickspittles.

  138. 138.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 24, 2017 at 9:39 pm

    @JPL: That too. I was thinking it was a two syllable word and those are hard…

  139. 139.

    sharl

    January 24, 2017 at 9:40 pm

    @West of the Rockies (been a while): Holy Shit! A couple grim questions come to mind regarding how many knowingly seek a slow and tormented end like that, but I’ll deal with those – maybe – via google searches.

  140. 140.

    Aleta

    January 24, 2017 at 9:40 pm

    Verily I note that hordes of locusts the size and shape of Republican men have come upon this earth.

  141. 141.

    Another Scott

    January 24, 2017 at 9:42 pm

    @Peale:

    No refugees from Syria, Eqypt, Palestine, Nigeria, etc.

    It looks to be worse than that.

    McClatchyDC:

    Later in the week, the president is expected to restrict the flow of refugees to the United States. The proposed plans include at least a four-month halt on all refugee admissions, as well as temporary ban on people coming from some Muslim majority countries, according to a representative of a public policy organization that monitors refugee issues. The person was briefed on the details of that proposed action by a government official and outlined the expected steps for The Associated Press.

    The officials and the public policy organization’s representative insisted on anonymity in order to outline the plans ahead of Trump’s official announcements. The president is expected to sign the first actions Wednesday during a trip to the Department of Homeland Security, with additional actions being rolled out over the next few days, according to one official.

    It appeared as though the refugee restrictions were still to be finalized. The person briefed on the proposals said they included a ban on entry to the U.S. for at least 30 days from countries including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, though the person cautioned the details could still change.

    IOW, no visas would be accepted from those countries, if I’m reading that right. Recall that he said he was going to do that (and more) during his campaign.

    The woman who has cut my hair for years is visiting family in Tehran. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Trump’s EO affects her and people like her, even if she’s a US citizen (as I think she is). She’s due to be coming home soon… :-(

    We need to fight back against this crap. Give to the ACLU similar advocacy groups if you can. Lawsuits and getting the word out are expensive.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  142. 142.

    chris

    January 24, 2017 at 9:43 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: No kidding! And they’re going to eat his lunch.

  143. 143.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 24, 2017 at 9:43 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: that’s amazing– not least because the audience got every reference in their second (maybe) language

    I wonder if it was a Dutch or American guy they had narrating, I thought I heard a slight accent mixed in wth the imitation

  144. 144.

    Kay

    January 24, 2017 at 9:43 pm

    It should alarm people that the President and Congressional Republicans are lying about voter fraud.

    We’re going to need to be able to vote. If they ramp up suppression efforts based on the President’s lies we’re really in trouble.

  145. 145.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 24, 2017 at 9:43 pm

    @Lizzy L: Your friend grew up in a state that was tyrannical and despotic, no matter how long he’s been here, he’s socialized and acculturated to what we’re seeing. There’s a woman who immigrated from the Philippines at the gym where I work out. She’s in her 60s. Grew up with the Marcoses. She’s thrilled. Every time she walks by me, in a bad spy movie version of an Eastern European accent, I say: “papers? vher are yuuurre papers?”

    As for sanctuary cities, I think the EO, as it was teased during the campaign, is to order ICE to ignore the municipal ordinances and/or state legislation that creates them. The US Council of Bishops has already asked the new Administration not to do this. They’ve also, interestingly enough, asked them not to get rid of the ACA.

  146. 146.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 24, 2017 at 9:49 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: He reads the NY Times. Its been reported that he has someone on his staff put a read book from the Times and select other print publications for him every morning.

  147. 147.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 24, 2017 at 9:51 pm

    @weaselone: Yep, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and several others. Both refugees and a suspension of travel visas.

  148. 148.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    January 24, 2017 at 9:51 pm

    @p.a.:

    That wasn’t a sandwich you ordered.

  149. 149.

    Timurid

    January 24, 2017 at 9:52 pm

    T’s also going to use an EO to “go after” sanctuary cities. It will be interesting — as a resident of the Bay Area — to find out what that means.

    If this whole mess somehow led to a civil war or just an extended period of Troubles, Northern Ireland style, my bet for one of the precipitating events would be a firefight between FBI/Border Patrol/US Marshals and local cops/State Troopers from a blue state.

  150. 150.

    Kay

    January 24, 2017 at 9:52 pm

    Ryan LizzaVerified account
    ‏@RyanLizza
    If they lie about crowd size on day two and voter fraud on day five have to assume they will lie about anything going forward.

    Crowd size didn’t matter- no one cares about it except Trump and Trumpettes.

    Do voting rights matter, or can they just lie about that too? Is it becoming important yet that the President and his team lie constantly? What would be important enough to insist these people quit lying constantly? Are they capable of telling the truth? If not one would think this would become unsustainable, quickly.

    No one can believe a word they say.

  151. 151.

    Lizzy L

    January 24, 2017 at 9:54 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Good for the UCCB! It won’t make a bit of difference, but at least it puts them on record. So ICE ignores state/local law and that brings the courts into it immediately. IANAL, but since the Constitution gives the federal gov authority over immigration, my guess is, T and his friends get what they want.

    Surely Pakistan and Saudi Arabia both belong on that list of countries from which immigration will be suspended, no?

  152. 152.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    January 24, 2017 at 9:56 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Whoever he is, he does a great impression of Trump’s voice and inflections.

  153. 153.

    Aleta

    January 24, 2017 at 9:56 pm

    Some scientists are talking about organizing a march on DC.

  154. 154.

    amk

    January 24, 2017 at 9:56 pm

    @Kay: If the punk is drowning in his own sea of lies, throw him an anvil

  155. 155.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 24, 2017 at 10:02 pm

    @Lizzy L: I do not know, no one is consulting me.

  156. 156.

    Origuy

    January 24, 2017 at 10:03 pm

    A chemist named Derek Lowe writes a blog called Pipeline. He has a series called “Things I Won’t Work With“.

  157. 157.

    Another Scott

    January 24, 2017 at 10:03 pm

    @Lizzy L: There were lawsuits about Sanctuary Cities in the ’80s when Reagan and Meese were upset about them.

    Migration Policy Institute:

    The defense of the Salvadorans and Guatemalans marked a new use of international human rights norms by U.S. activists. Citing the Nuremberg principles of personal accountability developed in the post-World War II Nazi tribunals, religious activists claimed a legal precedent to justify their violation of U.S. laws against alien smuggling. Other activists claimed that their actions were justified by the religious and moral principles of the 19th-century U.S. abolitionist movement, referring to their activities as a new “Underground Railroad.” Many U.S. religious leaders involved in the Sanctuary Movement had prior experience in the 1960s civil disobedience campaigns against racial segregation in the American South.

    The Department of Justice responded by initiating criminal prosecutions against two activists in Texas in 1984, followed by a 71-count criminal conspiracy indictment against 16 U.S. and Mexican religious activists announced in Arizona in January 1985. The Texas trials resulted in split verdicts, one conviction and one acquittal.

    The Arizona trial became a major focus of organizing and publicity for the Sanctuary Movement, attracting a stellar team of volunteer criminal defense attorneys. Although the Department of Justice maintained the case was an ordinary alien-smuggling prosecution, the general counsel of INS attended sessions of the lengthy trial.

    Despite the judge’s order barring the defense from presenting evidence of conditions in El Salvador or Guatemala, the Sanctuary Movement managed to turn the publicity surrounding the trial into an indictment of the Reagan administration’s war in Central America and its treatment of the refugees. All the Arizona defendants were convicted, but none were sentenced to jail time. After the Arizona trials, the movement continued to attract more congregations.

    The Department of Justice did not bring any more criminal indictments of sanctuary activists after the Texas and Arizona cases.

    It will be a long and difficult struggle, but these policies can be defeated. It happened before.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  158. 158.

    Lizzy L

    January 24, 2017 at 10:07 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Didn’t mean to imply it.

  159. 159.

    Another Scott

    January 24, 2017 at 10:10 pm

    @Aleta: Thanks for the pointer.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  160. 160.

    FlyingToaster

    January 24, 2017 at 10:11 pm

    @trollhattan: Is anyone, anywhere, still building an interstate?

  161. 161.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 24, 2017 at 10:12 pm

    @Aleta: Isn’t there supposed to be one on April 15 to publicize his tax situation?

  162. 162.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 24, 2017 at 10:12 pm

    @Lizzy L: I know, I just don’t have any answers for you. Sorry.

  163. 163.

    Lizzy L

    January 24, 2017 at 10:27 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Not really meant to be a question, Adam — it was just me thinking aloud, trying to understand the situation. No answers required. We’re all going to find out soon enough.

  164. 164.

    Lurking Canadian

    January 24, 2017 at 10:29 pm

    @Lizzy L: It is well known that the advice of Catholic Bishops must only be heeded when they talk about women’s reproductive issues: a subject area in which an all-male, officially celibate group is obviously expert.

    When they make noises about poverty, though, or warfare, they’re just a bunch of out of touch old guys in robes.

  165. 165.

    Montysano

    January 24, 2017 at 10:32 pm

    I’m so incredibly fucking sick of “The President’s first duty is to keep us safe.” If that were true, it oughta be in the Oath of Office. But it’s not; instead, there’s all this jibber-jabber about “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.”

  166. 166.

    Origuy

    January 24, 2017 at 10:35 pm

    @FlyingToaster:

    Is anyone, anywhere, still building an interstate?

    I-69 is still under construction in several places. When completed, it will run from the Mexico-Texas border to Port Huron, Michigan. It’s called “the NAFTA Highway”, so Trump will probably stop the work.

  167. 167.

    sharl

    January 24, 2017 at 10:43 pm

    @Origuy: I’m a long time fan of Derek Lowe’s chemistry posts, to the point where I could overlook his libertarianish politics (that was some years ago; dunno what his politics are now). He manages to find the most unstable nitrogen-loaded molecules in the literature, stuff I could never even imagine.

    I see his Twitter feed still has that “Free Iran” avatar, though he may have decided to stay with it more for its distinctiveness and simplicity than as a continuation of political belief. (It’s certainly not a very libertarian sentiment, but rather more in line with old-school Glenn Reynolds-type glibertarianism.)

  168. 168.

    O. Felix Culpa

    January 24, 2017 at 10:49 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    The Dutch are sucking up to Trump. Lickspittles.

    I love that video. “We get America First. But how about Netherlands second?” LOL.

  169. 169.

    Corner Stone

    January 24, 2017 at 10:52 pm

    @Origuy:

    I-69 is still under construction in several places. When completed, it will run from the Mexico-Texas border to Port Huron, Michigan. It’s called “the NAFTA Highway”, so Trump will probably stop the work.

    Sorry, but no one anywhere is going to stop the I-69.

  170. 170.

    Corner Stone

    January 24, 2017 at 10:54 pm

    @Montysano:

    I’m so incredibly fucking sick of “The President’s first duty is to keep us safe.”

    I hate that shit. That is not their actual highest job, unless it is an attack on the Constitution. Fucking strongmen BS.

  171. 171.

    Corner Stone

    January 24, 2017 at 10:54 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone): “The octopus wants to date me.”

  172. 172.

    someguy

    January 24, 2017 at 10:55 pm

    So once an immigrant is welcomed into a state with actual human beings like New York or California, guess what? THEY CAN CROSS FUCKING STATE LINES, just like guns.

    I enjoyed this line. So California can welcome as many refugees as the feds will offer, and give them all housing allowances to buy a home outside Houston. FTW.

  173. 173.

    randy khan

    January 24, 2017 at 11:04 pm

    I object – Ted Cruz’s conscience is not an inert object. It’s an imaginary object.

  174. 174.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 24, 2017 at 11:05 pm

    @efgoldman: You are welcome.

  175. 175.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    January 24, 2017 at 11:08 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    That got me an order of calamari once.

  176. 176.

    Corner Stone

    January 24, 2017 at 11:22 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone): Interesting in that… calamari…is…
    Hmmmm…

  177. 177.

    sharl

    January 24, 2017 at 11:43 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Haha that Dutch video is hilarious. Had to tweet it.

  178. 178.

    The Lodger

    January 24, 2017 at 11:51 pm

    @Corner Stone: I-69? There will be stolen road signs hanging up in dorms all over the Central time zone.

  179. 179.

    Raven Onthill

    January 25, 2017 at 12:13 am

    @Adam L Silverman: Used to be wax, I believe. Nowadays polyethylene. Some stainless steels.

  180. 180.

    AxelFoley

    January 25, 2017 at 3:18 am

    @John Cole:

    @Corner Stone: I drive 5 miles and I am in Pennsylvania. 50 and I am in Maryland. You drive 5 miles you are in Texas, 50, and you are in Texas. Shut up.

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

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