Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

This really is a full service blog.

Infrastructure week. at last.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

In my day, never was longer.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

You cannot shame the shameless.

This blog will pay for itself.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Hail to the Hairpiece / Late Night Open Thread: So Many Smug Clowns, So Few Buckshot-Laden Custard Pies

Late Night Open Thread: So Many Smug Clowns, So Few Buckshot-Laden Custard Pies

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THANKS, PAUL RYAN!

THANKS, MITCH McCONNELL!

THANKS, ENTIRE REPUBLICAN PARTY!

Reader Interactions

197Comments

  1. 1.

    JMG

    They’ll shovel anyone into prison, hell, an oven, for the chance to say, “thanks Mr. Koch.” This is war. We can expect no quarter from them, so no quarter here.

  2. 2.

    PsiFighter37

    It’s going to end as a massive trainwreck no matter what. Ellison, Perez, or whomever else ends up running the DNC needs to tar the entire GOP, day in and day out, with the stain of Cheddar Christ.

    Off to try and get some sleep, even though I feel like my heart has been pounding from being so angry virtually the entire day. Not a great feeling.

  3. 3.

    Mnemosyne

    Current chant here at LAX protest: “Love,
    not hate, makes America great.”

    Previous chants: “Black Lives Matter” and “Can’t build a wall, hands too small.”

  4. 4.

    ArchTeryx

    Very late as always, but did want to apologize for earlier. I never meant to imply that crap hack job on immigration was anything but a human rights disaster. I do maintain, though, it’s just the beginning. Throwing a few thousand people into legal limbo and barring the doors to entire classes of immigrants is the tip of the iceberg to what this shitstain and his Congressional lackeys intend on us. And flooding the zone with ever-worse outrages like this is how they intend to get most of it through.

  5. 5.

    Dog Dawg Damn

    Curious what everyone thinks about Bannon being on MAC and DIN, CIA, and CJC out. Seems bad.

  6. 6.

    Jinchi

    THANKS, PAUL RYAN!

    THANKS, MITCH McCONNELL!

    THANKS, ENTIRE REPUBLICAN PARTY!

    This can’t be stressed enough. Ryan, McConnell and the Republicans could shut this down in a moment if they wanted to. Like any bully, Trump would cave at the slightest pushback. He obviously isn’t getting any from the party. We need to let them know that they will be held responsible for allowing this bigotry.

  7. 7.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    Does Bannon’s fate end as Bormann’s or as Goebbels’?

    Flynn goes out like Goering. Kushner as Speer…

  8. 8.

    PsiFighter37

    @Dog Dawg Damn: Oh, it’s definitely bad, and I think it’s a clear sign that this ‘extreme vetting’ crap is just cover for taking white nationalism and applying it to foreign policy. It’s going to end up being an indefinite extension of these bans, and then it will get expanded further.

    The dude is a total shithole of a human being.

  9. 9.

    kindness

    Those of us who didn’t like Reagan’s Admin figured he had Alzenheimers but the media never talked about it. Trump isn’t just a narcissist. He’s psycho on several levels but I wouldn’t call it dementia. Demented certainly though. Media isn’t really talking about it and it’s extraordinary when compared to any previous president.

  10. 10.

    nelle

    Keep watching all the moves. I think what most marks this as a coup is the removal of the Chair of the Joint Chiefs and the Director of Intelligence from the National Security Council and the installation of Steve Bannon there.

    We’ve got to look in more than one direction and most women have been trained in this all their lives. So, lead on, women. Keep naming and noticing.

  11. 11.

    nelle

    Be sure to always, in print, conversation, and on social media, refer only to the Republican president, or Republican President Trump. They have to dance with him publicly. No distancing allowed.

  13. 13.

    Suzanne

    @Mnemosyne: At the PHX March last weekend, we also did, “NO HATE, NO FEAR, EVERYONE IS WELCOME HERE”.

    Apparently there’s not a protest at the Phoenix airport tomorrow, and I can’t get out to LAX or DIA. Crap. I’m with y’all in spirit.

  15. 15.

    fuckwit

    I think the better model for what is happening here than Hitler’s Germany is Caligula’s (and that era) Rome.

    This is the end of the empire. It’s collapsing. There’s an incompetent idiot at the top of the pyramid, and people around him are sycophants and enablers.

  16. 16.

    Mike J

    Nina Illingworth ‏@NinaDontPlayMtG 1 hour ago
    Folks; Uber responded to the NY cabbies show of solidarity with persecuted Americans by ADVERTISING that they were open for business.

  17. 17.

    Oldgold

    A new executive order removes the Chairman of Joint Chiefd and Director of National Intelligence off on National Security Council and replaces them with Bannon and Priebus.

  18. 18.

    fuckwit

    @nelle: Who is actually going to do that?

    It’s frustrating as hell for us to come up with these great ideas, and then the Democratic leadership and the media totally ignore it.

  20. 20.

    SFAW

    @nelle:

    I think what most marks this as a coup is the removal of the Chair of the Joint Chiefs and the Director of Intelligence from the National Security Council and the installation of Steve Bannon there.

    This should be on the front page, and the editorial page, of every major newspaper, every fucking day. Sure as shit won’t be there, however.

  23. 23.

    mai naem mobile

    Its not just the politicians. Obviously the majority of this is on them but what about Mark Burnett who refusedo to release the outtakes. All for a buck. The guy has to be worth at least in the tens of millions. And all the Celebrity Apprentice stars who you damn well know saw stuff but were too chickenshit. Jim Come can go duck himself. No honor,no courage. And,Breitbart is now taken seriously by the WH. If I didn’t live here I would find this super hilarious.
    .

  24. 24.

    Mnemosyne

    @Suzanne:

    We’re currently doing, “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here.”

    There’s one guy in front of me who I’m a little worried about. He seems a little too tightly wound. But they’re keeping the chants positive and he seems to be responding well to that.

  25. 25.

    ProudGradofCatLadyAcademy

    I went to the airport as mentioned downstairs and stood there. The last plane was early, and so was I so I caught both the 2nd to last plane and the last one. I won’t go into details as I wrote a hasty post on the last open thread, but I was the only one at the James Oberstar Airport holding a sign saying Refugees Welcome Here. The only dicey moment was when an older white gentleman looked at my sign as he exited the terminal, looked at me and started walking towards me. It’s very difficult to remember all the safety tips, not to mention how crazy it is to be a lone protestor in these times, but I stood my ground while reaching for my phone. The man looks at me and smiles and says, “thank you thank you so much, thank you!”. I tell you, it made my night, and brought tears to my eyes.

    Off to soothe a cat who is very upset that her recluse owner was gone all night. By now we are both curled up and sleeping.

  26. 26.

    SFAW

    @Adam L Silverman:

    If Mattis is worth anything, he’ll put his foot down.

    I don’t know if that’s wishful thinking, but I would expect him to be fired less than an hour after he does. IF he does.

  27. 27.

    ? Martin

    @Adam L Silverman: To be blunt, if Mattis was worth anything, he wouldn’t have gone along with this travel ban EO.

    Also, California is now suing Trump over the EO.

    The document states Trump violated the Constitution as well as laws and treaties of the United States. The lawyers claim Trump did not do his job by protecting the civil rights of those living in the state of California, but also the United States.

    Glad we have Holder working for us.

  34. 34.

    Calouste

    @Adam L Silverman: Mattis was present when the shitgibbon signed the Muslim ban, so I think Mattis is worth shit. The time for him to show that he is worth anything is running out fast.

  42. 42.

    guachi

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I also don’t expect it to last. If Mattis is worth anything, he’ll put his foot down.

    Mattis agreed to be Trump’s Secretary of Defense. We probably have our answer already on whether he’ll put his foot down.

  43. 43.

    dogwood

    @kindness:
    The early onset of dementia doesn’t make you lose your ability to function in real time necessarily, but it really messes with short term memory with regards to remembering details. I have little doubt that Reagan was coherent when they plotted the Iran Contra shit. And I believe he was telling the truth later on when he said he couldn’t recall the details. Trump is an unlearned, sociopathic narcissist with ADHD. He’s not suffering from dementia, he simple lies on a daily basis because it pleases him, not because he has no memory.

  47. 47.

    Jeffro

    @Jinchi: Past time to lay it at their doorstep…maybe lay ourselves at their doorstep…

    Ryan will never, ever let it go if it means the crack-up of the Rs and his precious tax cuts for the wealthy, so I propose a bill to surgically bond Trump to Ryan, and make them our new two-faced (in every sense of the word) Janus.

  48. 48.

    sharl

    They’ve started releasing travelers from detention at Dulles (outside Washington DC), but reports are a bit muddled as to whether some are still being held, or whether officials are doing some kind of controlled release in order to maintain control of the process. That last optimistic read is speculation on my part; in fact, one attorney on the scene claims Customs officials are ignoring the court order.

    The most active relevant Dulles twitter hashtag I’ve seen is #DullesAirport.

  50. 50.

    Calouste

    @Yarrow: It’s a pretty safe bet that any extremist, left or right, has connections to Putin these days. For some of them it just hasn’t come out public yet, like Jeremy Corbyn.

  51. 51.

    Jeffro

    @dogwood:

    Trump is an unlearned, sociopathic narcissist with ADHD. He’s not suffering from dementia, he simple lies on a daily basis because it pleases him, not because he has no memory.

    Um, all of them, Katie?

  55. 55.

    Shalimar

    @debbie: All Bannon meant by “Leninist” is that he admires the way Lenin destroyed all of the previously existing institutions and traditions in his country. He isn’t a leftist or communist by any definition of those words.

  56. 56.

    ArchTeryx

    Ugh, The more I read about this, the greater the depth of the disaster. Apparently, it’s far bigger then I ever imagined, but then, I’ve had nothing but bad experiences with the Border Baboons, be they Canadian, French or American. It takes little excuse for that batch of revanchist shitstains to come off their excessively long leash and start running customs and border stations like their own little kingdoms.

    The idea of these people crying at customs stations simply because they were getting insufficient guidance in busting heads beggars my belief.

  57. 57.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Adam L Silverman: I know that guy. I know him when he had he wasn’t bald. His FA LT got a BSM and 2ACR gave out few medals.

    ETA: I knew him as a fellow company grade officer with whom I worked. And drank a bit.

  58. 58.

    Yarrow

    @Yarrow: Dammit. Pasted something old. Here’s what I meant to post.

    POTUS wants GOP to give $$ to #Calexit . Bannon urges to openly endorse as state's rights issue, but privately to shift elect. college red.— Rogue POTUS Staff (@RoguePOTUSStaff) January 29, 2017

  59. 59.

    BlueDWarrior

    It would be so much easier if they just flat out said they wanted to ban everyone who wasnt of clear European descent. What is pissing me of so much right now is how dumb all of these orders are.

    A modern Andrew Jackson indeed.

  61. 61.

    hovercraft

    @Mnemosyne:

    “Black Lives Matter” and “Can’t build a wall, hands too small.”

    You people just don’t understand that this is a new day in the United States of MAGA. Dissent is no longer tolerated, you will be disappeared!
    Did these morons truly think they could just do this and everyone would just take it? Good on you and everyone else out there standing up for due process and the constitution.

  64. 64.

    sigaba

    @BlueDWarrior: It’s really fortunate everybody is under a lot of pressure to at least offer the pretense of a non-racist policy, it forces them to pass rules that make no sense and create protestable chaos.

  65. 65.

    BlueDWarrior

    @Calouste: it’s quite breathtaking how so many disparate groups are getting funding.

    I guess ‘everyone’ belives they will be Lord Humongous once the Old Order is shattered.

  67. 67.

    Lyrebird

    @ArchTeryx: Yeah it’s hard to remember that “both/and” applies (rather than “either/or”) when such a rapid succession of Bad Sh_t is being sent down. I can’t remember who linked to Anne Applebaum earlier with more reasons to stay vigilant (and keep showing up to vigils too).

  69. 69.

    p.a.

    No chance of a General Strike in the US, is there? Outside of the Northeast and West Coast I mean. Their first real action, of course, went after the weakest and yet most feared. Like Allison Morer sang, It’s Unpopular to be Unpopular.

  70. 70.

    Renie

    Has tonight’s edition of trumpy’s twitterstorm started yet? I was out for awhile and refuse to look at his account. Also, Uber took advantage of the NYC taxi work stoppage by not raising fares due to extra demand so more people would use their service during the taxi work stoppage (which was in protest of the Muslim ban), If so inclined, delete your Uber account and let them know why. Uber CEO also Trump supporter.

  71. 71.

    Lyrebird

    @nelle: YES to no distancing – these trainwrecks are directed by the Republican administration. Senators & Majority Leaders alike have enabled this truly insane clown.

  72. 72.

    hovercraft

    @Mike J:
    Fuck Uber. I don’t use them, but I hope those who do, consider boycotting them, this is about human rights, the rule of law and common decency. After the show of support from Silicon Valley earlier, (yes I know, it’s because they are being hurt personally), advertising that they’re scabs is disgraceful.

  73. 73.

    Mnemosyne

    @hovercraft:

    The one tomorrow will probably be even bigger since people will have time to plan, but I have another event to go to that I already paid for, so I came tonight instead.

    The LAPD has been pretty chill, probably because there are a lot of white people (including me). But if I need to put my middle-aged white ass in the mix to keep everyone else safe, I’m happy to do it.

  74. 74.

    Yarrow

    @Adam L Silverman: Rumor has it, the only reason Trump gave him the job is that his nickname is “Mad Dog.” Which apparently he doesn’t like, so that’s got to be a problem.

  75. 75.

    Shalimar

    @Yarrow: What I wonder and don’t feel like doing the research on right now because it is too close to sleep time: If California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii seceded to form a new country, and New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maryland seceded to form a new country, where would the 38-state United States rank among international GDPs? Obviously way behind China, but would the loss also be enough to drop it behind Japan? Germany?

  78. 78.

    MomSense

    @Adam L Silverman:

    At the same time Breitbart is running a story saying that CAIR is responsible for the chaos. “Terror-Tied Group CAIR Causing Chaos, Promoting Protests and Lawsuits as Trump Protects Nation”

  79. 79.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Omnes Omnibus: He’s a sharp guy. I’ve provided some support to him – he’s currently Deputy Commanding General TRADOC and Director of Army Capability and Integration Center (ARCIC). He endorsed my 2014 proposal to be put back on mobilization orders and sent to Iraq as cultural advisor, CJTF-OIR. It died at the staff level because there’s no funds to do that anymore because there isn’t an actual AUMF for what we’re doing.

  81. 81.

    sharl

    @Suzanne: I didn’t find an actual hashtag for Sky Harbor Terminal 4 protest, just a couple tweets (I’m sure there are more). Those tweets are over two hours old, though – see here and here.

  83. 83.

    Juice Box

    @debbie: The president’s senior advisor is a Leninist, Wilmer was a Trotskyite, the election was clearly influenced by a former KGB agent. Reagan must be rolling in his grave.

  84. 84.

    Yarrow

    @Lyrebird: The Republicans need to own this shit good and hard. It’s Republican President Donald Trump. The Republican Executive Order banning Muslims. “It’s not the Republicans!” someone might respond. The response back is, “Donald Trump is the Republican President. He’s head of the Republican party. it’s clearly a Republican policy.”

  92. 92.

    Suzanne

    @Yarrow: ALSO. Every single person who voted for Trump needs to own this administration. We should not let anyone off the hook. No being polite. They voted for this, ergo, they’re partly responsible. They deserve to lose friends and esteem.

  97. 97.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Timurid: No, it does not seem he is. The question will be whether it leaks that he wasn’t consulted. We’ve basically replaced a four star Marine general on the NSC with a guy who made it to lieutenant (O3) in the US Navy. You know, because we let lieutenants make strategy and policy all the time…

  100. 100.

    guachi

    Mattis was overwhelmingly approved for his position. He’s one of the few people who has cover to speak out, if he chose. If he chooses not to – and we already know from past statements he opposes a Muslim ban, for example – then we know how useful he will be in limiting dangerous policies.

  102. 102.

    SFAW

    @Adam L Silverman:

    The question will be does he finally/actually step up or is he useless.

    Adam –
    I think you know the answer, but are hoping you’re wrong.
    On the other hand, I’m somewhat more cynical than you, so maybe the answer that I’m speculating you “know” is not what I think.

    I hope he is NOT useless, but to paraphrase Mencken: No one ever went broke overestimating the venality of Dolt45’s Administration, nor the Republican Party in general.

  105. 105.

    PhoenixRising

    Republican President Trump’s nominee for Attorney General apparently advised on this weekend’s EOs.

    Not confirming him isn’t quite gonna do it. He should be disbarred for reviewing this garbage fire and failing to advise his client (Little Fingers) that…that’s not how any of this works. Complete failure to meet professional standards. This isn’t even about the moral or constitutional failures–Sessions failed to do his primary job, which is to advise the client about likely legal outcomes from particular actions and meet professional standards in drafting documents. This was malpractice.

  106. 106.

    Jeffro

    You know what no one – no GOP elected official, no Trump admin official, and certainly no RWNJ commentator can tell me with a straight face?

    From Obamacare to immigration policy, from climate change policy to our national defense – what, exactly, needed drastic change? Please be sure to show your work, all scrap paper will be collected and all your bullshit Alex Jones/Breitbart “information” discarded.

    Hey Dems – Trump won by cheating, and was elected by a minority of Americans (and Russians, and a certain FBI director). You can call him out on his bullshit, it’s not hard…

  107. 107.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    @Jeffro:

    You can call him out on his bullshit, it’s not hard…

    Right… all that’s needed is a spine and a pair of of nads, or oves, as the case may be…

    Oh wait… I think I see the problem…

  108. 108.

    Timurid

    @Thru the Looking Glass…:

    A week ago I was convinced that such a thing would be like trying to cure cancer with cyanide.
    Today I’m not quite as convinced of that.

    The biggest problem is the only way it could not turn into a total horror show is a new election ASAP. Even if Trump is disqualified, someone would be running in his name. That someone might be better at his job than Trump. An underlying problem that was revealed in 2016 and that the military can’t solve is that white nationalism is essentially a video game cheat code for American politics. That’s how a total chucklefuck like Trump got this far…

  109. 109.

    Jeffro

    @Shalimar:

    All Bannon meant by “Leninist” is that he admires the way Lenin destroyed all of the previously existing institutions and traditions in his country. He isn’t a leftist or communist by any definition of those words.

    Essentially what we’d call an “outside the box” thinker, often revered.

    Sadly, all too often, those OTBs are that way because they have neither the training, time, or temperament to at least learn how the ‘box’ operates, why it’s there, and how it might be tweaked, instead of smashed by a two-year-old with a mallet.

  112. 112.

    Timurid

    @Yarrow:

    Mattis is screwed. His only recourse is to threaten resignation, knowing that if he quits (or is fired), Trump is going to drive to the filthiest biker bar in Maryland, find the guy with the most visible SS runes and name him as the replacement…

  114. 114.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    @Jeffro: Haven’t heard that and if they did, I approve highly!

    And I speak as someone who’s been told to shut up and thrown out of the room many times in my adult life…

  115. 115.

    Lyrebird

    @Yarrow: Yeah completely agreed. Have been tempted to write to RadioFreeTom and ask him to start a movement or something else he’ll be left without a party.. .but maybe he works for the Defense Dept?

    It’s *good* to have multiple views represented, and it’s good to work together to dump this Republican nightmare as soon as we can, with help from conservatives too.

  117. 117.

    Adam L Silverman

    @SFAW: I’m leaning towards being ineffective. That what many of us hoped for, that he’d screen fire for the Joint Chiefs and the military and form an axis with his two former trusted aides GEN Kelly at DHS and GEN Dunford the CJCS, is unlikely to happen. He’ll either limp along while his reputation is destroyed or quickly resign.

  118. 118.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    @Timurid: At this moment the Trump Administration resembles nothing so much as a gigantic shitball rolling downhill, getting bigger and bigger by the minute as it rolls faster and faster…

    It’s almost beyond belief…

    I tend to be a really, really cynical person… and I’m shocked by what I’m seeing…

  119. 119.

    Another Scott

    @Timurid: If you believe the Politico Magazine piece I cited earlier, and his direct quotes in it, and the stories from people who know him, Mattis has a grudge for punishing Iran and has had it for 30 years. It colors everything he thinks about the region.

    He’s not going to resign – not when he’s “this close!” to being able to push for a war with Iran.

    He may be a “Marine’s Marine” and a well-read, smart guy. But if you believe that story and the quotes, he’s deranged when it comes to Iran, and he’s dangerous. He’s not going to save us. He may get a lot of people killed.

    I don’t know the man and have no first-hand knowledge. But, remember that Obama fired him.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  124. 124.

    Timurid

    @Another Scott:

    Iran is an ally of Russia, so Trump won’t give him that. And Trump’s main goal is to wage war on other Americans, not foreigners (as long as said foreigners stay on the ‘right’ side of the border).

  126. 126.

    SFAW

    @Jeffro:

    He’s not an “outside the box” thinker, he’s a nihilistic Nazi and racist. There have been lots of people throughout history who have wanted to destroy dominant institutions, for various reasons, some of the reasons may even have been good. Bannon is merely the latest; given the value that the US government has provided, his “reasons” may be the worst.

    And, yes, I’m reasonably well aware of the various US-fueled/funded evil — Chile/Allende, Iran in the 1950s, and so forth — but in general, as long as the Party of Traitors is not trying to fuck things up for all but their wealthy patrons, America does a pretty good job.

    One wonders if any of Bannon’s bodyguards would be from the same “school” as Indira Gandhi’s.

  127. 127.

    Another Scott

    @Timurid: Ally is too strong a word, but they have increased ties recently. But it’s not at all clear to me how much control Trump has and will have over actual policy, and lots of people want a war with Iran.

    (While I was a very, very strong supporter of her, one of the things that bothered me about Hillary was how militaristic she was when she talked about Iran. Lots of people would be quite “understanding” or more if Trump’s administration attacked Iran…)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  128. 128.

    Sab

    @SFAW: Maybe (certainly) I am naive (Evian spelled backwards) but maybe since he risked his whole reputation to fight this clown he is waiting for a higher hill to die on. Granted I might be naive since I am only a Midwestern housewife.

  129. 129.

    Suzanne

    Also posted upstairs:
    O/T: I had said that I was going to change my organ donor status to NO because I didn’t want my organs going to Trump supporters. As it happens, I misplaced my driver’s license and had to order a new one. Got to the organ donor question…..and couldn’t do it. I’m still an organ donor. Fuck. I have no conviction.

  130. 130.

    Yarrow

    @Adam L Silverman: Heh. Yeah. Definitely.

    @sigaba: It’s a Twitter account that someone linked in a thread earlier today. According to the bio:

    The unofficial resistance team inside the White House. Not taxpayer subsidised! Alternative outlet, but the facts are real.

    It could be one of those Alt Government Agency Twitter feeds. Or not. Maybe real or fake. Interesting to follow, though. And their take on the Calexit stuff fits with other things I’ve read, including articles from reputable media sources. The funding is something I haven’t read but would fit with how Bannon appears to operate.

  131. 131.

    PJ

    @Mnemosyne: Wait, weren’t you the one claiming a few days ago that protests were just useless circle jerks for people who just want to pat themselves on the back?

  132. 132.

    Peale

    Just so you know. Each of these countries in the list has very different immigration histories. We have regularly taken in between 3-5k refugees from Iran annually with programs specifically aimed a Jews, Christians and B’Hai. Why no Zoroasterians, I don’t know. However not everyone from that country is a refugee. Some are reuniting with families, some are those people of special talents.

    I only bring this up because Trump wants you to confuse refugees with immigrants and non-immigrant visa holders (like the 9/11 attackers) with immigrant visa holders and get you to treat all of them the same. They aren’t.

    According to the state department, there has been a 300% increase in refugees from Libya in FY17 over FY16. Between October and December, we admitted 3 refugees from that country up from 1 the previous year. Please don’t panic, though. We’re actually down from the FY12 peak when we admitted 5 refugees. Yeah. Those aren’t typos. Most years we don’t admit any. Think since 2001, we may have given a safe haven to maybe 25. And many of those may have moved back. there were many other entrants, of course. But only 1 refugee last year.

    Yemen – well we peaked in 2009 with 47. Since then it’s about 15 per year.

    Prior to the past two years, we once took in 24 Syrian refugees. Many years none at all.

    Somali is a different story. We take in 3-5k per year. And have for a long time. We take them in similarly to Burmese refugees. And Rep of Congo Refugees. We just have a commitment to taking in from that country.

    We did shut down the refugee program after 2001, but since then the numbers are very steady. But yeah. We shut down the refugee influx from Libya out of concerns that the 1 person who qualified last year wasn’t vetted.

  135. 135.

    Another Scott

    @Peale: Thanks.

    It won’t make any difference to Trump, but it should (and I hope it will) make a difference to the rest of the public.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  139. 139.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @fuckwit:

    think the better model for what is happening here than Hitler’s Germany is Caligula’s (and that era) Rome.

    try Honorius, Emperor of the West; hire a shit load of barbarians as your army, denounce them as the barbarian menace and then wounder what happens when they sack Rome.

  140. 140.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Mnemosyne: The President signed Presidential Policy Directive 2 today, which delineates the structure of the National Security Council and Homeland Security Council. What he signed removed the CJCS and DNI from permanent membership on the principals committee of the NSC for the first time ever. It also places Steve Bannon and Reince Preibus.

  148. 148.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Mnemosyne: Thank you for going. I live too far from a major airport and am grateful you could be there.

    Both of my Senators Udall and Heinrich (D-NM) came out strongly against this shonde of an EO. I’m proud of them too.

  149. 149.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Mnemosyne: Yes, yes it is. Preibus is a political operative, up until he got the RNC gig he was Scott Walker’s toady. He got the RNC gig because the Kochs were trying to place a thumb on the scale for Walker as the GOP nominee as they basically have him on a lease to own. He’s never held elected offices and has no foreign, defense, or national security policy experience. Bannon served in the US Navy through the rank of lieutenant (O3), the equivalent of a captain in the Army, Air Force, or Marines. Basically he did his minimum required stint/contract and got out. O3s rarely, if ever, have anything to do with setting policy and developing strategy. They are replacing the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who is, by position description for that billet, the President’s senior military advisor and the Director of National Intelligence who is, by position description for that billet, the President’s senior advisor for matters pertaining to intelligence.

  150. 150.

    Peter Moore

    @Renie:

    Instructions on deleting your Uber account are here. And it asks you to explain why your are closing the account! Give them an earful.

  153. 153.

    CarolDuhart2

    @PJ: Protests done right put fear in officials, informs the public, and creates solidarity. Not that they can do the whole thing: more is needed for correct policy. But they can be useful.

  154. 154.

    Ken J

    The refugee chaos covers the bigger story, which is the removal of reality-based viewpoints from the National Security Council and their replacement with Bannon.

    My speculation is that the debate now becomes whether war with Iran is months away, or weeks.

    Remember when Republican President Trump said at the CIA that maybe we’d have another chance to take the oil? I don’t think he was talking about Iraq. I think he was planning for Iran.

    War with Iran, with this administration, probably means internment of prominent lefty bloggers.

  155. 155.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Mnemosyne: Also, the Secretary of Energy appears to be removed, but he is a member of the principals committee by statute. So not sure what’s up with that. Could be an unintentional error, could be they don’t care about the status of the US’s nuclear weapons or nuclear proliferation/non-proliferation.

  156. 156.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Adam L Silverman:

    So not sure what’s up with that. Could be an unintentional error, could be they don’t care about the status of the US’s nuclear weapons or nuclear proliferation/non-proliferation.

    Well, that’s reassuring.// I’m off to catch some z’s, thankful for lawyers at airports. And Mnem. And everyone who did what they could to resist the latest GOP spewage.

    Edited.

  157. 157.

    Dog Dawg Damn

    Trump filed paperwork with FEC for re-election in 2020….five hours after his inauguration.

    Speculation this is to use law in novel way about campaigns, candidates, and how they relate to PACs and 501c3’s.

  159. 159.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Ken J: War with Iran is not weeks away. Yes, SecDef Mattis is still pissed at Iran over the attacks on the Marines in Lebanon in the 1980s. But we don’t have the capacity for a war with Iran. We are two corps and several divisions too light right now, just on the Army side, for what we’re doing with the Coalition against ISIL and all we’re doing is providing support and working by with and through. We don’t have the bodies to do Operation Inherent Resolve, continue with OEF/NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan (NTM-A), and an actual war against Iran.

  164. 164.

    Mnemosyne

    @PJ:

    I think protesting inside the actual building where people are being held illegally at that very moment is more useful than a general “down with all of this” protest. YMMV, of course.

  168. 168.

    Brachiator

    @p.a.:

    No chance of a General Strike in the US, is there?

    What would a general strike accomplish. The US is not a parliamentary democracy. The government will not fall because of strike action.

  171. 171.

    Brachiator

    @Adam L Silverman:

    We are two corps and several divisions too light right now, just on the Army side, for what we’re doing with the Coalition against ISIL and all we’re doing is providing support and working by with and through.

    Capacity aside, what pretext could be used to justify war against Iran? And what would happen after the war, assuming that we win? More half assed nation building? Would Trump take the oil? The world would be left with another destabilized regime in the Middle East, which would not be good for anyone.

    What allies, apart from maybe Israel, would be foolish enough to join a US led coalition?

    Also, aren’t Iran and Russia friendly these days?

  173. 173.

    Brachiator

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    The “day without Mexicans” was pretty effective.

    Actually, it wasn’t. From one news story.

    .Ironically, the boycott may have done more damage to industries and businesses that employ illegal immigrants than to others. Agriculture, construction, meat production, restaurants and other small businesses, many of them Hispanic-owned, took the brunt of the boycott.

    The one thing the boycott did achieve was to expose the lie that the country cannot function without the labor of illegal immigrants. While some may have been inconvenienced by the experience, the economy hardly came to a grinding halt. It seems there are still some jobs Americans are willing to do.

  176. 176.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Brachiator: About ready to rack out, but I honestly have no idea other than Iranian support for the Syrians, but that cross foots the detente with Russia. The other issue is if the excuse is that they’re cheating on the nuclear accords, basically an Iranian version of what the Bush 43 Administration did with Iraq in late 2002 into 2003, the targeting list is a problem. Every Iranian nuclear facility is near a population center, transnational Sea Lines of Commerce and Communication, transnational Ground Lines of Commerce and Communication, near heritage sites, or near borders. Striking them would create an unprecedented humanitarian crises from both the conventional destruction, as well as from the potential exposure of radiological material. The only country with the capacity to respond to that sort of humanitarian crisis is the US. So we’d be creating a problem that only we could (lead the) respond to and would have to respond to it within a population that was now irreversibly hostile to the disaster management and emergency response.

    Here’s the map of Iran’s nuclear facilities:
    http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/4c0fbc3a7f8b9ad818640100/iran-nuclear-map.jpg

    Here’s the map of Iran’s military bases:
    http://turcopolier.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c72e153ef01b7c76285a0970b-600wi

    And here’s a post I did on this at my previous digs:
    http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2015/03/three-maps-for-professor-muravchik.html

  178. 178.

    Brachiator

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    ..Don’t know about your news story, I was around at the time. Seemed pretty effective.

    I was around, too.

    I remember people calling in to KFI and joking with John and Ken about how easy it was to get through the day. I remember resentment rising at the display of Mexican flags and the lack of any strategy.

    More people may have become politicized, which may have had long term benefits. But again, the US is not France. What would you hope to accomplish with a general strike?

  179. 179.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Right now, with the possible exceptions of John McCain and Lindsey Graham, every Rethug member of Congress is an accessory to treason.

  181. 181.

    Mnemosyne

    @Brachiator:

    A general strike would have to be very targeted. Since Trump has apparently decided that the anniversary of his Inauguration Day should be commemorated every year (no, seriously, he does), that might be a good day for every Hillary voter to call in sick and just stay home.

  182. 182.

    Anne Laurie

    @Ken J:

    The refugee chaos covers the bigger story, which is the removal of reality-based viewpoints from the National Security Council and their replacement with Bannon.

    My speculation is that the debate now becomes whether war with Iran is months away, or weeks.

    Look at it this way: Bannon (with the supine compliance of PRyan et al) was hoping to ram the Trump Doomsday Vehicle into the foundations of American civil society, and damage the whole thing so badly Team Smallgloves could take over by default.

    Problem is, he revved the engine too hot, and various wheels & gears are spinning away, while bursts of black smoke & unpleasant chemical smells leak from every orifice.

    Surprise was a key element in their planned assault, and they’ve lost all chance of surprising even the dumbest media consumer now…

  183. 183.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Brachiator: We’d also lose. These fuckheads have no friggin’ idea what they’re proposing. The METT for Iran is attrocious. It’s not good country, at all, for tanks, for example.

  184. 184.

    Brachiator

    Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, the Village embraces the Trumps. Because the life of Washington elite must go on, even with a few bumps.

    From the UK Daily Mail, of all places.

    While protesters gathered at airports around the country and decried the president’s Muslim ban, First Daughter Ivanka Trump shared a ‘tone deaf’ photo of her and husband Jared Kushner on social media.

    The couple, who were headed to the annual Alfalfa Club dinner on Saturday night, drew a sharp rebuke as critics pointed to those affected by the president’s executive order. Her father opted not to attend the event.

    Kushner wore a tuxedo, while Ivanka defaulted to a $4,990 silver jacquard gown by Carolina Herrera – and Twitter users mercilessly mocked her for looking like a baked potato….

    The Alfafa Club dinner is known for attracting members of the Washington elite from senior staff to heavyweight donors.

    Every president since Ronald Reagan has attended, but Donald Trump, who spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin for an hour on Saturday – is said to have skipped out. 

    I guess that Ivanka will be the social circuit substitute for Trump. Kinda leaves Melania out in the cold.

  185. 185.

    Brachiator

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    We’d also lose. These fuckheads have no friggin’ idea what they’re proposing. The METT for Iran is attrocious. It’s not good country, at all, for tanks, for example.

    Good point. And a loss, or even a stalemate, would have disastrous consequences here at home, in addition to the catastrophic damage unleashed in the Middle East.

  188. 188.

    SFAW

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Re: Bannon: I thought I had read somewhere, back when Shitgibbon brought him on board, that he had been Special Forces? Am I confusing him with someone else?

    And if his bio says that he was, my question: any truth? Or just more bullshit from Shitgibbon? I would think that someone who had the discipline and mental toughness to become a SEAL would not end up looking like the disgusting slob that he does/is.

  190. 190.

    Dave

    @SFAW: Bannon was not special forces. He was some sort of surface warfare officer. I’m not one that worships at the altar of the SEALS but no he is not. Every delusional asshole in the world claim to be a former SEAL or Delta.

  192. 192.

    Sondra

    Apparently 45 doesn’t understand that he cannot rule like an Emperor sending out edicts to which Congress and all levels of governmental agencies must comply. He doesn’t need to consult the relevant government agencies and even if he had, he would have overridden them and issued the command anyway.

    He has criticized President Obama and characterized him as weak because he doesn’t understand that a President cannot simply command the whole government by issuing executive orders forcing everyone to obey.

  193. 193.

    Bendal

    This is exactly the scenario that I feared after Trumpf was elected. The man is so ignorant, so arrogant in him knowing what he knows, that his radical extremist ‘advisors’ will be able to convince or bullshit him into signing whatever it is that THEY want. He simply does not have the knowledge base on any issue to even ask the questions he needs to ask, and is arrogant enough to think he doesn’t need to. Plus, he hates to read, so advisors like Bannon or Flynn can tell him whatever they want about what is in an executive order or decree or proclamation and he’ll go right ahead and sign it. After all, that’s what Presidents do, right? Sign things and sit behind that big desk in the Oval Office looking “Presidential”.

  194. 194.

    Jinchi

    @Applejinx:

    This airport stuff was a distraction, the misdirection.

    No. The “airport stuff” is why we fight against the Trump administration. His order has had real first-day consequences for people, affects 500,000 green card holders and is another step towards making Muslim Americans non-people in their own country. Just because he does two abominable things in one day doesn’t make one of them the distraction.

  195. 195.

    Tokyokie

    @Adam L Silverman: Not only that, but if we had the personnel strength, how would we stage an invasion of Iran? Shi’a Iraq won’t allow the U.S. to use its territory as a staging area; the Arab Persian Gulf states have large Shi’a populations who scare them shitless and probably won’t help; Saudi Arabia was too chickenshit to allow publicly tangible support for the Bush II invasion of Iraq; Pakistan won’t allow such cooperation; and U.S. bases in Afghanistan are concentrated in the eastern part of the country and are probably inadequate. So I guess that leaves Turkmenistan, although that would involve attacking through a mountainous area, making forward supply difficult.

    An sea-based invasion could result in one of the worst military disasters in U.S. history: with the advanced anti-ship missile technology Iran has received from Russia, Iran can control the Strait of Hormuz. If we try sending a carrier group through there, we lose the carrier group. And Iran has a population approaching 80 million, more than double Iraq’s, with more than half of it under the age of 35, meaning Iran can deploy a lot more soldiers than Iraq ever could. And although Iraq’s theocratic regime is not popular, nothing would unite its large population behind it as much as an invasion by a foreign power.

    If Mattis favors going forward with an invasion of Iraq, then he’s beyond worthless.

  196. 196.

    Another Scott

    @Tokyokie: (I assume you mean Iran in your last sentence. ;-)

    Ah, but that’s Old Thinking. All we have to do is a little Shock and Awe, drop a few Bunker Busters and a couple of Nukes and the Republican Guard will fold like a house of cards. Plus, Iran’s neighbor Israel has never been defeated and knows exactly where to target the regime. We’ll be Greeted as Liberators with Flours and Chocolates and we’ll be home 6 weeks later. The War will Pay for Itself. Iran will be Liberated and become the New Switzerland of the Middle East.

    Why are you such a Debbie Downer? We’ve been through this before and it went exactly as planned.

    (sigh)

    Seriously, if the Navy is ordered in, they’ll find a way to protect the carriers and their other ships. But there will be a huge cost, and nothing ever goes exactly to plan once the shooting starts… :-(

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  197. 197.

    J R in WV

    @Another Scott:

    @Calouste: Posted a few days ago: Mattis is itching for a war with Iran and thinks ISIS is an Iranian creation.

    He’s not going to save us.

    .

    I’m not an expert Arabist / Islamist student, but I know that the primary form of Islam practiced in Iran – Shia Islam – is anathema to ISIS, who believe in executing all practitioners of Shia Islam. So I don’t see how Iran could even be accused of founding ISIS, which is sworn to kill as apostates every Shia worshipper, that would be 90% of the Iranian population. Wikipedia is still useful.

    I don’t know if the disconnect is what Mattis believes or if Mattis actually believes something so contrary to common sense. But something doesn’t make any sense in that concept.

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