After DHS determined Trump's immigration ban didn't apply to green card holders, Steve Bannon intervened so it would https://t.co/OqXVplZ4fp pic.twitter.com/YnHKbNiUn9
— Nathan McDermott (@natemcdermott) January 29, 2017
The new catchphrase for a bad idea poorly executed, more evocative even than goat rodeo, ought to be Trumpstunt. CNN [warning: autoplay] reports:
When President Donald Trump declared at the Pentagon Friday he was enacting strict new measures to prevent domestic terror attacks, there were few within his government who knew exactly what he meant.
Administration officials weren’t immediately sure which countries’ citizens would be barred from entering the United States. The Department of Homeland Security was left making a legal analysis on the order after Trump signed it. A Border Patrol agent, confronted with arriving refugees, referred questions only to the President himself, according to court filings.
Saturday night, a federal judge granted an emergency stay for citizens of the affected countries who had already arrived in the US and those who are in transit and hold valid visas, ruling they can legally enter the US…
It wasn’t until Friday — the day Trump signed the order banning travel from seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days and suspending all refugee admission for 120 days — that career homeland security staff were allowed to see the final details of the order, a person familiar with the matter said. The result was widespread confusion across the country on Saturday as airports struggled to adjust to the new directives…
The policy team at the White House developed the executive order on refugees and visas, and largely avoided the traditional interagency process that would have allowed the Justice Department and homeland security agencies to provide operational guidance, according to numerous officials who spoke to CNN on Saturday.
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and Department of Homeland Security leadership saw the final details shortly before the order was finalized, government officials said…
Before the President issued the order, the White House did not seek the legal guidance of the Office of Legal Counsel, the Justice Department office that interprets the law for the executive branch. A source said the executive order did not follow the standard agency review process that’s typically overseen by the National Security Council, though the source couldn’t specifically say if that included the decision to not have the order go through the Office of Legal Counsel.
Separately, a person familiar with the matter said career officials in charge of enforcing the executive order were not fully briefed on the specifics until Friday. The officials were caught off guard by some of the specifics and raised questions about how to handle the new banned passengers on US-bound planes.
Regarding the green card holders and some of the confusion about whether they were impacted, the person familiar with the matter said if career officials had known more about the executive order earlier, some of the confusion could have been avoided and a better plan could be in place…
But that wouldn’t have been nearly so much fun for Bannon and Miller and their would-be-Nazi fanbois. Best thing we can hope to come out of this mess would be Trump (or his favorite kids, Ivanka and Jared) decide it’s time to purge some of the most high-profile Breitbart white supremacists for getting too greedy too fast… before it’s too late for them to win that contest.
And let’s never let it be forgotten: THIS IS ON YOU, REPUBLICANS!
Congrats, @realDonaldTrump. You came close to causing a de-facto shut down of US-int'l air travel. Last guy to achieve that was Bin Laden!
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) January 29, 2017
Dog Dawg Damn
Posted on last thread, but it appear DHS intends to defy the court orders.
That’s a pretty big line in the sand for whether we maintain our democracy. Not sure what to think.
sigaba
@Dog Dawg Damn: It’s impossible to come to any conclusions from the statement, it’s all doubletalk. They say they’ll obey court orders but they commit to no order in particular. All hangs on what they do.
It is pretty clear the bureaucracy is holding out the prerogative to ignore the courts or ignore them them through inaction or omission, but they aren’t proud of it yet. That’s the line.
hellslittlestangel
You really think Trump’s going to purge Bannon? More likely it will be the other way around. Putin regards Little Gloves as a useful idiot, but I’ll bet he he sees Bannon as his kind of thug.
Dog Dawg Damn
Here’s the Link: https://apnews.com/9b2d6cbc974e46c197a41772ec34fc94/The-Latest:-Official-says-ruling-will-not-affect-travel-ban?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP
Morzer
@hellslittlestangel:
Well, Paul Ryan has decided to grovel, Priebus is reportedly distraught, McConnell ain’t saying nothing and Dick Cheney denounced the Muslim ban. Make of that bizarre blend what you will.
sigaba
@Dog Dawg Damn: The court order bans deportations, the administration’s responses go to pains to avoid using the word “deportation,” and simply describes the EO as denying admissions, as if there were some inbetween condition between admission and deportation (I guess they can ask Edward Snowden all about how that works).
Trump’s people are trying to pretend there isn’t a major fucking crisis until they get their story’s straight, but the court order is clearly intended to prevent the CPB from putting people back on outbound planes, and the Trumpers are trying to pretend that they aren’t being made to do anything. They’re showing their flank.
Morzer
@sigaba:
“There are no people at airports! There have never been airports in the US!”
Dog Dawg Damn
@sigaba: So a new order is needed to clarify. A habeas petition perhaps? To clarify the detention of these people?
This is a clusterfuck eh?
? Martin
@sigaba: The key to that statement is that it’s a political statement. The ‘a first step in reestablishing control over our borders’ isn’t from a career staffer in the department. It’s not a factual statement but a political opinion.
There was a key statement somewhere along the last 24 hours which was to stress that non-US citizens are not bound by the Constitution, and that is particularly true off US soil. They may be advancing an argument that the international zone (which is bound by international law, not US law) also does not extend constitutionality.
I don’t think the courts will go along with this at all. A visa is a government contract and they can revoke a visa if an individual breaches that contract, but they can’t do it wholesale. It doesn’t matter if the other person isn’t a citizen, it’s a US contract.
sigaba
@Morzer: What’ll happen is they’ll read the comment threads on Fox News and Breitbart tomorrow morning, and whatever the consensus is between all the crackpots, that’ll be what the EO means. Half are like “CPB is finally cleaning up the trash!” and half are like “no big deal nothing’s changed Obama did the same thing!” If they figure out how to thread that needle that’ll be the story they stick with.
At no point will they admit there was any mistake made, they’ll just either liberalize or en-strict-ify the order depending on how much they feel like they can get away with, and they’ll pretend that’s what the order says and what they always intended. And they’ll just pretend the court process doesn’t exist. It’s just some marginal thing over there.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
Has anyone else seen the advertisements asking people to call 800 844 8190 and pledge your support to defend Donald Trump?
Or heard about the Committee to Defend the President (A Project of Stop Hillary PAC)?
sigaba
@? Martin:
Contracts are enforced by courts. The ability of the courts to enforce their rulings is the issue in question here.
sigaba
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:
I’d give money to see that march. I’d give money to shoot it in 4k and project it on every screen on Earth. Let the world see the people who love and defend Trump.
Morzer
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:
Steve Bannon has clearly read more Lenin than he can digest.
Dog Dawg Damn
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: They used to say “press 1 for support or press 2 to object” or something similar.
I called it, and pressed 2. Thing just hung up on me, and when I called back, it wouldn’t pick up. Sneaky.
Oatler.
@sigaba: Trying to impose new logic, like “The OTHER is on the run, we’re going to annihilate them, and it’s all OTHER’S fault for things going to hell”.
opiejeanne
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: I saw that ad on Facebook and Twitter, posted by people who were shocked by it. The first one was in Texas on CNN. I don’t know where the other person saw it.
? Martin
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Yeah. He filed for re-election basically the day he won. That means he can start raising money and campaigning now. He’ll be able to funnel that money back into his properties.
Dog Dawg Damn
Here’s what happens:
1. Trump defies court order
2. Republicans say HEY CAN DO IT!!! HE SHOULD DO IT!!!
3. Fox/Breitbart say ‘OBAMA DID IT!’ (false equivalence to having laws ruled unconstitutional)
4. Democracy is dead
=====
Watch and see.
joel hanes
@Dog Dawg Damn:
I called and pressed 1.
I’m getting a message from Sen. Ted Harvey (?) blaming all opposition to Trump on “outside groups”
They’re paying for an 800 connection, right ?
I’ll just leave it off the hook for a while.
They asked for my statement, but their voice-recognition software didn’t recognize any words in the sound of my typing, and now I’m getting another fascist screed.
Wiki says Ted Harvey is a former CO state Rep, then state Senator, whose highest priority was vote-restriction legislation.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@sigaba: Seems to be a grift operation by Ted Harvey. The number wasn’t answering reliably as of four hours ago.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@? Martin: At least the acronym is an improvement over CREEP.
Jeffro
@? Martin: there seem to be some people on Twitter saying that if he is a candidate he has some additional flexibility and that it will somehow limit the ability of nonprofits to campaign against him directly, at least by name.
Not sure what to make of it all but boy Bannon had a lot of stuff lined up and ready to go in the hopper didn’t he?
NotMax
Boiled down to the nub, the new national policy is pantswetting.
Land of the less free, home of the more damp.
Bonnie
THIS IS ON YOU, REPUBLICANS AND EVERYONE WHO VOTED FOR TRUMP!
bemused
I can’t disagree with Kevin Drum this morning, that “the immigration fiasco might be more pre-meditated than we think” but I believe shock and awe chaos was always on the drumpf mafia agenda. Rank incompetence and smug arrogance are
manifestations of raw malevolence, imo.
I try to manage my stress levels with this insanity but yesterday’s events suckered punched me again. I just hit the sofa, turned on Mary Tyler Moore reruns late in the afternoon and slept with a just a couple of awake periods until 3 am. We were invited to a fun birthday celebration with liberal people but I just couldn’t muster energy to go. I finally realized why I couldn’t face going. The birthday was at two places both with bars, one for dinner and then another for music/dancing where we would also run into a lot of other people we know. People we’ve always liked but republican who I strongly suspect could have voted for shitler. I finally realized I didn’t think I could control myself from sobbing or screaming if shitler and his mob came up in conversation even among liberals.
Meanwhile, the GOP is sitting on their hands. Damn them to hell.
sharl
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:
Someone recorded their interaction with that phone#, and posted it on Soundcloud (3:23).
Previous attempts to comment were eaten, so trying a link generated by a URL shortener (assuming that was the problem).
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
In case this flashed by unnoticed last night:
low-tech cyclist
Just for anyone who, like me, was wondering, “who the fuck is this Stephen Miller guy?”, here’s a Mother Jones profile from mid-December:
And Politico, amazingly enough, had a good profile of him all the way back in June.
Joyce H
I think we all need to ensure wide distribution of this Trump quote about what was going on at the airports – “we were totally prepared. You see it at the airports, you see it all over. It’s working out very nicely.”
“It’s working out very nicely.” Eight days in and he’s already in Heck Of A Job Brownie territory.
Applejinx
While you were watching the airports:
https://www.google.com/search?q=national+security+council
Yeah, this isn’t ‘Brownie’ territory. Republicans should be all committing hara-kiri, to spare them what’s in store for them when people properly understand what they’ve brought us. This is more co-ordinated than the republicans are able to do, and I’m really suspicious of any of ’em that seem happy, like Paul Ryan. Spy.
Bostonian
@sigaba: A judge could send out US Marshals to enforce his orders.
bemused
Flashback to Barbara Bush on Katrina refuges in Houston: “underprivileged anyway so this is working very well for them”.
Jeffro
@Applejinx: One more thing to raise loudly and often with GOP MoCs: “Steve Bannon has NO place on the NSC…and the connections between him, Sessions, Spencer, Duke, and more grow clearer every day.”
Leaving Jewish people out of the Holocaust remembrance was a dog whistle of the first order.
scottinnj
FWIW – and this I think will be important – alot of the grouops that marched last week are keeping together on Facebook and the site Indivisible. Yesterday when word was building about the JFK protests a call went out and a few people from our town were able to get on the next trains to NY (we are in northern NJ) and another group is organizing to get to another rally in Battery Park today Plus we have some people working on daily calls to our legislators on topics. Sure this is one group of about 200 people on facebook but that is from two small towns in Northern NJ. While I don’t think it will always get 100 people on buses, these groups can act quickly to get a handful where and when needed.
Another fun fact I learned from this group that I for one hadn’t really considered – it’s great to call your Senators and Congressman but it’s also really good to keep thinking about your State Legislators. A lot of things will be happening at the state level not just thte Federal level so that is a key point to keep in mind as well.
Elizabelle
@scottinnj: Good for you. Proud of you.
Proud of mnemosyne for heading to LAX to protest.
This is all happening so fast.
satby
There’s a gofundme to rebuild the mosque that was torched in Virginia, if anyone wants to help support our fellow citizens and immigrants that way too.
Aimai
@? Martin: not true the 14th amendment applies to all persons.
randy khan
@sigaba:
The courts have the power to put people in jail for contempt (which, conveniently, generally is a civil penalty rather than a crime, so not subject to the pardon power), enforced by the U.S. Marshalls. I’m going to guess that not a lot of CBP airport supervisors would risk going to jail to defy a court order. I also would guess that Secretary Kelly might not be willing to take that risk.
Emma
I was going to respond to a poster but instead chose to make this a general comment.
Can we PLEASE stop Cassandra-ing? Can we PLEASE stop discouraging our own side? The constant drumming of “they can’t be beaten,” and “democracy is dead,” only serves to depress the determination and sheer joy of fighting we will need to make it through this.
And while I am at it, can we stop “predicting” what that the deplorables will do. WE KNOW. The truth is that they will never change their minds, see the light, have a conversion on the road to Damascus. They are who they are. America has always dragged them along for the ride while they kick and scream. Answering every hopeful post with a “well, you know by tomorrow they’ll all have gotten their marching orders from Brietbart/Limbaugh/whoever” just serves to take the air out of people.
Sometimes I’d swear there are trolls paid to spread hopelessness.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Emma:
There are.
OGLiberal
I love all the pre- and post-election profiles of Trump supporters who said that he’s just saying those things – eg, Muslim ban – to get elected. Of course, he’s doing it and they’re are happy he’s doing it, they were just too embarrassed to say that the crazy stuff he was saying that they said he wasn’t going to do was exactly why they were voting for him.
LAC
@Emma: I agree 100% And frankly I do not give a shit about his granite brained supporters or the purity pony fuckwits. We have more on our side and that is who we need to focus on, highlight and uplift. And get up ready to fight while this orange tinged buffoon fascist is occupying the white house.
debit
@OGLiberal: I work with a guy who said there was no way Trump would do any of the things he said, that we should give him a chance. I would ask him what he has to say now, but I’m afraid I’d punctuate my question with a punch to the face.
Petorado
I wonder if Bannon’s “Airportnacht” stunt was to distract from his being named to a seat on the National Security Council, taking the seat from the chairman from the Joint Chiefs of Staff as a result. We’re just free falling into the rabbit hole.
It would appear it is time for the civil servants to take their oath seriously about protecting the nation from “enemies foreign and domestic.”
Karma Yogadog
Thank you for “trumpstunt.” I’ll be using it often.
trumpstunt
a bad idea poorly executed
synonyms
goat rodeo, Chinese fire drill, clusterfuck
Google currently yields 11,700 hits for trumpstunt including a twitter hashtag.
Betty
The Resistance is spreading. My lifelong Republican (but not in this past election, thank goodness) investment banker nephew has been on fire, posting numerous articles on Facebook expressing outrage at the immigrant ban. This will not stand.
Rathskeller
This detail about Miller being a white supremacist was news to me: https://twitter.com/ZeddRebel/status/825723419622768642
Last night at a party, I had my first discussion with a Trump supporter. We kept it super polite, but I was amazed at the lack of common history and logic. I left when he started to describe the Klan as devoted to “state’s rights”
Gelfling 545
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: But not nearly as appropriate.
Debbie1
First of all, “States’ Rights” was and is a euphemism for Southern states being allowed to continue Slavery (and basically any other state who wanted to get in on the racket), since the federal government did not want it to spread at that point. Secondly, I see no evidence of a Machiavellian plan or thinking from Trump people. Rather than an effort to distract people or misdirect the press from the Bannon NSC appointment with the Muslim Ban Executive Order, all I see is people whose actions are so vile that everything they do causes havoc, inconvenience, and is incompetently handled. They’re just that bad.
Spaniel
In reading other blog articles this morning about the inability of the Trump administration to have the immigration orders to be vetted by the proper Government agencies and offices to make sure the proper language and intent is used, it sounds like Trump’s band of misfits with no experience, other than writing things on Alt-Right blogs, to execute Government orders.
This whole thing reminds me of the Charlie-Foxtrot organization called Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) from a few years back. Kids and wanna-be hacks who get jobs above their experience level and competency that sit back make decisions and never really feel the force or understand the ramifications of those decisions to those who have to enforce them. The CPA was also known as “Can’t Produce Anything”. Sounds like we have the modern variation of that organization now running a government.
burnspbesq
I don’t think Judge Donnelly will hesitate to issue orders to show cause re contempt and schedule nearly immediate hearings. Could get really interesting (in the worst sense of the word) if she sends Marshals out to JFK to take ICE officials into custody and they resist.
Mike G
Chaos is a feature for Bannon, not a bug. It’s the mentality of terrorism, authoritarians want uncertainty to spread fear.
rikyrah
@debit:
you really should ask, and then be ready to tell him that why the two of you should never speak again.
momus
…he (trump) was enacting strict new measures to prevent domestic terror attacks…
“Enacting?” in other words making laws?!
Joe
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: See here: https://www.publicintegrity.org/2017/01/31/20642/meet-true-source-those-viral-donald-trump-tv-ads
mmeep
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:
Just saw that commercial, on CNN. Nancy Pelosi town hall. I searched, and found B-J and this comment third in the results.
Is that a private business running this? Extremely obnoxious and pretty weird.
mmeep
@Joe:
Thanks for the link. It’s a grift, how stunning.