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You are here: Home / Politics / Activist Judges! / ICYMI: Our Would-Be Ruler Verbally Assaults A Federal Judge

ICYMI: Our Would-Be Ruler Verbally Assaults A Federal Judge

by Anne Laurie|  February 6, 20179:54 am| 204 Comments

This post is in: Activist Judges!, Hail to the Hairpiece, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Republican Venality, Get Angry, Seriously

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Trump signaling his intent to blame checks on his power for terrorist attacks is his most explicit threat against our democratic system yet. https://t.co/mn1KCWI3RG

— Jon Lovett (@jonlovett) February 5, 2017

Just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril. If something happens blame him and court system. People pouring in. Bad!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 5, 2017

Remember when we could joke about “Friday news dumps” because they were the exception? Weekends, one more thing the Republicans were looking to destroy as they ushered Lord Smallgloves into office…

Trump’s so lazy a fascist that he didn’t bother to put together a mass movement to kill judges. He wants others to do it for him.

— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) February 5, 2017

Imagine if Obama had said: "Next terror attack isn't my fault. Stupid GOP judges and stuff."
There'd be an impeachment bill by sundown.

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) February 5, 2017

And FTR, I'm not saying it's impeachable. I'm saying a lot of supposed conservatives are up to their eyeballs in hypocrisy right now. https://t.co/EkMqY1unH1

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) February 5, 2017

With Trump whipping up things like this, I worry that something bad might happen to the judge, i.e. a Trump fan might violently attack him. https://t.co/b3Y5wzXDUn

— Steven Greenhouse (@greenhousenyt) February 5, 2017

And Duma Republicans worry about the same thing happening to them if they stand up to Trump he he attacks them on Twitter https://t.co/fxUYBz1xls

— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) February 5, 2017

Trump has been briefed on what Russia has for kompromat on him, and that the IC *knows.*

Not shocking he's obsessed with judges right now. https://t.co/VtgDukCijx

— Eric Garland (@ericgarland) February 5, 2017

I'm old enough to remember House and Senate Rs threatening judges during Schiavo episode. #didntstartwithtrump

— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) February 5, 2017

.@SebGorka: "[Judge James Robart] doesn't have the daily presidential intelligence brief. He has no idea what the threats to America are." pic.twitter.com/bARH3ii2Fy

— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 5, 2017

Not just Trump attacking the judge. NSC staff, too. https://t.co/M196mtWr4L

— Blake Hounshell (@blakehounshell) February 5, 2017

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Previous Post: « Partisanship and enrollment changes on Healthcare.gov
Next Post: The Violence Inherent in the System (Open Thread) »

Reader Interactions

204Comments

  1. 1.

    dmsilev

    February 6, 2017 at 10:05 am

    Our Would-Be Ruler Verbally Assaults A Federal Judge…

    … again.

  2. 2.

    Belafon

    February 6, 2017 at 10:08 am

    Hey, Trump, Obama kept us safe from a major terror attack for eight years, if you don’t count all the killings done by white extremists operating under the system you are having a fit about. If you don’t think you can keep us safe, then maybe you should go find some other job.

  3. 3.

    Hal

    February 6, 2017 at 10:09 am

    And FTR, I’m not saying it’s impeachable. I’m saying a lot of supposed conservatives are up to their eyeballs in hypocrisy right now.

    Just a lot? Seems to me most so called conservatives. They’re drowning in hypocrisy right about now.

  4. 4.

    Corner Stone

    February 6, 2017 at 10:11 am

    I disagree with Lovett there. I think threatening to jail your political opponent is at least as big a threat to our democracy as this verbal threat against a federal judge.

  5. 5.

    laura

    February 6, 2017 at 10:13 am

    And there’s that Gorka douche-splaining how we should not believe our own lying eyes and actively undermining our tripartite system of governance and democracy in general.
    Why must we suffer this fool?

  6. 6.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    February 6, 2017 at 10:13 am

    “Duma Republicans” wins Teh Internetzez for today.

    Every time I see the inevitable “If Obama had said this…predictable Republican impeachment proceedings” quote, I’m reminded not only of the usual IOKIYAR response but an older one, the Teflon President.

    Reagan had nothing on the SCROTUS in that regard. The stickiest stuff on the planet won’t stick to him.

  7. 7.

    Aleta

    February 6, 2017 at 10:14 am

    And he’s not just blaming one judge, he’s claiming that the judiciary’s power over his actions endangers the country.

    Not saying Hit**, but still:
    https://mobile.twitter.com/andreapitzer/status/828404442550636545?p=v

  8. 8.

    Elie

    February 6, 2017 at 10:15 am

    This is not about terror but about having any checks on his power – whether he can accept the structure of our legitimate government which is checks and balances not by executive decree. We do not have a monarchy.

  9. 9.

    Bobby Thomson

    February 6, 2017 at 10:17 am

    People are acting like the Bush administration didn’t do the same thing through surrogates.

  10. 10.

    Tokyokie

    February 6, 2017 at 10:17 am

    Judge Robert may not get the daily intelligence briefing, but it’s not like Lord Smallgloves pays attention to it or gives it any consideration.

  11. 11.

    Immanentize

    February 6, 2017 at 10:19 am

    I am starting to see it this way — Trump is creating rules and actions that increase the likelihood of attacks on US citizens and personnel — here or abroad. He is deflecting blame already which suggests that attacks are a known part/aspect of his plan, not an unfortunate byproduct. The set up is the tell — I do not know how one fights against this type of demagoguery.

  12. 12.

    laura

    February 6, 2017 at 10:19 am

    And another thing,Judge James Robart clearly understands the threats to our nation.
    It’s not the President’s job to protect us or keep us safe. His, and every other elected or appointed official is charged with protecting and defending our Constitution from All enemys foreign and domestic.
    We’re only as safe as our Constitution.

  13. 13.

    bemused

    February 6, 2017 at 10:20 am

    I think president FUBAR would have to have a complete psychotic breakdown requiring emergency hospitalization before the GOP would admit he was insane and unfit.

  14. 14.

    lollipopguild

    February 6, 2017 at 10:21 am

    @Elie: Trump sees himself as an elected dictator. Kinda like putin.

  15. 15.

    Bobby Thomson

    February 6, 2017 at 10:22 am

    @bemused: optimist.

  16. 16.

    amk

    February 6, 2017 at 10:24 am

    Typical cowardly rethug deflection.

  17. 17.

    LAO

    February 6, 2017 at 10:24 am

    Attacks against the independence of the judiciary (which is quite frankly very deferential to the executive) is despicable. But what really gets me, is the deafening silence of so-called non-Trump Republicans. The Republican party has allowed itself to become the party of stupid — anti-science and anti-education — and it appears now, it will allow itself to become the party of despotism. We saw a frightening glimmer of this under Cheney but Trump and his enablers are truly frightening.

  18. 18.

    Aleta

    February 6, 2017 at 10:24 am

    @bemused: And cover their bases before they tell us.

  19. 19.

    Achrachno

    February 6, 2017 at 10:25 am

    @Tokyokie: Is T. even getting the briefings regularly? He was ignoring them earlier.

  20. 20.

    rp

    February 6, 2017 at 10:26 am

    What’s with right-wingers and those stupid, awful goatees?

  21. 21.

    lollipopguild

    February 6, 2017 at 10:27 am

    @Achrachno: Even if he is getting the intel he is going to ignore what he does not like, ignoring reality got him elected president.

  22. 22.

    dedc79

    February 6, 2017 at 10:27 am

    Huckabees Heart Fascism (and don’t know anything about the Constitution):

    I think we have had an executive branch that has emasculated itself by surrendering constantly to the idea that once the court says something, that’s it. It’s the law of the land, and when I hear that phrase, it’s the law of the land cause the court said it, I think did you guys pass ninth grade civics for gosh sake? The court can’t make law. They cannot legislate.

  23. 23.

    father pussbucket

    February 6, 2017 at 10:28 am

    “[Judge James Robart] doesn’t have the daily presidential intelligence brief. He has no idea what the threats to America are.”

    Oh, he’s reading them now?

  24. 24.

    LAO

    February 6, 2017 at 10:28 am

    @bemused: It will take more than that. So called mainstream Republicans are afraid of the monster they created — their base of voters — and will do little to upset them. They will act against Trump when (1) all of their policy initiatives are achieved and (2) Trump’s popularity drops to 12%.

  25. 25.

    Adria McDowell (formerly Lurker Extraordinaire

    February 6, 2017 at 10:29 am

    Oh, “people are pouring in”? Well, that means CBP and ICE aren’t doing their jobs, right? And as we have seen, they are pretty eager to do those jobs, even in the face of a court order that tells them what they are doing is illegal. So either people aren’t “pouring in”, (which they aren’t) or lots of people at CBP and ICE need to be fired. Which is it, assmunch?

    To paraphrase the late, great Whitney Houston, I’mma need to see some receipts for that.

  26. 26.

    bemused

    February 6, 2017 at 10:29 am

    @Bobby Thomson:

    You are correct. Soon as I wrote that, I thought when pigs fly.

    @Aleta:

    CYA is a key requisite for GOP.

  27. 27.

    JPL

    February 6, 2017 at 10:30 am

    @dedc79: Wow!

  28. 28.

    amk

    February 6, 2017 at 10:31 am

    @Adria McDowell (formerly Lurker Extraordinaire: All those border patrol thugs who endorsed him would be so pleased.

  29. 29.

    Rathskeller

    February 6, 2017 at 10:32 am

    People on my facebook feed are claiming that the Senate Committee on Homeland Security could block Bannon’s appointment to the NSC.

    Do they have that power?

  30. 30.

    Belafon

    February 6, 2017 at 10:32 am

    @LAO: There are no non-Trump Republicans right now in Congress. There are a number of those outside Congress, such as Nichols, Anna Navarro, and McMullen, who are speaking up.

  31. 31.

    mai naem mobile

    February 6, 2017 at 10:33 am

    Being that Dolt 45 doesn’t read or listen to the Daily Briefings, he doesn’t know the threats any more than Judge Robart.

  32. 32.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 6, 2017 at 10:35 am

    @Rathskeller: Apparently becoming a “principal” requires Senate consent, but they can’t keep him out of the room.

  33. 33.

    Elizabelle

    February 6, 2017 at 10:35 am

    And yet, Trump has a sister who is a federal judge. Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

    What’s up there? A job so simple even a woman can do it? Overfamiliarity with judges? If the (sister) judge really had cojones, she would have been a real estate developer instead — way more risks?

    Do we know if Trump talks much with his sister?

    From a Fuck the Fucking New York Times profile, August 2015 on Maryanne Trump Barry:

    … Although she did not start law school until after her son was in sixth grade, Ms. Barry has had a four-decade career as a prosecutor and federal judge, achieving a measure of celebrity independent of her brother. (“This is not the Trump Princess,” The Chicago Sun-Times wrote in 1989.) Some friends say they did not even know she was part of the famous family.

    “There was a story in Time magazine or something, and a couple of the other lawyers come in and go, ‘Did you know Maryanne is a Trump?’ ” said Donald J. Volkert Jr., a former New Jersey Superior Court judge who became a close friend of Ms. Barry’s. “And I said, ‘What’s a trump?’ ”

    Ms. Barry earned a reputation as a tough judge with a strong command of her courtroom. In 1989, as a district court judge in Essex County, N.J., she blocked a plea deal that would have freed two county detectives accused of protecting a drug dealer. She forced the case to trial, where the detectives were convicted and received 12- and 15-year jail terms. She presided over the conviction of Louis (Bobby) Manna, the Genovese crime family boss accused of trying to assassinate a rival, John Gotti. And in 1996, she chastised federal prosecutors for trying to deport a former deputy attorney general of Mexico, calling their efforts politically motivated, unconstitutional and “Kafkaesque.”

    As an appellate judge for the Third Circuit — with chambers in Newark and jurisdiction over Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the United States Virgin Islands — she has forcefully rebuked prosecutors and defense lawyers, but also trial judges she considered inept. And in 2000, still new to the appeals court, she wrote a 40-page unanimous decision calling a New Jersey law banning late-term abortions “unconstitutionally and incurably vague” and saying that it put an “undue burden” on women’s constitutionally protected right to the procedure.

    Ms. Barry, who is tall and has a similar, if more abundant, coiffure of blond hair to her brother’s, has made it clear that she never felt in competition with him. She has also said that is a good thing.

    “I knew better, even as a child, than to even attempt to compete with Donald,” she told New York magazine for a “power siblings” edition in 2002. “I wouldn’t have been able to win.”

    ETA: Maryanne is the oldest Trump sibling. Hmmm.

  34. 34.

    LAO

    February 6, 2017 at 10:35 am

    @dedc79: @JPL: I guess he never learned about Marbury v. Madison, 5 US 137 in pastor school or 9th grade civics class.

  35. 35.

    tobie

    February 6, 2017 at 10:36 am

    I know this shouldn’t be necessary but given how stupid and insular the bulk of GOP voters are, someone needs to explain on TV just how complicated it is to get a visa to the US if you come from a non-European country or any country outside Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea. These bozos haven’t traveled and have given nary a thought to the hurdles that people with passports from the developing world face. Shit, they think you can just hop on a plane to come to the US because they had a white American friend who did that once going to England.

  36. 36.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 6, 2017 at 10:36 am

    @Rathskeller: No, they do not.

  37. 37.

    LAO

    February 6, 2017 at 10:37 am

    @Belafon: And we best remember each one when they try to dissociate themselves from the flaming pile of shit this Administration is and will be.

  38. 38.

    GregB

    February 6, 2017 at 10:38 am

    Hey Small Fingers, actively undermining the other co-equal branches of the government is a threat to the United States.

    Ask your conservative friends: Do you Nazi what is happening?

  39. 39.

    MattF

    February 6, 2017 at 10:38 am

    @Rathskeller: According this Slate piece, Bannon being in the NSC is just flatly illegal.

  40. 40.

    Immanentize

    February 6, 2017 at 10:39 am

    @LAO: What gets me is the silence of Chief Cheeseburger Roberts — well the hell is he on this? Trump has personally attacked judges for almost a year now. When will Roberts take his lifetime appointment seriously and get into the ring?

    Rehnquist was always willing to fight for judges — when Judge Baehr (sp?) in NYC suppressed evidence in a case and the Congresscritters talked about impeachment, Rehnquist went to the Hill to issue a stern “NO!” Of course, Baehr caved on reconsideration of the motion….

  41. 41.

    kindness

    February 6, 2017 at 10:40 am

    Obviously the White House is trying to set up a Constitutional conflict with this executive order. Some of which is pushing through a discriminatory unconstitutional order and the other is teaching Federal Judges to heel on command. Judges aren’t liking that very much. Since a Boston Fed Judge has said Trump’s order is OK, they have the conflict needed to take to the next level. I’m curious how even conservative Republican Judges like being ordered about by a lying toddler President. Do they fight for their role in our government or do they submit because it will further Republican ideology & Party? Sadly I suspect most will gladly submit because Party is all. If this is what ends up happening, the system is no longer a system and not even a workable Rube Goldberg one.

  42. 42.

    LAO

    February 6, 2017 at 10:45 am

    @Immanentize: Judge Harold Baer, Jr. of the SDNY — who was never the same after that ruling BTW.

    I am disgusted by the attacks and the failure of Republicans to stand for “rule of law.” But I actually hadn’t even thought about Baer and Rehnquist — you are 100% right.

  43. 43.

    Immanentize

    February 6, 2017 at 10:46 am

    @kindness:

    I’m curious how even conservative Republican Judges like being ordered about by [anyone].

    FTFY Thay hate it. They plain and simple hate it. If there is one thing about anyone in any of the three branches — but maybe judges in particular (because of black robe virus) — in all their decisions, they preserve the perquisites and privileges of their power.

  44. 44.

    Immanentize

    February 6, 2017 at 10:47 am

    @LAO: How was Judge Baer changed?

  45. 45.

    Amir Khalid

    February 6, 2017 at 10:47 am

    The Trump presidency grows uglier and uglier every day, faster than people can keep up with. He’s only been in for a fortnight or so. How long can he keep this up?

  46. 46.

    Spanky

    February 6, 2017 at 10:47 am

    @Elizabelle:

    ETA: Maryanne is the oldest Trump sibling. Hmmm.

    Yeah, as a younger sibling myself, I saw those Oldest Sibling characteristics in that short piece. And I suspect the reality growing up is that Donald knew he couldn’t compete with Maryanne.

    Signed,
    Idiot sibling of a college prof

  47. 47.

    Corner Stone

    February 6, 2017 at 10:49 am

    @Immanentize:

    What gets me is the silence of Chief Cheeseburger Roberts — well the hell is he on this? Trump has personally attacked judges for almost a year now. When will Roberts take his lifetime appointment seriously and get into the ring?

    I’d prefer CJ Roberts not say a word. Let his opinion from the bench tell us where he stands.

  48. 48.

    Peale

    February 6, 2017 at 10:50 am

    @dedc79: I’m assuming that he’s referring to something else and not the immigration EO, because as far as I can tell, no court has actually issued a ruling on it.

  49. 49.

    Aleta

    February 6, 2017 at 10:50 am

    @LAO: Rather than absorb a bad result, my gun-survivalist sister’s brain forms protective layers of additional craze.
    A natural function of the brain gone sky high haywire.

  50. 50.

    Elizabelle

    February 6, 2017 at 10:50 am

    @Amir Khalid: Not long, we hope.

    And don’t you dare disappear for so long again!

    What do you guys think the chances of Bannon being let go sooner rather than later are? Trump actually can read, and some of his staff probably detests Bannon.

  51. 51.

    MattF

    February 6, 2017 at 10:50 am

    @Amir Khalid: I don’t think his polling numbers can go below zero, but right now I’m takin’ a wait-and-see attitude.

  52. 52.

    Patricia Kayden

    February 6, 2017 at 10:51 am

    @Elie: Exactly. Trump acts as if he can issue Executive Orders willy nilly and never be challenged. That is not the American system. The Judiciary can rule on his EOs and hopefully SCOTUS will ultimately rule that his Muslim ban EO is unconstitutional.

    Trump is acting as if he were a dictator. He’s not. Yet.

  53. 53.

    bemused senior

    February 6, 2017 at 10:52 am

    @Major Major Major Major: you are conflating the NSC with the Principal’s committee.

  54. 54.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 6, 2017 at 10:52 am

    @Amir Khalid: Good to see you around. I hope everything is well and you visit with your old frequency.

  55. 55.

    LAO

    February 6, 2017 at 10:54 am

    @Immanentize: very deferential to government and less willing to make unpopular decisions. He was pilloried in the tabloids and that had a huge effect on his psyche.

    Fun fact our families were members of the same country club and my mother described SR as the single most unpleasant man she’d ever met. This was before my time so I can’t confirm.

  56. 56.

    dedc79

    February 6, 2017 at 10:54 am

    @Peale: He’s definitely talking about the EO and the federal judge in Washington State’s stay of the order.

  57. 57.

    Jack the Second

    February 6, 2017 at 10:54 am

    To be fair, Judge Robart was appointed by a President who was selected by the electoral college despite losing the popular vote; I don’t know that I consider such an appointment valid.

  58. 58.

    sherparick

    February 6, 2017 at 10:54 am

    @Tokyokie: Yes, and neither does King Donald nor Lord Blackadder Bannon before they put out their policies. The racial and religious reasons for the ban and revocation of already granted Visas are well documented in their public record. (Trump’s whole campaign and Bannon’s Vatican Speech for instance.)

  59. 59.

    Barbara

    February 6, 2017 at 10:56 am

    @Bobby Thomson: Can you give an example? I am not a fan of Bush, by any means, but I honestly can’t think of a single instance where judges were personally demonized as a result of rulings that were perceived to be unfriendly to the president’s policies.

  60. 60.

    Neldob

    February 6, 2017 at 10:56 am

    @tobie: It would need to be on Fox n … Can’t bring myself … n n … to say it.

  61. 61.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 6, 2017 at 10:56 am

    @bemused senior: As is everybody reporting on this part of the law, since Bannon wasn’t actually put on the NSC, he was put on the principals committee. That’s rather the point of the piece I linked to.

  62. 62.

    MaryL

    February 6, 2017 at 10:56 am

    @dedc79: The thing is, he’s technically not wrong. The court doesn’t legislate – it interprets and occasional invalidates legislation. But the thing is, the Executive isn’t supposed to legislate, either – it’s supposed to execute the law (which also involves a certain amount of interpretation). Where Huckabee really gets it wrong, though, is the conflation of legislation with “the law.” Legislation is but one part of “the law,” which also includes the Constitution and common law (to the extent that it has not be expressly superseded by legislation). In addition, the inference inherent in his statement is that the Executive can and should essentially ignore what the courts say, and that is both incorrect and extremely dangerous.

  63. 63.

    Patricia Kayden

    February 6, 2017 at 10:57 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    How long can he keep this up?

    He has had a lifetime to practice being an awful person so there is no limit. This is who he is. What can anyone expect of a narcissist?

  64. 64.

    James Powell

    February 6, 2017 at 10:58 am

    @kindness:

    Obviously the White House is trying to set up a Constitutional conflict with this executive order.

    I’m not so sure. I think he’s just trying to set up yet another shouting match for the cable shows. It’s all he does and maybe all he can do.

    All through the campaign it was all about “win the week/day” and it’s been the same thing all along. So long as he can keep the press/media & the public running after the outrage of the week, his radical alterations of federal government policy will get almost no coverage.

  65. 65.

    MomSense

    February 6, 2017 at 10:58 am

    @Immanentize:

    Ever since he refused the intelligence briefings during the transition, because he’s like a smart person, I figured they were intentionally increasing the likelihood of attacks. That having been said, I don’t think trump has the discipline, work ethic, competence, or judgment to make good decisions regarding security issues.

  66. 66.

    Shana

    February 6, 2017 at 10:59 am

    @rp: Trying and failing to cover up double chins is my best guess.

  67. 67.

    randy khan

    February 6, 2017 at 11:00 am

    I have noticed that the Justice Department doesn’t seem to have asked the Supreme Court for a stay pending the appeal, and it’s been more than 24 hours since the 9th Circuit denied the stay request. Interesting, no?

  68. 68.

    Aleta

    February 6, 2017 at 11:00 am

    @tobie:

    someone needs to explain on TV just how complicated it is to get a visa to the US if you come from a non-European country

    Sarah Glidden posted an excerpt about a little of this, from her graphic book Rolling Blackouts. It’s good.

  69. 69.

    Elizabelle

    February 6, 2017 at 11:01 am

    @MomSense:

    Ever since he refused the intelligence briefings during the transition, because he’s like a smart person, I figured they were intentionally increasing the likelihood of attacks.

    9/11 is probably the only thing that got GW Bush a second term. September 10, 2001, he was already floundering and unpopular.

  70. 70.

    Immanentize

    February 6, 2017 at 11:01 am

    @Corner Stone: I generally think that is the right path, but there are two issues here — the legal issues regarding the EO and the question of third branch integrity. Of course, Roberts did a lot of damage to court integrity with his crazy “5-4 decisions are horrible” dissent in Obergefell. Well, they are horrible when he is in the minority, not when he is in the majority like in Hobby Lobby or Citizens United.

  71. 71.

    Immanentize

    February 6, 2017 at 11:06 am

    @MaryL: Nicely put.

  72. 72.

    sherparick

    February 6, 2017 at 11:06 am

    @MattF: Unfortunately, I see that beyond the magic 27% of America that is always looney toons and will be always looney tunes, Trump is really not to far below the 46% he got in the election. This extra 20%, almost all white, became increasingly freaked out under President Obama’s term. Part of the freak out is economic distress and frustration with close to 20 years now of wage stagnation and policies that put non-college educated Americans in direct competition with 3rd world wages, and an exchange rate policy “the strong dollar” that made the competition pretty one sided and discouraged investment in the old Midwest. And of course part of is race and the way social media and right wing media makes a fantasy of an Hispanic imposed Sharia Law something that could happen any day to Davenport, Iowa. (I will say that corn prices going south with Oil after 2012 explains the swing in Iowa to the Republicans in 2014 and 2016. Ironically, a war in the Persian gulf that spikes oil may send those corn prices up which may may Iowa and rural Wisconsin happy.

  73. 73.

    Bobby Thomson

    February 6, 2017 at 11:07 am

    @Elizabelle: Unlike her little brother, Judge Barry has integrity and just took inactive status, meaning she will no longer hear cases.

  74. 74.

    bemused senior

    February 6, 2017 at 11:07 am

    @Major Major Major Major: Reads to me like both.

  75. 75.

    Elizabelle

    February 6, 2017 at 11:09 am

    @Bobby Thomson: That’s good to hear. She is 78.

  76. 76.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 6, 2017 at 11:10 am

    @Elizabelle: I don’t know why you and AL insist on giving Vichy Times links. Yesterday they had a huge front page story scare mongering about ISIL*. They are one of the reasons that we have the current nightmare on Penn Ave. Just like him, they thrive when you give them attention. They haven’t changed, a bit. Their political coverage is garbage.
    * I saw it at the supermarket checkout, yesterday.

  77. 77.

    gvg

    February 6, 2017 at 11:10 am

    i have been thinking that Trump has been sued so many times, i think he might just be inclined to be anti judges and independent judiciary system without his political beliefs. To him, judges may be the only people who ever tell him no, so they are all bad.

    I am also thinking about his anti reading stance. I don’t buy that he can’t read because he has sometimes and its just our anti Trump bias that makes it seem like he can’t. However he clearly doesn’t like to and may have difficulty doing so. I have family who are dyslexic. some have overcome that (ones a medical doctor) and read easily now but I have noticed they prefer TV or movies when relaxing more than I do. Well almost everyone prefers video more than I do books but anyway, I have to say it may be best while we are stuck with him if the departments who do Presidential briefings produced videos like a Tv show and don’t bother with written reports…it’s still a record that he was told.
    he is going to claim he wasn’t briefed whenever he wants because he just lies He’ll have to be shown that isn’t an acceptable excuse at this level. But if he doesn’t read and hasn’t for a long time, well we’ll have to adapt.
    TV video just does not impart the same level of detail as the written word IMO.

  78. 78.

    bemused senior

    February 6, 2017 at 11:12 am

    @randy khan: the DOJ said that because Robarts specified a very accelerated schedule. For hearing arguments on the merits (deadlines are today to submit briefs) they are waiting until this has happened.

  79. 79.

    Peale

    February 6, 2017 at 11:14 am

    @dedc79: That’s just silly. Seriously. No court has actually heard arguments about that, let alone issued a ruling. All the courts have said so far is that people with visas should be allowed to enter the country until the court decides whether the Executive can implement broad process changes. So far the administration has lost most of those, especially in regards to holding people in detention. But as far as I can tell, no judge has declared all or even parts of the EO to be unconstitutional. My guess has always been that most of the EO will be upheld but that the administration overreached by going after every single class of visa holder it could lay its hands on.

  80. 80.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 6, 2017 at 11:18 am

    Time to get serious with these domestic enemies of the Constitution of the United States.

  81. 81.

    Peale

    February 6, 2017 at 11:21 am

    @tobie: Yeah. I mean, if Hollywood wanted to help explain these things, they could make a point of putting immigrant characters through a visa process in as many TV shows as possible. As it stands, people confuse travel for tourism, which is very easy for Americans, with a process that involves, say, being driven out of your homes by an army or a group of rebels and ending up in a camp in some neighboring country. But even travelers from countries where there isn’t a big human catastrophe gather information to apply for a visa before they can come here.

  82. 82.

    Bobby Thomson

    February 6, 2017 at 11:21 am

    @Barbara: Can’t find any, but my recollection is that the response to Hamdi was not that accommodating.

    Bill Clinton certaintly crossed the line after a ruling by Judge Harold Baer.

  83. 83.

    dedc79

    February 6, 2017 at 11:22 am

    @MaryL:

    The thing is, he’s technically not wrong. The court doesn’t legislate – it interprets and occasional invalidates legislation. But the thing is, the Executive isn’t supposed to legislate, either – it’s supposed to execute the law (which also involves a certain amount of interpretation).

    I think frankly we’re giving this way more thought than Huckabee did. The court doesn’t legislate, but when it enjoins an action by the executive branch, that’s not legislating.

  84. 84.

    J R in WV

    February 6, 2017 at 11:24 am

    @MomSense:

    ….I don’t think trump has the discipline, work ethic, competence, or judgment to make good decisions regarding security issues.

    True. Nor does he have the education to have the needed knowledge of history, diplomacy, warfare both traditional and non-traditional (which is terrorism) nor the ability to build and work with a team that does have that needed education and experience with national security issues!

    It’s still him and Steve “Facist” Bannon trying to run the government by themselves. Well, there are 5 or 6 aids working with him, it isn’t just Bannon.

  85. 85.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 6, 2017 at 11:24 am

    @dedc79: Roberts, of course, fucking loves legislating.

  86. 86.

    Barbara

    February 6, 2017 at 11:25 am

    @Peale: I have not studied this too closely, but there are a number of real issues — the first is, can you revoke a visa that was validly obtained under an existing process on no other basis than your desire to change the process itself? The more durable the visa (e.g., green cards, which are not even technically visas, but permanent documents), the more difficult the issue becomes. Take a more extreme hypothetical (or two). Let’s say the U.S. starts phasing in more secure passports (which it has), but my family has existing valid passports that predate the changes. Let’s say we are traveling outside the U.S. and an order proclaims without prior notice and immediately that those insecure passports are no longer valid. Can my family be permanently barred from reentering the U.S.? Likewise, what if someone is a naturalized citizen from Iraq or Iran — can an EO revoke that person’s citizenship pending further review? The order was styled as “temporary” no doubt to get around this kind of issue, but this is a big deal — many of these issues are intertwined with statutory enactments of long duration as to who is eligible for and what kinds of rights attend what kinds of immigration/visa status. Normally, you would try to invoke some kind of “national emergency” to support this kind of measure, especially if it is retroactive in impact, but there is no national emergency, (or at least, none was alluded to, which would be fairly standard if one existed). So the point here is, there is no doubt the executive has a lot of power, but there are limits to its exercise in such an arbitrary fashion, especially when it is being used to take away a legal status that was validly obtained.

  87. 87.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 6, 2017 at 11:31 am

    @Barbara: When you’re a Nazi thug, all that is irrelevant to the needs of the Nazi thug right this second.

  88. 88.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 6, 2017 at 11:31 am

    @dedc79: “Huckabee” and “thought” don’t belong in the same sentence.

  89. 89.

    Immanentize

    February 6, 2017 at 11:32 am

    @Barbara: I hope everyone understands that student visas and work visas of people who are still in the US HAVE BEEN REVOKED. In other words, if you leave you can’t come back. Further, if the feds wanted to, they could round up everyone in colleges and businesses who are from those seven states and deport them. Right now (except for the stay). Got it?

  90. 90.

    dedc79

    February 6, 2017 at 11:35 am

    @Major Major Major Major: And the Republicans, who have long claimed to hate “judicial activism” are pushing legislation that would eliminate Chevron deference (under which an Agency is entitled to some deference in interpreting a statute directing it to take some kind of action). The result would be an unprecedented amount of judicial activism, as judges would be freed to substitute their own views for that of the Agency in question.

  91. 91.

    Barbara

    February 6, 2017 at 11:43 am

    @Immanentize: I think the exact “scope” of what was done is still somewhat unclear. Not every kind of visa actually gives you the right to reenter the U.S. once you leave. What is infuriating is that most people actually get the idea that changing the rules in the middle of the game is very unfair, but some people– how many is unclear — fail to connect the dots between this arbitrary exercise of lawlessness as a general proposition and their own welfare as citizens by trying to reassure themselves that this could only happen to immigrants. The point is the arbitrary exercise of power in an effort to steamroll the many laws and regulations that already exist. It’s like breaking into a house through an open window.

  92. 92.

    Brachiator

    February 6, 2017 at 11:44 am

    @Belafon:

    Hey, Trump, Obama kept us safe from a major terror attack for eight years, if you don’t count all the killings done by white extremists operating under the system you are having a fit about.

    And remember that reports indicate that Trump wants to de-emphasize efforts to go after white extremists and other similar domestic terrorists.

  93. 93.

    Elie

    February 6, 2017 at 11:48 am

    Alls I know is that we had better find something – some power or part of our government that can set limits on this cat or we are going to be in for it worse than we are. He has not crossed the line ordering the agencies to go against the stay – yet. If he does, we will have nothing but the feckless Congress to hope for and even with that, not sure that he would obey. The dude is 99% rogue and surrounded by people protecting his prerogatives and making this more and more of a dictatorship. I have to think that many are laying awake at night trying to think of how to break this control he has asserted on the process. We are testing the judicial and lets see how it holds up. To me he has already done impeachable offenses that could result in his removal from office, but the Congress would not yet take that on. I am also very concerned about Bannon who we have few tools to control: he is not elected and his role as advisor gives him a lot of latitude. Very dangerous times indeed…. I knew that it would be bad, but I truly did not see it this bad.

  94. 94.

    randy khan

    February 6, 2017 at 11:49 am

    @bemused senior:

    Your response made me curious as to the actual schedule. The court denied a request for an administrative stay, and set a briefing schedule on the broader stay motion. The states’ opposition to the motion to stay was due this morning at 1:00 a.m. PST, and the government’s reply is due at 3:00 p.m. PST. There does not appear to be a date set for a hearing on the motion.

    The 9th Circuit has set up a page with the relevant materials in the case. It’s worth checking out the response brief and the attachments – the list of people who signed the supporting affidavit is pretty impressive, and includes top people in both the GWB and PBO Administrations.

    Appeal filings

  95. 95.

    Brachiator

    February 6, 2017 at 11:52 am

    @dmsilev:

    Our Would-Be Ruler Verbally Assaults A Federal Judge…

    … again.

    Candidate Trump is doing the same thing that candidate Trump did (e.g., insulting the judge of Mexican descent because he didn’t agree with his rulings. Some of the people who voted for him are still indulging the stupid fantasy that he will “grow” into the presidency.

    @J R in WV:

    True. Nor does he have the education to have the needed knowledge of history, diplomacy, warfare both traditional and non-traditional (which is terrorism) nor the ability to build and work with a team that does have that needed education and experience with national security issues!

    In short, Trump is incompetent. He lacks anything that would qualify him to be president.

    And yet his supporters love him because he is the “populist billionaire.” He is that stupid drunk guy in the bar who tells you how he would straighten everything out if he were elected president. And that’s in part why his supporters love him. He is as dumb as they are, and believes in simple answers to complex problems.

    And the Republican leadership willingly aid and abet him.

    We are so screwed.

  96. 96.

    TenguPhule

    February 6, 2017 at 11:57 am

    WHat’s that old saying? Its not paranoia if they’re really out to kill our Republic and enslave us under a Facist Regime, or something like that?

  97. 97.

    Chris

    February 6, 2017 at 12:00 pm

    Just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril. If something happens blame him and court system. People pouring in. Bad!

    I’ll just point out that “criminal-coddling judges and lawyers are putting us all at risk by irresponsibly tying us up in red tape and allegations that ‘criminals’ have ‘rights’ and letting them go on technicalities, it’d be so much better if we untied the hands of our enforcers to Do What Must Be Done” has basically been holy writ on the other side of the aisle for fifty years. Once again, Trump isn’t saying anything that they haven’t said before – he’s just saying it while POTUS and more bluntly than their politicians usually do.

  98. 98.

    TenguPhule

    February 6, 2017 at 12:00 pm

    @Immanentize: Kill the head, the spine and central nerves. Make examples of the supporters, bloody and painful ones. Teach future generations that those who trade liberty for facism deserve everything they get. Its the only way.

  99. 99.

    Aleta

    February 6, 2017 at 12:01 pm

    I’ve read/understood only a little about how the libert-right wing makes challenges. But the way this visa action is being done (irrational application, appealed immediately) makes me wonder if part of it will also end up as a test in the courts before a deeper challenge. The sloppiness and quick appeal is of course typical Tr. as well.

  100. 100.

    Sloane Ranger

    February 6, 2017 at 12:02 pm

    I find Republican hysteria over this stay amazing and disgusting. More people have been killed by white men with emotional/mental health issues than by terrorists and their response is nothing to see here. Let us pray for the victims and widen access to firearms for those with problems. A judge says you can’t stop people from countries that have never produced anyone who has committed a terrorist act on US soil unless you convince me of the legality of doing so and it’s all whaawhaa, the end is near!

  101. 101.

    TenguPhule

    February 6, 2017 at 12:04 pm

    @Immanentize: Roberts is a collaborator and Judas goat for his fellow judges. Better they die for his ambition then uphold the law. He, Thomas and Alito are badly overdue for Tumbrels.

  102. 102.

    jl

    February 6, 2017 at 12:08 pm

    Yeah, sure whatever. I am just sure there was some huge goof, and the seven countries banned, that have not exported terrorism to the US are really very dangerous but no one noticed. Or Obama is a dumb loser, not like the smart winner Trump, who has said he is too busy to pay attention to daily intelligence briefings. And of course, the others who have exported terrorism are really safe all of a sudden, but no one noticed that either. Except Trump, I mean, he does so much business in the countries he hasn’t banned, how could there be any problems there? So much winning! He has many classy, top, terrific properties doing great business in the countries he has not banned.

    When Sean Spicer freaks out and warns effing SNL to tone it down, it is hilarious. Because of the damage and danger of Trump’s corruption, incompetence and dishonesty wrt his miserable ban, it is not hilarious. I wish it were as hilarious as it should be.

  103. 103.

    Elie

    February 6, 2017 at 12:08 pm

    I am past upset about why we don’t call things what they are. Trump and Kellyanne and Bannon are just spewing propaganda and should be labeled such — a mixture of political and half truths used to manipulate public opinion. Trump should also be admonished to “stop acting like a King or a Dictator — this aint Russia” or some such. Drives me crazy that all the media and such are avoiding these terms that totally characterize what is happening. We have to get into THEIR heads and into THEIR game to blow it apart. Right now, they are controlling the terms…

  104. 104.

    hovercraft

    February 6, 2017 at 12:09 pm

    @gvg:
    He’s not literally illiterate ;- ) he’s functionally illiterate.
    His comprehension skills are woefully lacking. It’s called reading and comprehension ( don’t tell DeVos).

  105. 105.

    TenguPhule

    February 6, 2017 at 12:12 pm

    @Elie: Expect worse. Make sure you have enough on hand to survive at least 6 months without power and prepare accordingly

  106. 106.

    Aleta

    February 6, 2017 at 12:13 pm

    @Brachiator: They keep putting this line out that the press willingly prints and reprints. “He’s doing what he said he would.” Distorting the disrespect and indifference to democratic process into ‘He’s a man of his word.’ Again it’s serious propaganda, distortion of reality into a phrase we can digest and repeat back. Starting w his cabinet, he’s not doing what he said, but that fact is getting lost in the slogan.

  107. 107.

    Peale

    February 6, 2017 at 12:17 pm

    @Barbara: Yes. The administration probably could have stopped issuing new visas. There isn’t much the courts could do about that. The reglious persecution “test” for new refugees probably will stand. We already have programs in place for, say, Jews leaving Russia or Christians, Jews and Baha’i leaving Iran. Its a lousy policy to apply that everywhere, but the courts can’t really do much about lousy policy. However, for classes of visas outside of the refugee programs, I think the courts will decide against the administration. There is no reason to have a religious test to obtain a business/pleasure visa, or a medical visa, or a student visa. Nor is there any reason why someone with a green card shouldn’t be able to travel to other countries. If the administration thinks it’s too dangerous to travel to Syria, then issue a ban on all travel to Syria, not just a ban for existing immigrants and visa holders. I don’t think the Courts will be impressed by the argument that people are “free to leave”, they just have to wait indefinitely to return – so this isn’t a ban. Also, it seems that the final impact of this EO would be that Muslims from these seven countries couldn’t travel anywhere once they had received a green card, while Christians from these same countries could.

  108. 108.

    Aleta

    February 6, 2017 at 12:19 pm

    @hovercraft: And he’s indifferent.
    Plus the habit of having the lawyers do the reading and writing. Maybe that’s what running the govt like a business means — no need for those academic types.

  109. 109.

    sukabi

    February 6, 2017 at 12:23 pm

    Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
    Just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril. If something happens blame him and court system. People pouring in. Bad!
    12:39 PM – 5 Feb 2017
    26,371 26,371 Retweets 119,605 119,605 likes

    Sounds like someone is setting up a false flag event…

  110. 110.

    Brachiator

    February 6, 2017 at 12:26 pm

    @MaryL:

    The thing is, he’s technically not wrong. The court doesn’t legislate…

    Very well said!

    Problem is, Trump knows nothing about the law, and thinks that he is in a position that puts him above the law.

    A radio news story I heard this morning suggests that Trump is angry because a meddlesome judge is preventing Trump from doing what the people want. No attempt to provide a legal framework for his decrees, just anger that someone would dare oppose him.

  111. 111.

    Kay

    February 6, 2017 at 12:27 pm

    Of course he preemptively blames the judge for any possible terror attack. He’s a bad person- lacks even ordinary ethics and standards.

    It won’t get better, either. It will get much, much worse if there’s an actual crisis.

  112. 112.

    jl

    February 6, 2017 at 12:30 pm

    @sukabi:

    ” Sounds like someone is setting up a false flag event…”

    We have to hope that their competence at executing a false flag operation matches their competence at every other stunt they try to pull.
    Maybe their BSinig about the nonexistent ‘Bowling Greem massacre’ is the best they can do. Let’s hope so.

  113. 113.

    Chris

    February 6, 2017 at 12:30 pm

    @Aleta:

    Distorting the disrespect and indifference to democratic process into ‘He’s a man of his word.’

    I’ll believe that when he goes all four or eight years without throwing me off of health insurance.

  114. 114.

    randy khan

    February 6, 2017 at 12:32 pm

    Some encouragement for continued action from Yglesias:

    Activism works

  115. 115.

    eric

    February 6, 2017 at 12:34 pm

    @Immanentize: actually, it is worse than that….this means that they are out of status, and my recollection is that when you accumulate X days out of status, you are permanently barred from ever reentering. (I think X is 30)

  116. 116.

    liberal

    February 6, 2017 at 12:35 pm

    @Adria McDowell (formerly Lurker Extraordinaire:

    So either people aren’t “pouring in”, (which they aren’t) or lots of people at CBP and ICE need to be fired.

    Not really a fair dichotomy. Anyone really interested in cutting down on illegal immigration who’s both not an idiot and not primarily motivated by racism would understand there’s an easy way to do it: draconian penalties for employers who hire them. Much more difficult to have officials chase the actual immigrants and deport them.

  117. 117.

    Peale

    February 6, 2017 at 12:35 pm

    @Aleta: Have they started using “sometimes you have to break a few eggs to make an omelette?” That’s a good one to use, since it sounds like someone making tough decisions, without having to offer a critique of the menu. During Bush II, it took about 4 years after 9/11 for the press to finally agree that perhaps the Administration had thrown away the egg and was simply frying the shells.

  118. 118.

    Bupalos

    February 6, 2017 at 12:35 pm

    Attacking this xenophobia along the constitutional track is all well and good and I totally support it. Long game, I do think we need to push a little harder on the idea that compassion and welcome for displaced and despised people is as fundamental an American value as there is. We need to do more work humanizing these refugees and a little less “constitution says we have to take them” and a little more “these immigrants are our life blood, a big part of our reason for existing as a country, and the fuel to fire the lighthouse of liberty.”

    Alright, maybe work on that last line, decent chance Trump and the Republicans would take that too literally. But I’m pretty taken with the idea that we need some extra offense to pad the score and insulate against the next Bowling Green Massacre.

  119. 119.

    ArchPundit

    February 6, 2017 at 12:38 pm

    Gorka is off his fucking rocker. Even the point about not having the PDB is less insane than his first two points. First, a federal judge doesn’t have the jurisdiction over federal matters. WTF is that? Insane gas lighting? Colossal stupidity?

    Second, a federal judge doesn’t have standing? Judges don’t have standing–litigants do. That was bonkers.

  120. 120.

    Kay

    February 6, 2017 at 12:39 pm

    this is how nuts Trump is and nothing has happened yet. He hasn’t faced a single crisis or challenge. This will be the HIGH point.

  121. 121.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    February 6, 2017 at 12:40 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    What do you guys think the chances of Bannon being let go sooner rather than later are? Trump actually can read, and some of his staff probably detests Bannon.

    Who does Trump have to replace him? It’s hard to belive any conservative will join the Trump admin now that’s it’s giving that sinking ship vibe. According to Buisness Week Trump’s main involvment is looking over newspaper articles with is name in them that one of his staff cuts out, so Trump isn’t going to do the work himself.

  122. 122.

    Elie

    February 6, 2017 at 12:41 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    Uh — what are you thinking we need to prepare for? Physical civil war?

  123. 123.

    randy khan

    February 6, 2017 at 12:43 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    They don’t really need to replace Bannon if he goes – he’s not in any traditional position in the White House staff. I kind of wonder if part of the Reince Priebus calculation in taking the Chief of Staff job was that Bannon would flame out and he would gain a lot more power when that happened.

  124. 124.

    Corner Stone

    February 6, 2017 at 12:44 pm

    @Kay:

    this is how nuts Trump is and nothing has happened yet. He hasn’t faced a single crisis or challenge. This will be the HIGH point.

    I’m starting to think that maybe Trump was a bad hire.

  125. 125.

    liberal

    February 6, 2017 at 12:44 pm

    @gvg:

    However he clearly doesn’t like to and may have difficulty doing so. I have family who are dyslexic.

    I read a book on dyslexia on suspicion that one of my kids might be dyslexic. I agree—he could be dyslexic and be able to read, but at the same time really not like it.

    Can he read (at a reasonable pace) somewhat complicated stuff off a TelePrompter that he hasn’t memorized? Can’t wait for the SOTU address.

  126. 126.

    burnspbesq

    February 6, 2017 at 12:44 pm

    @Peale:

    All the courts have said so far is that people with visas should be allowed to enter the country until the court decides

    That’s technically correct but a bit misleading. The first thing a moving party has to demonstrate in order to get a TRO or preliminary injunction is probable success on the merits. It’s fairly unusual to get that and then lose on summary judgment or at trial. It’s a pretty solid tell.

  127. 127.

    burnspbesq

    February 6, 2017 at 12:47 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    I’m starting to think that maybe Trump was a bad hire.

    Ya think?

    The more challenging question is whether this is a one-off vs. requiring heads to roll in HR.

  128. 128.

    rikyrah

    February 6, 2017 at 12:48 pm

    @Immanentize:

    I hope everyone understands that student visas and work visas of people who are still in the US HAVE BEEN REVOKED. In other words, if you leave you can’t come back. Further, if the feds wanted to, they could round up everyone in colleges and businesses who are from those seven states and deport them. Right now (except for the stay). Got it?

    I understand it, and believe it to be OUTRAGEOUS.

  129. 129.

    maurinsky

    February 6, 2017 at 12:48 pm

    Someone who doesn’t like me subscribed me to a newsletter called Conservative HQ. I was pissed at first, but now I feel like I’m getting an inside look at what’s riling up the tea partiers each week. FWIW, they are calling for Robart’s impeachment (on no legal grounds, just insubordination to the king).

  130. 130.

    liberal

    February 6, 2017 at 12:48 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Candidate Trump is doing the same thing that candidate Trump did (e.g., insulting the judge of Mexican descent because he didn’t agree with his rulings. Some of the people who voted for him are still indulging the stupid fantasy that he will “grow” into the presidency.

    IMHO those remarks, alone and in isolation, disqualified him for the presidency. Not that there wasn’t a ton of other stuff.

  131. 131.

    bemused senior

    February 6, 2017 at 12:48 pm

    @randy khan: Thanks for linking to the details. I am not very adept at typing informative posts on my phone.

  132. 132.

    jl

    February 6, 2017 at 12:49 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    ” I’m starting to think that maybe Trump was a bad hire. ”

    Trump should go on the new Apprentice show and Arnold would fire him. No doubt about that. That would really juice the ratings. Someone should run that idea by Trump. I heard news report mention that Trump is still producing the show, though I find that hard to believe, so maybe I misunderstood.

    Edit: Pence would surely tell Trump it was a great idea.

  133. 133.

    TenguPhule

    February 6, 2017 at 12:49 pm

    @Elie: Among other things. Be prepared for any and/or all of the following:

    1. No Federal Response to a local natural disaster. Assume worse then Katrina level response from FEMA if it is even deployed.

    2. Violent Trump supporters playing vigilante or just trying to see what they can get away with when ITS OKAY IF YOU’RE A WHITE TRUMPLOVER.

    3. Terrorist/Foreign Attack.

    4. Shortages of food and other goods due to civil strife or other disruptions to transportation/distribution.

    5. Civil War* ala our own domestic Iraq-cluster-F. The worst kind of guerilla warfare combined with drones. Avoid going out as much as possible in this scenario as IEDs, boobytraps and random shootings become the new normal.

  134. 134.

    Kay

    February 6, 2017 at 12:50 pm

    the Trump supporters I know don’t actually want these constant updates from him. He was supposed to get in and ‘fix things’ – they didn’t think about how. He told them everyone else were “dummies’ which implied it’s easy. They don’t want to hear about “how” – he promised “fix”.

    This whole fucking thing was based on leader-magic. He whines so much it’s no longer magical at all. It’s petty and fractious. All that bullshit people believe: “a natural!” “a born leader!” relies on making it look easy. He’s not making it look easy. In fact, he complains about everything.

  135. 135.

    Corner Stone

    February 6, 2017 at 12:50 pm

    Democrats don’t want to “take down one of Trump’s cabinet nominees”. The Democrats want to keep a clearly unqualified, greedhead, horrible person away from the Sec Ed job.

  136. 136.

    rikyrah

    February 6, 2017 at 12:50 pm

    Closing the Preschool Gap at Home
    By the time kindergarten starts, wealthy kids already have a major head start over their low-income peers. A novel program hopes to change that.

    by Anne Kim
    February 6, 2017

    We are sitting in the cheerful, cluttered kitchen of Adriana Fuentes, a self-described Army wife and mom who lives in Woodlawn Village, a military housing complex near Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

    Fuentes is holding two paper finger puppets mounted on popsicle sticks, one with a sad face and one with a smiling one. She’s pretending to be her four-year-old son, Santana, as part of a role-playing exercise aimed at helping her teach her son about emotions.

    “How did you feel when you scraped your knee?” asks Brenda Richards, a home visitor for Fairfax County Public Schools who’s playing “mom.” Fuentes holds up the frowning puppet, matching her own expression to the puppet’s. Richards asks another question, and this time Fuentes holds up the smiling one. The thirty-something Fuentes is wearing a Batman logo T-shirt and a practical ponytail – standard weekday wear for a busy mom. She’s outgoing, enthusiastic and plays her part with gusto. “What would be a patient face?” Fuentes asks Richards. “We talk about that a lot when he doesn’t get his way.”

    For months, Richards has been a weekly visitor to Fuentes’s home, which Fuentes shares with her husband and children – four-year-old Santana, two-year-old Gabriela, and two teenagers. Richards typically comes during Gabriela’s naptime, but Gabby is awake today. She plays in the adjoining family room while Paw Patrol plays on the flatscreen TV. A big pile of moldable pink kinetic sand sits in a cookie sheet on the kitchen table, along with spoons and a small plastic shovel. Big wooden letters spelling “E-A-T” adorn the kitchen wall

    Richards works for the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program, a national home visiting initiative for low-income families that’s been offered in Fairfax County for more than a decade. A mom herself, Richards will visit half a dozen other homes this week, walking her clients through a tightly-scripted curriculum provided by the program, offering moral support and parenting advice. “What I love about my job is being a wife and mother and being able to support other mothers,” she said.

  137. 137.

    Corner Stone

    February 6, 2017 at 12:52 pm

    My God. That necktie today is tied a full 5+ inches too long past his belt line.

  138. 138.

    TenguPhule

    February 6, 2017 at 12:53 pm

    @Kay: And people wonder why I’m so fucking depressed and not expecting to survive the next 4 years.

  139. 139.

    Kay

    February 6, 2017 at 12:53 pm

    I laughed when I read he said the health care law replacement might take a year. Why? The big loudmouth know it all said it was easy to fix and he would fix it. That shouldn’t take a year.

  140. 140.

    rikyrah

    February 6, 2017 at 12:54 pm

    BREAKING: #Trump will be blocked from speaking to Parliament on his visit to UK, Speaker of House of Commons says

    — Jeffrey Guterman (@JeffreyGuterman) February 6, 2017

  141. 141.

    jl

    February 6, 2017 at 12:54 pm

    @jl: The show down would be great: “Donald, loog, your fyurst big jop was do wride an exegudive awrdha. I pump iron and do sdunds in agchun moofies and I guld wride an bettah exegudive awrdah. Ahmm sorrwy Donald, yowah fwayhart!

  142. 142.

    Peale

    February 6, 2017 at 12:56 pm

    @Kay: I thought he’d be having meetings to renegotiate better rates for me.

  143. 143.

    Kay

    February 6, 2017 at 12:56 pm

    @rikyrah:

    One of my sisters does home visits in northern California. It’s a second career for her. It doesn’t pay very much but she’s a good saver and she can afford to work for less after working for more for 25 years :) She loves it.

  144. 144.

    Jeffro

    February 6, 2017 at 12:58 pm

    The Illusion of Popular Support for Trump

    Several things over the past few days have reinforced to me – and hopefully others – that there really is this incredible illusion of mass support for Trump. We all saw this with the inaugural crowd nonsense two weeks ago, but his support really might be lower than most think.

    Consider:
    – the anti-Trump NYC rally versus the pitiful pro-Trump “rally” last week (one with oddly professionally-done signs)
    – this bit about Trump auto-retweeters…
    – …to say nothing of what we already know about Russian Twitter troll accounts for Trump
    – …and flat-out fake accounts boosting Trump’s follower numbers even more than most
    All of which should be even more apparent in the weeks to come. As President Bathrobe becomes even more unhinged, we should keep in mind that there’s no ‘there’ there. This is someone with much smaller popular support than most realize, with no real allies in the GOP and almost no one in his own administration who knows what they’re doing – not even how the light switches work(!)

  145. 145.

    Kay

    February 6, 2017 at 12:59 pm

    @Peale:

    Not even meetings! He’d just announce the rates and slam his fist down on the conference table and that would be that!

    They don’t want to see this sausage being made. They want “easy” and “free”. That’s what he promised them.

    People have to stop believing things are easy. Almost nothing is.

  146. 146.

    The Dangerman

    February 6, 2017 at 12:59 pm

    Would y’all mind one more fuck the Patriots and fuck Tom Brady? While I’m at it, fuck the Yankees. And Trump. And his fucked in the head children.

    Damn, that felt good. Maybe I need more daily fiber.

  147. 147.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    February 6, 2017 at 12:59 pm

    @rp:

    I wouldn’t call him a winger, but Chuckles Todd also looks terrible in the goatee.

  148. 148.

    hovercraft

    February 6, 2017 at 12:59 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    Trump’s main involvment is looking over newspaper articles with is name in them that one of his staff cuts out, so Trump isn’t going to do the work himself.

    That’s what he did through the entire campaign, and look where it got him i spite of what all the pundits said. I’m sure he thinks the same will apply for the presidency, he can just wing it, lie his ass off, hold some huuge rallies to allow people to demonstrate their devotion to him and prove that he is too popular. This presidenting thing is a piece of cake. The only reason people don’t know how awesome a job he’s doing is because the press is lying about him, and not spinning things the right way, and the Obama people are leaking lies about him.
    Not only doesn’t he want to do the job, he’s incapable of doing it, because he doesn’t know anything about anything. His entire life is a giant bluff, and so far he’s gotten away with it. Whose going to call him on it, and when?

  149. 149.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    February 6, 2017 at 1:01 pm

    @randy khan:

    I have noticed that the Justice Department doesn’t seem to have asked the Supreme Court for a stay pending the appeal, and it’s been more than 24 hours since the 9th Circuit denied the stay request. Interesting, no?

    If they were sane I would say they using the order as cover to get away from the issue. Since they are not and Trump’s argument is “but it has what plants want”, I am going to say they simply don’t know how to do an appeal.

  150. 150.

    bemused senior

    February 6, 2017 at 1:01 pm

    @randy khan: It is encouraging, but I found this interview with Theda Scocpol worth paying attention to. She has actionable suggestions based on her recent work analyzing the Tea Party movement. (Yes she is aware of indivisible’s manual, and compliments it in part.)

  151. 151.

    pamelabrown53

    February 6, 2017 at 1:03 pm

    @TenguPhule: #133

    No offense, but if someone in meat space told me what you just wrote I’d gently suggest he/she seek professional help. You,are engaging in catastrophic thinking and it’s unhealthy for you and those around you.

  152. 152.

    rikyrah

    February 6, 2017 at 1:05 pm

    @Kay:

    I laughed when I read he said the health care law replacement might take a year. Why? The big loudmouth know it all said it was easy to fix and he would fix it. That shouldn’t take a year.

    They’ve had, what, 6 years to come up with a replacement. Should be already there, ready to go.

  153. 153.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 6, 2017 at 1:06 pm

    @burnspbesq: Translation from lawyer-speak? I read it twice but still don’t understand what you are trying to say.

  154. 154.

    Peale

    February 6, 2017 at 1:07 pm

    @Immanentize: Yes. This is where it gets confusing. Puposefully and willfully confusing. Does the policy only apply to visa holders who have already left the country? Or does it also include those who are still in the US. I know Trump’s big campaign promise is to deport all the Syrians refugees back where they came from (and now it looks like that’s been extended to non-refugees as well). But I didn’t read the EO as applying to, say, H1B holders who weren’t outside the country on 1/27/16

  155. 155.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    February 6, 2017 at 1:08 pm

    @hovercraft:

    Whose going to call him on it, and when?

    That does seem to happening, doesn’t it? I mean when nearly every commercial for the Super Bowl, of all things, is a criticism from a major corporation against a Republican president, something is going on.

  156. 156.

    Timurid

    February 6, 2017 at 1:08 pm

    @rikyrah:

    The UK visit is going to be a total shitshow. And that’s one of our closest allies…
    State visits are going to quickly become almost impossible for Trump.

  157. 157.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 6, 2017 at 1:11 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    I’m starting to think that maybe Trump was a bad hire.

    Captain Obvious to the rescue!

  158. 158.

    pamelabrown53

    February 6, 2017 at 1:12 pm

    @Kay: #134

    Exactly Kay.. What an astute comment: He is the whiner-in-chief and there is nothing or no one in which he’ll refrain from punching down in service of his whining. He would be a “loser, you’re fired ” on his own reality show. This brings me to a thought I’ve had repeatedly: is there a correlation between reality show watchers and Trump voters?

  159. 159.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 6, 2017 at 1:12 pm

    @Timurid: The Speaker has said that Donald will not address Parliament.

    If I were Liz, I’d tell him I was washing my hair that day.

  160. 160.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 6, 2017 at 1:13 pm

    @pamelabrown53: Isolated data point: I never watched his shitty show once.

  161. 161.

    sukabi

    February 6, 2017 at 1:14 pm

    @liberal: why? It will be a rehash of how massive his inUGHeration crowd was, how the media is putting out fake stories about him, the fed. Judge is an as whole for stopping his EO., ad nauseam….

    Oh, and whatever the latest insult to his teeny, tiny ego happens to be…with an added ? ? ?in for the lulz

  162. 162.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 6, 2017 at 1:16 pm

    @Kay: Making leadership look easy is every bit as hard as actually being a leader. It’s something that very few come by naturally.

  163. 163.

    lollipopguild

    February 6, 2017 at 1:16 pm

    @Kay: Nothing is free and few things are easy. Trump put his promise on his hats so he cannot possibly lie to his followers. His whole life is based on lying and cheating people, but try telling that to his true believers

  164. 164.

    hovercraft

    February 6, 2017 at 1:18 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    The more challenging question is whether this is a one-off vs. requiring heads to roll in HR.

    I’d say that given the level of incompetence they have shown, I think this HR department needs to be not only fired wholesale, but institutionalized for life. They cannot be allowed to be in charge of anything ever again.

  165. 165.

    MCA1

    February 6, 2017 at 1:18 pm

    @Elie: I’m not so sure about that. The House Minority Leader just went and flat-out called the so-called POTUS’s chief aide a white supremacist and the blowback to her has been pretty minimal. That and the Time profile and extensive coverage of the botching of the EO, painting Bannondict Arnold as the puppetmaster, has been driving a wedge. Melissa McCarthy destroyed the WH press sec’y and it was the most viral thing all weekend. Even Chuckles Toad himself is pushing back. CNN stopped inviting Conway on. Alternative facts is the meme of the year. The protests and pushback are working. No one’s said it’s all just propaganda yet, no, but there’s a surprising amount of media folks already putting their toes in the “Does the emperor wear clothes or not?” pool, and moving to stop providing microphones for the stream of b.s. I think there are a lot more hackles raised about the undemocratic propensities of this maladministration at this point than one could reasonably have expected.

  166. 166.

    hovercraft

    February 6, 2017 at 1:20 pm

    @rikyrah:
    Why is everyone being so mean to him? If only people would stop listening to the media who keep repeating his words, they would see how great he is.

  167. 167.

    Brachiator

    February 6, 2017 at 1:21 pm

    @Aleta:

    They keep putting this line out that the press willingly prints and reprints. “He’s doing what he said he would.”

    But this is true, and exactly what his hard core supporters want: democracy of the white mob, by the white mob, and for the white mob.

    Trump never said that he would obey or abide by the law. You could see it from the very beginning, in the primaries, where he refused to say that he would abide by the silly rules of the Republican Party, unless it benefited him. He has consistently violated rules and traditions, from disclosing his tax returns to making sure that his financial holdings did not get entangled in conflicts of interest, to separating his family’s business interests from political dealings.

    And his supporters are happy with all this. They want a president who will give them what they want, especially a wall and a ban on Muslims. The law be damned.

  168. 168.

    pamelabrown53

    February 6, 2017 at 1:22 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: #160

    No, I’m not talking about just his reality show but all reality shows.I, too, “never watched his shitty show once”. I’ve also never watched “Dancing with the Stars”, “American Idol” or “Survivor”. The only reality shows I used to follow were “Project Runway” and “Top Chef”. HGTV also had a show where designers were challenged but I can’t remember the name!

  169. 169.

    sukabi

    February 6, 2017 at 1:23 pm

    @Jeffro: saw that article this morning…my god, how inept do you have to be to not even have the forethought to ASK where the light switches / controls are so you at least don’t have to hold meetings in darkened rooms 2 freaking weeks after you’ve been occupying the space…

  170. 170.

    hovercraft

    February 6, 2017 at 1:26 pm

    @rikyrah:
    Forget a year, he said on day one he would repeal Obamacare. He lied, he broke his promise, why aren’t they asking why it’s still there?

  171. 171.

    The Moar You Know

    February 6, 2017 at 1:26 pm

    1. No Federal Response to a local natural disaster. Assume worse then Katrina level response from FEMA if it is even deployed.

    2. Violent Trump supporters playing vigilante or just trying to see what they can get away with when ITS OKAY IF YOU’RE A WHITE TRUMPLOVER.

    3. Terrorist/Foreign Attack.

    4. Shortages of food and other goods due to civil strife or other disruptions to transportation/distribution.

    5. Civil War* ala our own domestic Iraq-cluster-F. The worst kind of guerilla warfare combined with drones. Avoid going out as much as possible in this scenario as IEDs, boobytraps and random shootings become the new normal.

    @TenguPhule:

    1. Inevitable and I think that may have already happened.
    2. Inevitable and the prospect that has me most concerned.
    3. Inevitable but we’ve had a few already.
    4. Possible but unlikely. However, not to be discounted.
    5. Let us pray it does not come to this. I don’t think it will, at least not on a wide scale. But if you have the ability to leave the country I would have that in your back pocket just in case.

    It’s a new America with all-new rules and most of them will not be to anyone’s liking. A lot of us have a lot tied up in the nation: our assets, our homes, our families, our retirement – our lives. But don’t be a German Jew and stay until it’s too late. Keep your eyes open, prepare, get a fucking passport if you don’t already have one (how can anyone not have a passport?) and know when to GTFO.

  172. 172.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 6, 2017 at 1:28 pm

    @Brachiator: Driving a stake through the productive heart of America, because that’s exactly what he is doing by going indiscriminately against immigrants is not going to be economically beneficial for anyone, color no bar.

  173. 173.

    amk

    February 6, 2017 at 1:28 pm

    All this meltdown drama in under 3 weeks. And twitler hasn’t even seen faced a real crisis yet.

  174. 174.

    Brachiator

    February 6, 2017 at 1:30 pm

    @West of the Rockies (been a while):

    I wouldn’t call him a winger, but Chuckles Todd also looks terrible in the goatee.

    Is this the Star Trek Mirror universe Chuck Todd?

  175. 175.

    TenguPhule

    February 6, 2017 at 1:31 pm

    @pamelabrown53: Can you look at the current debacle in government and tell me honestly that any of those worst case scenarios I’ve put up are unbelievable?

    Look at how fast everything is starting to fall apart.

    Remember we had a functioning professional government just THIRTY DAYS AGO.

  176. 176.

    hovercraft

    February 6, 2017 at 1:31 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:
    Exactly, you know that most of them would love to go along with his agenda, of shoveling more and more money at them and giving them free reign, but the all rely on consumers, and if they piss off the customers, they will pay the price. Ask Uber and Ivanka how being allies of the Trumpefuror is going. Between fear of a backlash and the fact that he is unpopular and many artistic/creative types tend to be on the more liberal side, I expect a lot of subliminal messaging over the next few years against him.
    Poor, sad , jackass.

  177. 177.

    jl

    February 6, 2017 at 1:33 pm

    @rp:

    ” What’s with right-wingers and those stupid, awful goatees? ”

    I have also noticed stubble-beards coming and going off the likes of Tom Cotton and Paul Ryan.
    I guess they want to look ‘hep’ for the kids. See, these reactionaries are really cool with it dudes and the those dang kids should vote for them.

  178. 178.

    hovercraft

    February 6, 2017 at 1:34 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:
    She can do like Poppy and Babs, claim illness, and send Charles out to greet him, that way he got to meet a Royal so can not complain, while still snubbing him and denying him the photo op that Obama got. Will and Kate should be busy with spring cleaning.

  179. 179.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 6, 2017 at 1:35 pm

    @jl: Beards don’t look good on 90% of the male populace, in my opinion.

  180. 180.

    jl

    February 6, 2017 at 1:38 pm

    @hovercraft: That would create an international incident, probably war with Britain, declared by presidential decree via deranged tweet right from London.

    His Trumpness has informed the British that under no circumstances is he to be exposed to Prince Charles. Trump will not stand to be contradicted on environmental issues, or climate change, which Prince Charles is chomping at the bit to do, if news reports I have heard are correct.

    Edit: I heard a Brit reporter tick off all the asinine demands Trump has made of the Brits for his state visit. The list should be disgusting to anyone but a super xenophobic super arrogant boor. I imagine countries will try at all costs to avoid the pleasure of a Trump presidential visit.

  181. 181.

    Buttermilk Sky

    February 6, 2017 at 1:42 pm

    Judge Robart knows exactly what the threats to America are: a so-called president who doesn’t understand the Constitution, and his clown car full of Nazis.

  182. 182.

    Brachiator

    February 6, 2017 at 1:45 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Driving a stake through the productive heart of America, because that’s exactly what he is doing by going indiscriminately against immigrants is not going to be economically beneficial for anyone, color no bar.

    Trump and the GOP don’t care. I keep telling people that their goal is to fill the courts with conservative judges, to cut taxes for the wealthy, to repeal as many financial regulations as they can and to turn back the clock with respect to women’s reproductive rights.

    The BREXIT liars in the UK promised all kinds of economic benefits to get the vote, and then lied again (“hey, we never said that”) when the facts came out. Trump is promising jobs, and he may actually deliver a few. But his masters, the Koch brothers, Robert Mercer, et al, want to return America to a kind of libertarian feudalism in which they are the lords of the manor.

    ETA: This stuff is catching. After BREXIT, we now have Marie Le Pen promising FREXIT, and crediting Trump a one of her inspirations:

    French far-right leader Marine Le Pen kicked off her presidential campaign on Saturday with a promise to shield voters from globalization and make their country “free”, hoping to profit from political turmoil to score a Donald Trump-style upset.

    Opinion polls see the 48-year old daughter of National Front (FN) founder Jean-Marie Le Pen topping the first round on April 23 but then losing the May 7 run-off to a mainstream candidate.

    But in the most unpredictable election race France has known in decades, the FN hopes the scandal hitting conservative candidate Francois Fillon and the rise of populism across the West will help convince voters to back Le Pen.

    “We were told Donald Trump would never win in the United States against the media, against the establishment, but he won… We were told Marine Le Pen would not win the presidential election, but on May 7 she will win!” Jean-Lin Lacapelle, a top FN official, told several hundred party officials and members.

    These people don’t care whether they kill their country’s economy.

  183. 183.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 6, 2017 at 1:51 pm

    @Brachiator: At this point I don’t really care about what they and their core supporters think.

  184. 184.

    Miss Bianca

    February 6, 2017 at 1:59 pm

    @rikyrah: Nice program. It, along with PAT (Parents as Teachers), was the basis for early literacy and intergenerationakl activities in Even Start, which was the integrated family literacy program that sought to address educational achievement for the whiole family. This approach was based on the realization, articulated by Dr. Thomas Sticht based on his “functional literacy” programs in the armed forces, that raising the education level of the parents automatically raised the literacy level of their children. It combined adult education classes, early childhood education classes, intergenerational literacy activities, parenting education, and home visits. It was one of the government programs judged “effective” – and, of course, the Republican Congress gutted funding for it back in 2011.

  185. 185.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 6, 2017 at 2:02 pm

    @pamelabrown53: I’m with you there. “Reality” shows are as phony as Donald himself. All of them. They’re the producers’ way of fucking over the “talent” who are happy just to be on the teevee.

  186. 186.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 6, 2017 at 2:03 pm

    @Brachiator: They are seriously stupid parasites who work hard to kill the host.

    Which is why I will shed no tears when they all get their just deserts.

  187. 187.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 6, 2017 at 2:04 pm

    @jl:

    I have also noticed stubble-beards coming and going off the likes of Tom Cotton and Paul Ryan.

    The heads of whom would look infinitely better on pikes than on their shoulders.

  188. 188.

    Elie

    February 6, 2017 at 2:07 pm

    While Trump and Bannon may want a destroyed and economically powerless United States, not sure that is what all the Repubs and most certainly not the rubes who voted for him want. The more damage these folks obviously do, the less likely they will continue to have backing. I could see an assassination attempt from inside — just like Hitler experienced from his own team when Rommel could see things heading south. These people are opportunists and quite motivated, but they see the world in a very specific way that is not the way the world works. They are not in Russia and our economy and other alliances are complicated and not easy to just “control”. Not all the parties are showing their hands but I think Mr. Trump and Bannon will have a few surprises coming their way before long. I would hire a couple of tasters as well if I were them….

  189. 189.

    lollipopguild

    February 6, 2017 at 2:14 pm

    @Brachiator: We are dealing with people hate this country the way it currently is, they want to destroy the country the way it currently exists and if they cannot have their way they would be very happy to burn it all to the ground. They think that they will survive all of this and then rebuild America as an all white nation.

  190. 190.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    February 6, 2017 at 2:28 pm

    @jl:

    They’re going for the George Clooney look, I suspect. However, they lack his charisma, intelligence, and Hollywood beauty.

    With their facial hair efforts, they chose… poorly.

  191. 191.

    Just One More Canuck

    February 6, 2017 at 2:38 pm

    @hovercraft: no, it should be Princess Anne’s granddaughter, who is 17th in line for the throne (thank you Wikipedia). She is 3 years old and could therefore speak with Trump on the same emotional and intellectual level

  192. 192.

    randy khan

    February 6, 2017 at 2:47 pm

    @bemused senior:

    That’s really good. I think the key point for all of us is that this is a process, with a lot of moving parts, and organizing is important.

  193. 193.

    AxelFoley

    February 6, 2017 at 2:51 pm

    @Tokyokie:

    Judge Robert may not get the daily intelligence briefing, but it’s not like Lord Smallgloves pays attention to it or gives it any consideration.

    ????? at Lord Smallgloves

  194. 194.

    Kathleen

    February 6, 2017 at 3:03 pm

    @Kay: Todd is winger curious.

  195. 195.

    Iowa Old Lady

    February 6, 2017 at 3:25 pm

    @Miss Bianca: We ask teachers to fix all the social problems children bring to school with them and blame teachers if they don’t. If we truly wanted those problems addressed, we’d fund schools with all sorts of programs like this one, ranging from medical care to food.

  196. 196.

    sukabi

    February 6, 2017 at 3:27 pm

    @jl: it’s my theory that Ryan and Cotton have descended into a pit of depression due to their unwillingness to push back on drumpfs’ clearly incompetent, if not outright deluded EOs and tweet-rums…

    To finally push back would mean that they’d have to admit that not only is drumpf incompetent, but they are as well, in that they DID NOT VET HIM even minimally as a candidate, but put party power over country well-being.

  197. 197.

    Miss Bianca

    February 6, 2017 at 3:35 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: And some districts do – some of them have health clinics and after-school programs – even laundry services (that part in The Wire about Prez, cop-turned-teacher, telling one of his students to give him his laundry so that he would have clean clothes to wear to school really got to me – because I know of school districts where that happens!)

    But of course, we can’t have consistent federal-level acknowledgement that school districts have to deal with all kinds of social dysfunction caused by poverty, racism, and/or faulty parenting – and a subsequent commitment to funding for programs that seek to help school districts deal with an impossible situation – that would be admitting that people can’t simply bootstrap their way out of their social conditions! Let’s just starve the public school systems, give them unfunded mandates to fulfil, and give people vouchers to charter schools instead!

  198. 198.

    Barbara

    February 6, 2017 at 3:36 pm

    @jl: Maybe their wives took their razors away. That’s a joke, by the way.

  199. 199.

    p.a.

    February 6, 2017 at 3:53 pm

    Everyone see the article(s) on the Cambridge UK group that tRump campaign used to focus ‘granular’ election messaging on individuals using Big Data from fbook etc? Well that also means each of those voters* will take failure to back the promises personally. And since it was mostly bs messaging except to the actual fascists the result is building: twitteregret is a display of it. And it won’t get any better for him; tRump must be hung around the Rethugs’ necks like a noose, or burning tire.

    *the regret being expressed on twitter is from those with a partially functioning brain. Admittedly there are many beneath this level of function. 27% anyone?

  200. 200.

    Captain C

    February 6, 2017 at 5:30 pm

    @Peale:

    “sometimes you have to break a few eggs to make an omelette?”

    Anyone saying this seriously and unironically needs to volunteer to be one of the first eggs broken.

  201. 201.

    Captain C

    February 6, 2017 at 5:57 pm

    @Brachiator:

    These people don’t care whether they kill their country’s economy.

    That may be a feature; then they could get their favored half to attack the unfavored half, a la Jay Gould. After that, well, they probably haven’t thought that far ahead.

  202. 202.

    gorram

    February 6, 2017 at 6:15 pm

    @Belafon: He’s materially invested in there being a major terrorist attack:

    a) There’s the general rally-around-the-flagpole which he desperately needs to drum out what disagreement exists within conservative/Republican circles. He’s constantly been threatened by defections within his own party, and this insulates him more from that.

    b) Almost every policy he’s enacted by EO has been explained in terms of security, and so it validates his focus and gives him room to articulate more intense restrictions (when it’s quite clear he negotiated somewhat with the existing legal system in some regard up to this point – what with the rebranding of the “Muslim ban” as a ban on nationalities). This would make possible for him to make demands, the way many security and intelligence agencies did after 9-11.

    c) More specifically, this makes the case for him if he can find anyway to alternative-fact-spin this into being partly the fault of a Sanctuary city’s laws or similar institutional policy. This bolsters the media narrative he’s been on-again-off again interested in about particularly Californian dysfunction. He’s currently on it, but while it doesn’t have staying power, it’s something he has repeatedly returned to. Everyone was thinking he’s the heel, but we’re *his* heel, especially in the circles that believe him when it comes to scary brown people.

    d) Electorally, it’s also a boon for him. I don’t expect it to a make a significant dent in the population of California, but I think he’s looking for a death by papercuts of overt disenfranchisement, structural barriers to voting, and yes policies that increase risk of death/illness/distraction to help him avoid the embarrassment of losing the popular vote *again*. This probably looks like a two-for-one deal to him given that for every would be voter who dies in California (who statistically didn’t vote for him and never would) he potentially scares thousands of fence-sitters into thinking he was right all along. Talk about return on investment!

    Basically, there’s a whole mess of reasons why it would benefit Him personally for there to be an attack, particularly within a space like California, especially California itself. I’m not sure (outside of human decency, commitment to the country, and other traits Trump is dripping with) what exactly could counteract these. Thoughts?

  203. 203.

    Applejinx

    February 6, 2017 at 7:35 pm

    @The Moar You Know:
    TenguPhule:

    1. No Federal Response to a local natural disaster. Assume worse then Katrina level response from FEMA if it is even deployed.
    2. Violent Trump supporters playing vigilante or just trying to see what they can get away with when ITS OKAY IF YOU’RE A WHITE TRUMPLOVER.
    3. Terrorist/Foreign Attack.
    4. Shortages of food and other goods due to civil strife or other disruptions to transportation/distribution.
    5. Civil War* ala our own domestic Iraq-cluster-F. The worst kind of guerilla warfare combined with drones. Avoid going out as much as possible in this scenario as IEDs, boobytraps and random shootings become the new normal.

    The Moar You Know:

    1. Inevitable and I think that may have already happened.
    2. Inevitable and the prospect that has me most concerned.
    3. Inevitable but we’ve had a few already.
    4. Possible but unlikely. However, not to be discounted.
    5. Let us pray it does not come to this. I don’t think it will, at least not on a wide scale. But if you have the ability to leave the country I would have that in your back pocket just in case.

    This isn’t catastrophizing, this is threat assessment. Actions have consequences. My take on it is similar but not exactly like either:
    1. FEMA response depends greatly on (a) whether FEMA is functional, and (b) whether Trump wants applause. Ponder that one. There is nothing Trump would like better than some opportunity to grandstand and play the big hero, especially if he can get some federal business for stuff he owns. Call it Trump-MA and it’ll be galumphing in to be photographed. You cannot assume he will pull a New Orleans. That would be what Ryan would do, but Trump doesn’t work the same way.

    2. No shit. Already happening. My own worry there is, law enforcement officers becoming those vigilantes, targeting Hispanics and anybody who looks like a Muslim, no matter what they really are. I think this is our biggest danger, or our biggest damage.

    3. Why would anybody need to attack us at this point? Counterproductive to destroying the USA. As things stand, ISIS or whoever just need to sit back and watch. Striking at us would be unifying. We’re nowhere near unified, so not striking is the most damaging thing that could be done. Keeping Trump on the simmer, with (unjustified) ambiguity (trumpsters not turning against him) is the most damaging status we could be in.

    4. This is surprisingly probable. Our food supply is like some kind of hyper-tuned Ferrari: technologically hyped to extreme efficiency but dependent on a First World support network of conditions. To make matters worse, it’s profoundly dependent on agribusiness that is not typically solely American. Disruptions can come in many forms. If Trump angers the wrong multinational corporations, they could starve American cities just to teach Trump a lesson. For instance, if Trump tries to interfere with globalized business via tariffs or something, which the actual Republicans don’t even want him to do, a rebuke could easily take the form of ‘be careful what you wish for’ on behalf of corporate infrastructure. We can’t assume giant corporations won’t inflict collateral damage in getting their way: they’ve got Trump to deal with, and his Russian puppetmasters might have him attacking our infrastructure by targeting multinational corporations, knowing a blowback would occur.

    5. Nope. Not unless you make a point of living in big, Liberal Haven, Clinton Aspirational cities. The difference between us and many other countries is, we’re incredibly decentralized. This is an asset, not a fault. You can be several ‘countries’ away just by crossing a bunch of state lines. It depends who you are and what you look like: if you’re white and can look redneck, there are any number of flyover states where guerrila warfare won’t happen: unless you are fixing to run a Planned Parenthood, and then God help you. If you’re black or Muslim or look like those things, there are other places to be. It’s a really big country. Who the hell needs to send drones against Detroit? Who could tell if they did? Corporate governance has already left big chunks of the USA a wasteland. If there’s guerrila warfare, it’ll be confined to hotspots that are also centers of economic activity. You might think those are normal and common: they’re not. Yet it is those places which would be targets… not the country full of dead towns that nobody wanted to save. Nobody gives a fuck about those. If you’re scared of the big successful city being too dangerous, go to some town. We got a million of ’em ;)

  204. 204.

    SgrAstar

    February 6, 2017 at 7:44 pm

    @laura: re the Gork-splaining about super sekrit intel- we already know that 45 doesn’t bother with the daily briefings. In his own words, he is “…like, smart.” ???

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