We all know that there’s no national emergency on the southern US border. We all also know that this will not stop the President in declaring a national emergency this morning. The devil will, of course, be in the details. Specifically we’ll need to see not what the President actually says this morning, though that is likely to be hyperbolic and factually incorrect, but what the actual declaration says. Because the drafting of it was surely a fight between the President’s senior policy advisor Stephen Miller, who has a bachelors degree in what is generally reported as political science, and the actual attorneys at the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel and the White House Counsel’s Office who are trying to mitigate potential damage by keeping the declaration as close to constitutional (constitutionally adjacent?) as possible.
Here’s the live feed:
I leave you with the timeless wisdom of Vice President Pence regarding what the President is going to do today:
Mike Pence: The president usurping power and end-running Congress is "a profound mistake." pic.twitter.com/GjDbHDvh0u
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) February 15, 2019
Expect the crazy to go the whole day…
Open thread!
TaMara (HFG)
I’m so old, I remember when Mexico was going to pay for the wall.
Punchy
I’m so old, I remember when agreeing with anything Bill Kristol spewed from his puke hole was an impossibility.
Adam L Silverman
@Punchy: Kristol just tweeted it, the video is Pence explaining why the President, Obama of course, can’t just take unilateral action on these types of matters.
The Midnight Lurker
Yea! National Emergency Day!
Sorry, I got you nothin’! What’d you me get me?
Miss Bianca
You know what’s a real national emergency? My dog still MIA after 72 hours. *That’s* a national emergency.
Blech and phooey. And a resounding “feh” on top of it. Back to my hole.
Another Scott
@TaMara (HFG): Yup.
Let’s not forget that it was a cynical ploy from the beginning, also too. We can blame Sam Nunberg.
Joshua Green:
(via ddale8 on Twitter)
Cheers,
Scott.
Immannetize
Adam — just a typo heads up — “I live you with” might want to be “I leave you with”? Or even “I love you with” if you changed the end of the sentence….
WaterGirl
@TaMara (HFG): How did everything go yesterday?
Immannetize
@Miss Bianca: That is rotten! Sending homecoming guidance to your pooch.
WaterGirl
@Miss Bianca: Your dog is missing? For real? What happened?
Yarrow
@Miss Bianca: Oh, no! What happened?
Betty Cracker
That the orange clown is going straight from the signing to his stupid golf resort tells us all we need to know about this “emergency.”
“There’s an emergency on the southern border. Now watch this drive!”
Adam L Silverman
@Immannetize: Thanks, fixed it.
Raven
Just passing Gainesville headed for the space coast fishing extravaganza! I drove for 5 hrs now it’s chill!
Amir Khalid
So far this WaPo live feed is the best video I’ve seen of Donald Trump. He’s nowhere in sight.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Damn. Here’s hoping his collar slipped off and he’s lying on somebody’s couch while they print out “Is this your dog?” flyers
kindness
I’m looking forward to Nancy marshalling a vote against it today. Spit in Trump’s eye another time and make Mitch squirm to support the mini-Musollini.
Betty Cracker
@Miss Bianca: Oh no!
The Midnight Lurker
Orange Julius is speaking now…
Amir Khalid
@Amir Khalid:
He showed up. Damn.
Bruce K
Kristol had another humdinger today:
https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/1096190920263958529
The maddening part about that tweet is that it is one letter away from being absolutely accurate. One letter to change “faces” to “faced”, present tense to past tense. So tempted to assume it’s a typo on his part instead of him trying to deny the ugly truth: that the 21st-century Republican Party has already passed a point beyond which there is no repair, no redemption, no salvation.
AnotherBruce
Aaaaah, the robust smell of fresh articles of impeachment should be in the air!
Amir Khalid
I give up. I can’t take more than a few seconds of his empty blather.
sharl
LOL/SOB, he still doesn’t know – or pretends to not know* – how tariffs work. (*Personally I assume ‘Option A’ comes closest to the correct answer.)
Miss Bianca
@WaterGirl: She went on an unathorized walkabout – as Huskies do – and has disappeared. No sightings, no soundings, zero, zip, nada.
Very unlike her not to show up for din-dins. I try to keep the faith and not let dark imaginings swamp me. Meanwhile, FB postings, flyers, shelter hauntings, all the usual means of retrieval.
Pray for Luna. : (
joel hanes
Time to impeach.
The Midnight Lurker
Here it comes…
Raven
@Miss Bianca: Poor baby!
Amir Khalid
Besides, I tweaked my back bending over Sister today and my mood is not great.
The Midnight Lurker
Sorry. More empty blathering… he had me for a sec.
Adam L Silverman
@joel hanes: I’m more an imnectarine kind of guy. I don’t like the fuzz on the impeaches.
Kelly
3″ of new snow, temps in the high 20’s. Gonna XC ski Santiam Pass today!
The Midnight Lurker
Still kicking El Paso? Seriously?. Ohhh! Now he claims all those murders he was referring to are on the Mexican side.
NotMax
If he sees his shadow it means six more weeks of emergency.
;)
Elizabelle
@Miss Bianca: Keep us posted on Luna.
You have probably already done this, but flyers at nearby gas stations, in particular, can be a huge help. Lots of eyes and ears in the neighborhood stop for gas. With weekend coming up, maybe nearby churches and other places of worship too.
I found a friend’s runaway dog via gas station posters.
The Midnight Lurker
…Nancy knows it. Chuck knows it. It’s all a big con. It’s all a big lie.”
Goddamn right.
sharl
He sounds rattled. While no one is more deserving of it, it could result in rather ominous consequences.
mrmoshpotato
Is it possible to roll your eyes so hard that they roll right out of your head?
hedgehog mobile
@Miss Bianca: Oh no! Sending go home doggie vibes and hugs for you.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I swear she’s gonna capering in front of the White House with a giant papier måché trump puppet head by the Fourth of July.
The Midnight Lurker
“…monsterous caravans…”
THERE IT IS! He’s signing a National Emergency!!!!
He says it’s never been a problem before.
Adam L Silverman
@The Midnight Lurker: Any idea who this Bob Wiya guy is he keeps referring to?
NotMax
@The Midnight Lurker
Ah, so the fence stopped all those Americans from crossing the border to commit murder, then.
Sheer lunacy.
Elizabelle
Please let this make Team Mueller decide to drop some closer in and closer in indictments today. Get THAT on the front pages and 24/7 cable wurlitzer.
WaterGirl
@Miss Bianca: Oh, no! I would be beside myself. Just thinking about it is upsetting enough. Prayers for both of you.
The Midnight Lurker
@sharl: TOTALLY rattled.
waspuppet
10 minutes after he declares a national emergency, I’m declaring a national embarrassment.
sharl
@Miss Bianca: Oh no! Hope Luna shows up quickly, none-the-worse for whatever adventure she’s on.
WaterGirl
@The Midnight Lurker: What is your quote from?
waspuppet
@The Midnight Lurker: That’s Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer to you, Inheritance Boy.
joel hanes
@Adam L Silverman:
I’m watching Constitutional government die in a ditch at the hands of the so-called Republican Party
Somehow, I just can’t do humor today, even black humor, even snark.
Sorry.
The Midnight Lurker
Wow! Did he bury the lede! Now he’s introducing ‘Angel Moms & Dads’, nobody by name. 70 G killed by drugs… he thinks that number is ‘ridiculously low’… WTF???!!!
Kraux Pas
I didn’t know Fentanyl was brought in from Mexico. Trump, you should ask your big pharma donors about it.
Also, many people are legally prescribed this and have real pain that needs to be addressed.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I accidentally clicked over to NPR and heard him talking about ‘new records’, so I assume he was bragging about the DJIA before getting to the ‘national emergency’
The Midnight Lurker
@Adam L Silverman: No clue, sir. But I’m working on it.
debbie
Back to death penalties for drug dealers. Asshole.
mrmoshpotato
@Raven: You’re an inspiration to us all. Driving for any length of time in our current state of planned NATIONAL EMERGENCY! takes nerves of steel. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
NotMax
@The Midnight Lurker
There’s that ol’ debbil projection again.
Adam L Silverman
@The Midnight Lurker: So is he calling for more Americans to be killed because he thinks the numbers are ridiculously low? I can’t tell because he didn’t finish the sentence or the thought.
The Midnight Lurker
Trump is excited by a death penalty in the trade deal???!!!
Words fail…
debbie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
New highs on Wall Street, actually.
Yarrow
@Miss Bianca: Sorry to hear that. Fingers crossed she’ll turn up.
Miss Bianca
@Elizabelle: Good thought, I have one up at one of the gas stations, will drop some off at the other two today!
Adam L Silverman
@Kraux Pas: Too late, President Xi is going to classify it as a deadly, deadly drug. That’s like double secret probation.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
President Krusty the Klown
debbie
@Adam L Silverman:
No, he’s saying it’s ok to murder children if you’re a citizen. //
The Midnight Lurker
A second National Emergency???!!
It’s all about drugs and gangs!! What?!! Was there a A-Team marathon on Nick last night?
Adam L Silverman
@The Midnight Lurker: Please report back!
Adam L Silverman
@The Midnight Lurker: Narrator: There is no death penalty in the trade deal.
debbie
@Miss Bianca:
Fingers crossed for a return very soon.
The Midnight Lurker
“…lot’s of things happening. That’s the story.”
Death can not be this busy.
Adam L Silverman
@debbie: Well my weekend plans just got exciting!//
Frankensteinbeck
@Adam L Silverman:
This is the first time I’ve seen you since I found out: Did you hear about Attack on Titan? That the big reveal of the series is… the titans are Jews? I am not kidding. Hook noses, star armbands, the works. The creator is a Japanese ultra-nationalist fuckhead trying to justify Japan’s role in WWII.
NotMax
Why stop at halfway measures? Put WALL around Texas!
Adam L Silverman
@The Midnight Lurker: The dead travel fast.
debbie
OMG, he’s worse than a Jewish yente with the whinging!
Adam L Silverman
@Frankensteinbeck: I’m sorry, what now?
Kraux Pas
Note to “President” Trump: We don’t support giving surplus military equipment to local law enforcement because we don’t support waging war on our citizens.
Also, he drones. Drones and drones and drones sooooooooooo painfully.
Kay
@sharl:
I’m just not scared of him in that way anymore. This is a stunt to cover his big weak ass because he completely and utterly blew negotiations and some adult will intervene. He lives and dies based on moronic and cynical cable tv celebrities. And dies is the second part of that.
He had no way to get out of the mess he made without doing this, so he did it. There’s no more thought put into it than that. This isn’t master strategists sitting in a room planning six months out. It’s a bunch of low quality grifters throwing shit against a wall, which is how Pelosi beat them without breaking a sweat. It wasn’t hard for her because they’re bad at their jobs. “Jobs” is even a stretch.
Keith P.
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Did he make the “karate chop” motion too?
Pogonip
@Miss Bianca: Try nextdoor.com , if you haven’t already. Quite a few lost pets are recovered by Nextdoor in my area. Good luck!
Searcher
Have we considered the possibility that he wants to be impeached?
I mean, the consensus can is that he didn’t really want to be President, he just wanted to spend the rest of his life grifting off Hillary Clinton’s victory. Maybe he wants to get kicked out so he can grift on that instead?
Adam L Silverman
@debbie: Oy vey…
Frankensteinbeck
@Adam L Silverman:
The anime Attack on Titan. You’re familiar with it, right? It came out in the manga that the titans are Jews. Not by name, but a single ethnic group, drawn like classic Jewish stereotypes complete with star armbands, who use their power to turn into giant cannibal monsters to rule the world. It only gets more heavy-handed from there. The whole show has been a lead-up to justifying fascism and the Holocaust. I have no idea what the cartoon studio and distributors are going to do.
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
So the Walking Dead is a lie? Say it ain’t so, Joe!
Adam L Silverman
I don’t think they have the adderall dialed in correctly this morning.
FelonyGovt
And there’s such an emergency he’s going to Mar A Lago right after this.
Miss Bianca
@Pogonip: oh, thank you for that! Will do!
The Midnight Lurker
@Adam L Silverman:
There’s a rapper no one has ever heard of and a guy who has a blog about dogs.
And yes, sir. I’ll keep searching.
debbie
@Pogonip:
There’s probably a petfinder.com for MB’s area. It’s a great resource for broadcasting. Also, I get plenty of missing pet posts on FB.
guachi
Apparently the national emergency is a woman telling Trump, “no”.
NotMax
OT.
Heh. Now there’s something you don’t hear every day. Line from a movie on in the background:
“When I got back from the war, my wife gave me the clap.”
Adam L Silverman
@Frankensteinbeck: I know the title, I don’t read manga and don’t watch a lot of anime. This doesn’t surprise me though, given that anti-Semitism is pretty common in Japan, especially among the traditionalists.
Elizabelle
@Pogonip:
@ Miss Bianca:
Yes! Nextdoor is marvelous! You might learn that a neighbor has Luna safely fenced in, or homed, while they’re looking for her owners.
Lot of dogs recovered via Nextdoor in our area.
Yarrow
JPL
@Miss Bianca: Do you have nextdoor? I know ours is helpful in reuniting pets with owners.
SFAW
@mrmoshpotato:
It was either that, or going shopping “so that the terrists don’t win.”
Raven
@Miss Bianca: I’m the king of lost dogs in my hood on Facebook. Might be worth a try.
Elizabelle
@NotMax: He might not assume it was purely love or infidelity. Had a long chat a few years ago with a very old and very shrewd woman about some WW2 service members’ wives who became working girls in their absence.
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
Hm. Bob Wiya. Isn’t he the host of This Old Caravan?
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: Actually that should be “say it ain’t so William”.
Kraux Pas
::Facepalm::
billions and billions and billions and…
Adam L Silverman
@Yarrow: This is what happens once you’ve realized what the Federalist Society hacks who you’ve crammed onto the courts are really likely to do.
JPL
Wow the local NBC station just cut away from him….
zhena gogolia
@Miss Bianca:
Oh, I am so sorry! I adore huskies! Praying for her to come home soon.
sharl
@Kay: I’m mostly reassured by your analysis, and I’m in general agreement, though
is concerning, given the kind of adults who surround him. I’m sure he’s counting on them to show him the exit. Then again, the kind of people he listens to helped bring us to this point. I like Marcy Wheeler’s idea:
Kraux Pas
@Adam L Silverman:
This is true among “traditionalists” or revanchists in most places.
Adam L Silverman
@Raven:
Translation: I’m wanted for stealing dogs all over the municipal area in which I live.
SFAW
@Amir Khalid:
You are made of sterner stuff than I. “A few seconds” of his disgustingness might cause my head to a-splode.
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: Could be, I don’t watch a lot of PBS during the day.
debbie
“Now I do politics.” My head hurts. I have to drive to the other side of town to get my car serviced. If there are reports of road rage on I-70 or I-270, it will be me.
JPL
I ran some errands and just returned a few minutes ago. I switched the channel and it appears that the local abc station is still carrying him. The TV is on mute and he seems quite expressive this morning .. Lots of hand signals. Did anyone ask him if Don Jr. was going to get indicted?
Adam L Silverman
@Kraux Pas: So I’ve heard.
Chyron HR
“My fellow Americans, I’m pleased to tell you today that I’ve declared a national emergency that will outlaw Mexicans forever. We begin construction in five minutes.”
Adam L Silverman
@debbie: Have a nice drive.
JPL
@Kraux Pas: What does that mean?
Cheryl Rofer
This is pretty scary.
Raven
@mrmoshpotato: Shit we’re goin fishin!
Kay
I could certainly be wrong but I just think the entire Republican Party hinging their next election on not just a single issue – demonizing immigrants- but a single SUB issue- this wall, is insane.
The Wall has consumed everything. For months now. And it doesn’t go away, it just gets bigger and bigger.
If you’re telling me they planned this, that they wanted to make the central theme of the GOP a wall, then I think it’s a bad plan. If instead they stumbled into it and now can’t get out of, which is what I think, I also think that’s a bad outcome.
That better be some wall. Near-magical, because it has to make voters forget everything else and also not notice they don’t HAVE anything else.
Adam L Silverman
@JPL: He was once again trying to explain that the tariffs were resulting in huge inflows of capitol to the Treasury. And that Mexico is actually, in reality, paying for the wall because of how he renegotiated NAFTA into the not actually in effect and most likely not ever going to be USMCA.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Somebody needs to work out the equivalent of billable hours for the Executive branch lawyers are going to be working on a suit the de facto client keeps losing before it’s filed. $300, $400 an hour?
Raven
@Adam L Silverman: In Normaltown!!!
A Good Woman
So I had to know where the 70K drug deaths came from, and I think I found the source. He botched it, naturally
Adam L Silverman
@Cheryl Rofer: They don’t have him dialed in quite correctly.
And he, as usual, has no idea how immigration works.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Frankensteinbeck: What do you think Anime and Magma is, it’s nothing but trying to rewrite history so Japan is both justified and the winners of WWII.
The Midnight Lurker
@JPL: So did my local NPR station. Hilarious.
Cheryl Rofer
I should be cleaning the house, but this press conference could be historic.
Adam L Silverman
@Kay: They’re not. They’re pivoting to post-birth abortion must be stopped based on the legislation revising the rules for medically/therapeutically necessary 3rd trimester/late term abortions in NY and VA.
Kraux Pas
Can we start a lifetime pension fund with a target for $10 million dollars for the first reporter who asks “Mr. President, how do you respond to charges that you’re a dipshit and lying fraud?”
I’m flexible on the phrasing.
JPL
@Adam L Silverman: That’s what I thought. He’s crazy. I just put the sound up and he uses many facts and homeland security spends to much money.
Adam L Silverman
@Raven: You get the email I sent late last night?
Yarrow
@Kay:
Agreed. It’s a mess they have no idea how to get out of. They can’t stop Trump from talking about The Wall because it’s like a reunion tour for a band–it’s one of the classics that the fans demand he plays.
They’re in it, they can’t get out of it, he won’t shut up about it. It’s a total mess for them. And a losing talking point for everyone except for the few remaining rubes who love it.
Cheryl Rofer
@Adam L Silverman: Reporters are saying there is no teleprompter. Which is easy to believe.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Kay: What she said
I would also like the add that I strongly suspect the Republicans in Congress are setting Trump up so he has to resign and they get Pence before 2020.
thalarctosMaritimus
@Miss Bianca: I’m so sorry to hear the news. I hope Luna is found safe and sound very soon.
Kraux Pas
@JPL: The first bit was me quoting Trump answering one of his questions. Then my response.
The last bit was a video pointing out a verbal tic he has that has been quite manifest during this speech and Q&A.
Adam L Silverman
@Cheryl Rofer: Will he literally bite the head off the guy from CNN?
JPL
@Cheryl Rofer: You spelled histrionic wrong.
Kay
I read that congressional Republicans are planning on running against Democrats because Democrats are “radicals”
They better. It’s that or running ON this wall. They’re thrilled that they think they have a wholly negative platform- that’s the optimistic view. The BEST frame for them is “we won’t do anything, and they might”.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Not watching ,don’t know the context, but did some reporter actually ask him about Secretary of Everything Hannity?
Karen
@Adam L Silverman: So what happens next? Did this create a precedent and now the next Democratic President can declare this? Can Nancy SMASH stop this?
mrmoshpotato
@Adam L Silverman:
LOL! That’s how I interpreted it too.
Using this time of NATIONAL EMERGENCY! as a cover for running a dognapping ring out of his carhole. For shame Raven.
FOR!
SHAME!
Adam L Silverman
@Kraux Pas: The local guy from Maryland just did a good job pushing him on where he gets the numbers he cites and that flustered the President. Now he’s angry and pissy.
NotMax
@Enhanced Voting Techniques
You mean the resurrected Yamato didn’t save the universe? Say it ain’t so, Yoshi.
;)
Cheryl Rofer
@JPL: Definitely histrionic.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Karen:
Nixon’s twitter ghost has more faith in Senate Rs than I do (though I’m sure Libertarian Rand Paul will lead the fight!), but Nadler and Castro have already prepared a motion to block the order.
Adam L Silverman
@Cheryl Rofer: Makes sense, given that he didn’t even provide any real, specific details of the national emergency declaration.
Frankensteinbeck
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
That might be the hottest take I’ll hear all day, even with Trump’s announcement.
Yarrow
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Dick Nixon is right about that. It’s weak, he’s weak and he knows it makes him look weak.
Adam L Silverman
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: He did.
Cheryl Rofer
Always a relief when he stops talking.
Now to clean the kitties’ bathroom.
sharl
@Kay:
Yeah, about the history on The Wall: Where The Idea For Donald Trump’s Wall Came From
Thanks boys!
jonas
Yeah, well Obama’s no-good, very bad EO was designed to *protect* brown people. Trump’s Emergency Declaration is so we can stomp on more brown asses and protect the delicate fee-fees of some redneck MAGAt on the Michigan UP who has never even seen a Latino in his life. So totes different.
/Wingnut Wurlitzer
NotMax
@Frankensteinbeck
Yowzah.
Or ought that to be Yaoizah?
;)
Cheryl Rofer
WaterGirl
To say that I find this declaration of emergency distressing would be quite the understatement. I feel sick.
rikyrah
@Miss Bianca:
I will pray for Luna …sending positive thoughts
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@NotMax: I take great malicious delight in pointing out the to the Anime fan bois that the Yamato was chased out of it’s only surface battle, the thing it was designed for, by the USS Johnson, a destroyer.
Kraux Pas
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
Subsets of the genre, sure. A lot, by far the majority of what I have seen, is not.
Japan does get a decent image boost from its cultural exports. We can’t blame them entirely for their war atrocities disappearing down the memory hole, though. A lot of that has to do with people in the west not caring about what happened in Asia.
None of this stops me and my boyfriend from wanting to have our honeymoon in Japan when we get married.
ETA: I have not seen attack on Titan.
Immanentize
@NotMax:
Is that the unrevealed spelling of the name of G-D?
Adam L Silverman
@Karen: In reverse order: The law that provides the President with the power to declare a national emergency allows Congress to challenge it and cancel the declaration. Either chamber can initiate a joint resolution cancelling it. It only requires a simple majority vote in both chambers and once one chamber passes it, the other is required to take it up within 15 days. And if I’m remembering correctly, in the Senate it can’t be filibustered/isn’t subject to a cloture vote. If it passes both chambers, the it, like other legislation goes to the President to sign. If he vetos it, then Congress can override under the normal veto override rules: 2/3 majority in each chamber.
To your first question, a lot of NeverTrump conservatives are concerned that taking this action sets up a future Democratic president to use the national emergency declaration powers for things like climate change, healthcare access, and/or gun violence. Speaker Pelosi, in the attempt to scare the congressional GOP leadership in both chambers to head this off yesterday, basically said this in plain terms in her press conference yesterday. That clearly didn’t get the message across as it was reported that McConnell encouraged the president to do this because McConnell is counting on the courts stopping this. I think there is a distinct possibility that McConnell is going to be wrong here.
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: I don’t know if you saw it, but they found the Hornet.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I’d be fine with this, but the ex-president who needs to speak up is the one with the R by his name
Chyron HR
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
“YEAH BROTHER WHENEVER ONE OF THOSE NERDS STARTS IN ON THEIR POKEY-DOKEY-DAN, I JUST REMIND THEM THAT WE NUKED THOSE BASTARDS TWICE!”
This is performance art, right?
Adam L Silverman
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: The problem is going to be that once it passes both chambers, the joint resolution cancelling the national emergency, is subject to presidential veto. Which the President would likely do. Then the question is whether you can get enough Republicans in the Senate to vote with the 48 members of the Democratic Senate caucus to override the veto.
Kay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
It’s hard for me to get upset about the wall because right now, today, Trump pretends he built the wall. The imaginary wall is the same as a real wall to his supporters. We already know this. They completely folded on HALF the wall promise, which was “Mexico will pay for it”.
It reminds me of “voter fraud”. We were busy compiling proof and filing lawsuits and none of it mattered. Voter fraud is imaginary so that was the realm. We were in the wrong dimension :)
The wall is or isn’t but the idea of the wall is the thing for them. These are people who accepted it when Trump dropped HALF the promise, the part where they don’t have to pay for it. They rolled right along with that.
The Dangerman
I listened for a little while; he gives mea headache. I had to mute him right about the time I detected him getting excited about how China kills drug dealers. If he can’t get Wall, maybe he can get off (the non Ivanka edition) but making the border a free fire zone.
mrmoshpotato
@Raven: Even more inspiring. Why are you looking at me like that?
joel hanes
@Frankensteinbeck:
It _is_ a little difficult for me to see Akira, Princess Mononoke, and The Ghost In The Shell in that framing.
Gin & Tonic
@Cheryl Rofer: 45 years ago I despised Nixon with every fiber of my being, but I have to say the dude’s really come around in his old age.
NotMax
@Immanentize
In certain (um, how to put this) select private clubs, most probably.
;)
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
Lesson 1: Don’t poke the Hornet’s rest.
Kay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
The imaginary wall is almost surely better than any real section of fence will be. He should have kept it imaginary. Let his supporters keep whatever picture is in their heads.
mrmoshpotato
@Kay:
I’m reminded of the orange asshole saying the wall just got 10 feet taller in response to protesters during his campaign.
The wall was stupid then, and it’s stupid now.
JPL
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: According to Andrew McCabe, trump listens to Putin about matters pertaining to North Korea, so maybe trump is confused who told him what.
scav
Will provide some sort of entertainment to see how congressional Repubs, aka Team Doormat, attempt to lie their way out of this one, especially in the somewhat implausible situation of actively being questioned about it by any journalists.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Kay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
That’s probably true though- he definitely obsesses on how many celebrities he knows and speaks to.
He saw her on “the shows”! Like my (late) grandmother, with “my programs” :)
rikyrah
On emergency declaration, Pelosi reminds GOP it won’t always be in power
02/15/19 11:21 AM
By Steve Benen
…………………………
Bill Arnold
@Frankensteinbeck:
@Adam L Silverman:
For Adam Silverman in particular if he hasn’t seen it. I’m not describing it (pic from 2015) because it hasn’t been memory holed yet (and google is a thing), but oh my. (look up the number):
Prime Minister Abe waves
via
Neldob
@Miss Bianca: I am so sorry. Remember to check craigslist for lost and found things.
NotMax
@Kay
Live-in housekeeper, during the 1950s/early 1960s, would insist on time for “my shoot ’em ups.”
RedDirtGirl
@Miss Bianca: Oh dear! So sorry to hear that. Hope the pup shows up soon!
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Chyron HR:
Anyone who has different interests than me is an awful horrible person, right? History nerd talk, deal with it.
Adam L Silverman
@Bill Arnold: The question is whether that is a coincidence.
rikyrah
@Adam L Silverman:
Nancy Smash should force a vote in the House, and then put it on Turtle’s doorstep, where he must bring it up for a vote. Force all those posturing GOP’ers to actually have to vote on it.
Adam L Silverman
@rikyrah: The issue isn’t getting the joint resolution passed, the issue will be getting enough Republicans in the House and the Senate to get a 2/3 supermajority in both chambers to override the President’s veto.
NotMax
@rikyrah
What, if anything, leads you to surmise she won’t?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
From yesterday
I’ll believe it when I see it, but it’s interesting.
NotMax
The term Constitutional crisis is too often bandied about willy-nilly.
Not today. This is Democracycon-1.
Another Scott
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Of course, cocaine would kill him given the state of his health…
He’s brain damaged, not a coke head.
IMHO, IANAMD.
Cheers,
Scott.
frosty
@Raven: Have fun! We’re leaving Falling Waters this morning and heading for Topsail Hill and Big Lagoon State Parks for the next two weeks. I’m not a fisherman but I’ll be watching your cohorts on the beach.
NotMax
@Raven
Y’all be careful. No telling which borders those caravans of fish have crossed.
Martin
@NotMax: Oh, that was my favorite cartoon as a kid. First exposure to anime.
Brachiator
@Kay:
Great points. Yesterday I ran across some YouTube video that showed a bunch of right wing pundits, Ann Coulter and company, insisting that Trump had to build the wall or else his chances for re-election would evaporate.
This is all bullshit. Trump regularly breaks promises or just outright lies about them, and his supporters will suck up whatever version of Trump nonsense makes them happy.
Remember when Trump solemnly promised to repeal and replace Obamacare? Then after bluster and nonsense and inaction by the Republican Congress, Trump repealed the individual mandate and then declared Obamacare repealed.
Same shit with Wall. Trump either built the wall or fought off the Democrats to get the wall, or did everything and nothing. Typical Trump grifter misdirection.
scav
@Adam L Silverman: I think that’s the second step, or rather icing on the cake if it acually rolls back the declaration.. The first accomplishment wiuld be getting Team R — the supines — to officially nail their colors to the doorstep.
germy
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/3kga4j/being-raised-by-two-narcissists-taught-me-how-to-deal-with-trump?utm_source=vicetwitterus
kindness
I’m curious when this National Emergency declaration is official so that the House can vote against it. Anyone know what kind of timeframes to expect?
The Midnight Lurker
@Adam L Silverman: Searched for Robert ‘Bob’ Wiya (different spellings used):
Bob Wian – founder of Big Boy’s resturant. Died in 92’? Trump was probably a patron before he discovered McDonald’s has a drive thru.
United Cherokee Ani-Yun-Wiya Nation. Trump and his spawn have been attacking Warren.
Robert Wiya has player profile on SportsTG. He sucks.
Rugby player for the Moss Vale Dragons (Scotland) named Bob Wiya.
There’s a guy in Australia named Robert Haynes that runs a enviromental health program for Aboriginal communities called ‘Pika Wiya’. This looks like straight up scocialism, so I don’t this is Trump’s guy.
I can’t find anyone with anything even remotely having that name, having anything to do with Angel Moms or anything with anyone present. I reviewing the tape now.
Why don’t I just start a search for Mr. Covfefe?
NotMax
@scav.
Congress has ceded more and more power to the president since WW2. This *may* mark the point where they stand up and declare “Enough.”
Another Scott
Pelosi and Schumer joint statement:
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: Wow.
Gravenstone
@Frankensteinbeck: I’m sure the Japanese fought a shitload of Jews in all the nations they sought to subjugate while trying to secure resources throughout the Pacific.
Sadly, several mangaka seem to hold rather abhorrent political views
Matt McIrvin
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I keep remembering Carrie Fisher saying that his weird sniffing was definitely a sign of heavy coke use, and she was an expert.
Martin
@Adam L Silverman: I don’t see how the courts stop the declaration. The law provides a clear path for Congress to block the president. It’s not USSCs fault that Congressional republicans are too chickenshit to stand up to the president.
As for the shift in spending priorities, I could see the courts stopping that. And if they don’t, and Trump takes billions from CA disaster relief, well, there are still 7 republican seats out here for us to overturn, including the minority leader and ranking member on intelligence. We flipped 7 last year, we’ll flip 7 more next year.
Kay
@Brachiator:
Democrats should hire a full time person or persons to track the wall, with a dedicated Twitter and Instagram account.
Team Trump know the difference between the idea of the wall and the wall is a problem- Miller made a point of how amazed we’ll be at the speed of construction. We won’t be amazed. If I were a con-crew like they are I might have put off the reality of the stretch of fence. If they even get that done.
Doug R
@joel hanes:
Well, it’s been worse, especially if you weren’t white. The Indian Exclusion Act comes to mind.
NotMax
@Kay
Within the Sims franchise, all it take s is sufficient money and a few seconds to build a wall.
What? You say that’s not a reflection of how things work in real life?
//
bemused
“Expect the crazy to go the whole day…”
It’s been insane for several years now and counting….
Gravenstone
@Frankensteinbeck: So this revelation is still only in the manga? I gave up watching after season one of the anime.
Plato
Read on bbc
It is likely that over the coming months, the lawyers in Washington will be far busier than the bricklayers in Arizona and Texas and California.
germy
Brachiator
@Yarrow:
McConnell knew about the national emergency declaration and is prepared to defend it to the death. Fox News and right wing pundits knew about the national emergency declaration and pushed round-the-clock commentary about how Trump needed the wall to ensure his re-election. None of this is off the cuff. No matter how stupid it looks or sounds.
NotMax
@Plato
No matter what, the lawyers cash in. More sure a wager than one on the Sun rising in the morning.
rikyrah
@Adam L Silverman:
I know…but, I want to put all those GOP posturing phonies on the spot with an actual vote…you know the usual group of absolute phonies like Little Susie and Thirsty Marco….
rikyrah
@NotMax:
nothing….just hoping that she does.
Kay
Congressional Republican:
To what? Your other wonderful ideas for the country? What would those be? By “move on” they mean “do nothing and hope Democrats implode”
I love “will be enjoined” too. Completely and utterly passive. Committed to not doing their jobs.
Trump doesn’t have to over-reach. They handed it to him long ago. This just makes it formal.
Gravenstone
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Paul and Rubio are already making mouth noises that they would not support this National Emergency farce. Of course, their eventual votes will belie this temporary posturing.
trollhattan
@Matt McIrvin:
Still conflicted between snorting coke or adderaII. Definitely coke during his Studio 54 days but the other makes a certain sense today.
AThornton
I don’t believe Senate Republicans will vote to override the Emergency Decree in the first place. And if that does pass neither the House nor Senate will be able to muster the GOP votes needed for a 2/3 majority to override Trump’s veto.
trollhattan
@Gravenstone:
Oh god, Marco and Rand, always looking for a camera to be concerned in front of but when have they ever strayed from the Republican flock? Has either, even once?
PaulWartenberg
Did the Shitgibbon really say that the Japanese Prime Minister nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize???
West of the Rockies
@joel hanes:
Fruits Basket, anything by Miyazaki…
Brachiator
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
Anime is a huge genre. Not all of it is about clinging to lies about Japanese military history.
Magma is hot fluid or semifluid material below or within the earth’s crust from which lava and other igneous rock is formed on cooling.
geg6
@Martin:
I would think courts could easily stop it if they take their duties seriously. The mechanism and reasons a president can use an national emergency declaration are spelled out in law, a law that was put in place right after Watergate for exactly this sort of possibility. What was the intent of the law? What is the clear language of the law? Is this order within the parameters of the intent and language?
Of course the courts can stop it.
cwmoss
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: I assume Magma is an autocorrect thing, but I like it anyway!
Matt McIrvin
@AThornton: The next step is to pin this abomination to every one of them who votes for it. The actual wall is a chimera; it’s never going to exist and we all know it. But everyone who supports this emergency declaration is glued to Trump and to his most unpopular policy yet.
They’re actually counting on the courts to save them from themselves. That’s weak, stupid behavior.
Martin
@Gravenstone: I suspect they may be taking Pelosi’s warning seriously. Consider a Democratic president elected in 2020, signs us back into the Paris Accord and then declares a national emergency with powers to drastically cut emissions in order to meet the 2030 target.
trollhattan
@geg6:
Both Brett and Squi believe in executive autonomy. The only remaining question is just how appalled John Roberts is with this shitshow. I’m not liking our odds, although it may be tied up for months in the meantime.
catclub
@rikyrah:
I think this is much less of a problem for GOP senators than you suggest. They (at least 95% of them) will have no problem voting not to override a veto.
They (at least 95% of them) will not be punished by their voters for doing so.
They might not like it, but so what? They probably don’t like dialing for dollars 6 hours a day – but they do it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Just turned on MSNBC and saw some clips of the televised breakdown today. He’s claiming the Prime Minister of Japan nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Has anyone contacted the Japanese embassy?
catclub
@Martin:
THAT gets taken to court,
and then the SC that did not revoke Trump’s Emergency decides to revoke the Democratic president’s emergency.
None of this is a problem for Trump. Or the GOP.
Gravenstone
@Martin: I can as easily envisage both of them thinking to themselves, “when I’m president …” and falling in line with Trump. At least in terms of upholding a veto, even if they give lip service to the measure to stop the declaration.
Martin
@geg6: 10 USC 2808:
That would seem to leave the question of whether the wall is rightly seen as a military activity. I don’t think it’s a stretch considering other military constructions in the past such as coastal defenses. The law seems to consider national emergencies as being equivalent to acts of war, so if you would allow a construction during an act of war (you would) then you would need to allow it now. As to whether it’s really a national emergency, the whole point of the 1974 law was to give Congress a check on that very question. If Congress refuses to utilize that check, that doesn’t seem to be a legal issue. And relying on the courts to do the job of Congress is not something I would think the courts would be overly eager to reward. I’d stuff it right back in their face in the ruling – Congress has the check, have the courage to use it.
Seanly
@A Good Woman:
Well and he’s falsely implying that all of the drug deaths are due to illegal immigration and drugs coming over just the Southern border. Off the top of my head, I think there are at least 4 or 5 fallacies with his thinking on just that statement.
Martin
@catclub: I don’t think their optimism is as powerful as our cynicism.
Cheryl Rofer
Brachiator
@germy:
Unfortunately, this is more about how to react and retain your own sanity, and nothing about how to defeat a narcissist who has become one of the most powerful world leaders, complete with people whose entire job is to fluff his fragile ego.
It’s also wrong about one key thing:
Trump himself is a source of leaks. He loves to play to the press. Especially the NY Times, which he also claims to hate.
The best grifters get the suckers to willingly play along, and to defend the con artist from attacks.
catclub
@germy:
The point to note is that the OTHER former governor of Massachusetts who is a member of the GOP has shown no interest in challenging Trump.
That “Who?” from Sarah Sanders was pretty good.
Bill Arnold
@PaulWartenberg:
It has been reported.
Trump claims Japanese prime minister nominated him for Nobel Peace Prize (John Bowden – 02/15/19 12:21 PM EST)
See my quite relevant link at #181:
@Bill Arnold:
@Adam L Silverman:
Adam, I assume that’s one of your coincidence jokes. (They could have retired the number. Also, FWIW, Abe might have been tricked into a photo op.)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@catclub: I think a primary challenger who can get media attention and who is willing to run against trump on a partisan suicide mission can do great things for this country. I think you get half of that with Weld, and you might get the other half from Kasich. But maybe the sleepy aging prep-schooler will surprise me.
donnah
@Cheryl Rofer:
That singsong bit was both scary and hilarious. Mostly scary. He was way off his leash in that speech.
Martin
@Seanly: Most of the deaths are due to pharma companies, pharmacists, and overprescribing doctors.
The Sinaloa cartel has nothing on the US healthcare systems brazenness.
germy
@Brachiator:
True. And he’s a great grifter, just a terrible president.
germy
@catclub:
And I thought the GOP had made a pact: “No challengers!”
GxB
@sharl: I saw a recent discussion where it is thought an advisor emphasized the need for “the wall” to be “transparent” – meaning the mnemonic should not be seen for what it is. It was conjectured that prez goodbrains, being unable to grok such an abstract concept just latched onto the fact that this wall now needed to be see-through. Thus setting up the whole “needs to have slats to see drugs being catapulted over it” fiasco.
It was a stupid argument, but donnie’s razor being what it is, it’s quite possibly accurate.
Steve in the ATL
@NotMax:
At least something good came of this wall stupidity!
chopper
@Adam L Silverman:
i haven’t read the law, is it definitely a joint resolution, or is it a concurrent resolution? looking it up i’ve been finding stories suggesting either.
WaterGirl
@Cheryl Rofer: I think this goes all the way to the Supreme Court, and we get a repeat of Bush v. Gore in that they will rule in his favor but state that their ruling is not intended to be taken as a legal precedent.
That way they can take it on a case by case basis, by which I mean if a Republican president does it, it’s legal; if a Democratic president does it, it is ruled as not legal.
What a shitty day this is for our country.
Michael Cain
@Martin:
I think this phrase is going to cause the administration no end of trouble. If they don’t make a substantial deployment of troops to the border, then they likely fail this legal requirement. If they do make such a deployment, then they need to explain why it’s legal under the requirements for when the military can be used for domestic law enforcement. I suspect the grab for Treasury money is included at least as much because the lawyers think they won’t get the DOD money over this phrase as anything.
cain
@Kraux Pas:
I really don’t understand anti-semitism. I really don’t. I don’t even know how this hate gets started. Old hindu folks, my relatives also don’t like Jews. But they can’t tell me a single thing they are doing that is bad other than “they run the worlds markets” and I’m like “and.. so what?” I mean there is a shit ton of rich people out there who aren’t jews that are doing terrible or immoral things.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Steve in the ATL: has Michael Avenatti declared his lifelong passion for, and expertise in, eminent domain cases? Have he and Bob Odenkirk been seen in the same room?
Gelfling 545
@sharl: They couldn’t tell they were dealing with a moron who wouldn’t know a figure of speech if it walked up and bit him?
geg6
@Martin:
I think it is quite a stretch. What is the military need? Coastal defenses happened during war. There is no war and there is no proposal to provide similar defenses along the coasts, which would actually make more sense than the wall, since more of the drugs he rails against come in that way (albeit, in cargo containers).
Regardless, even if the courts won’t take on the legality of this “emergency,” they’ll have no choice but to take on the hundreds/thousands of cases of eminent domain that will be coming their way.
Gelfling 545
@Cheryl Rofer: Anyone watching that must now be aware that he is unfit to walk about unattended, much, much less be president. They may not admit it out loud but they are aware.
Tazj
@Miss Bianca: I’m hoping and praying Luna comes back homes to you very soon. You must be so worried. My brother has had 3 huskies and I had a shepherd/husky mix. Those stinkers do love to wander.
Miss Bianca
@Tazj: Thanks, and thanks to all the folks who had good suggestions for other places to post notices. Just joined that neighbor thing so that I could put a notice there…Lord, I hope something works!
Mayur
@Brachiator: https://media.giphy.com/media/xT0Gqs2LQIevTVmjNm/giphy.gif
WaterGirl
@Miss Bianca: I am holding my breath for you. Tried prayers earlier but thought perhaps I needed to up my game by holding my breath and crossing my fingers.
J R in WV
@Miss Bianca:
Well, at least you are dealing with a dog designed for harsh winter conditions, so not like a short hair of some sort.
Hoping your puppeh comes home soonest!!!!
MisterForkbeard
@WaterGirl: What’s interesting about this is that this kind of language *regularly* comes out of Republican lawmakers about literally everything Democrats do.
The democrats very rarely put out the “This is wildly unconstitutional and a complete attack on America’s values and government.”
WaterGirl
@MisterForkbeard: You’re right. What a depressing day for our nation and our democracy.
Lawfare has an article up that makes it seem like congress won’t be able to stop them and the courts are the best bet for that. Others say the courts will either stay out of it or the SC will rule in their favor. The intersection of those two beliefs is pretty much non-existent. Makes me want to go rock in the corner somewhere. This is a very bad day.
Another Scott
@chopper: https://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/emergency-powers is supposed to be a good writeup of the ins-and-outs of what can and cannot happen. IANAL.
(See the original for embedded links.)
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
sm*t cl*de
@Brachiator:
Your answer is nuncupatory. Magma is a French prog-rock band.
Hob
A couple of people so far have said things about manga or anime being a “genre”. Manga = comics from Japan or in a Japanese tradition; anime = animation from Japan or in a Japanese tradition. Comics isn’t a genre, it’s a medium; same for animation. Mystery, romance, science fiction, etc. are genres; comics and animation can be about any of those things and more. Sorry, pet peeve of mine.