Late Evening/Early Morning Open Thread: The Sky is Falling
Perseid meteor shower live feed!
Late Evening/Early Morning Open Thread: The Sky is FallingPost + Comments (98)
Time to Borrow Khan’s Constitution Again
A President Donald Trump might push for Americans accused of terrorism to be tried in military tribunal at the U.S. Navy base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the Republican nominee told the Miami Herald on Thursday.
“I would say they could be tried there, that would be fine,” Trump said in a brief interview ahead of his speech to home builders in Miami Beach.
Under current federal law, it’s illegal to try U.S. citizens at military commissions. Changing the law would require an act of Congress.
In the wide-ranging interview focused on key South Florida issues, Trump continued to question climate change caused by humans. He said he plans to soon sit down with Cuban Americans in Miami to hash out a Cuba policy. And for the first time, he said Congress should set aside money to combat the Zika virus.
Asked about Guantánamo in the past, Trump has said he would like to “load it up with bad dudes.” He wouldn’t specify to the Herald whether as president he would again allow terrorism suspects captured abroad to be transferred to the detention center.
“I want to make sure that if we have radical Islamic terrorists, we have a very safe place to keep them,” he said. President Barack Obama, he added, is “allowing people to get out that are terrible people.”
“Would you try to get the military commissions — the trial court there — to try U.S. citizens?” a reporter asked.
“Well, I know that they want to try them in our regular court systems, and I don’t like that at all. I don’t like that at all,” he said. “I would say they could be tried there, that would be fine.”
I honestly think this guy might be dumber than Sarah Palin.
Time to Borrow Khan’s Constitution AgainPost + Comments (165)
Capital Idea, Old Chap!
On Thursday morning, the Daily Beast published an exceedingly gross and bizarre article by a straight, married male writer who lured in gay Olympians through hookup apps for no particular purpose. The entire piece is an astoundingly creepy exercise in Grindr-baiting, which involves a journalist accessing Grindr in an unlikely setting and … seeing what happens. But the Daily Beast piece, penned by Nico Hines, is a uniquely disgusting and irresponsible entry into the tired genre. Hines entices his (often closeted) subjects under false pretenses; effectively outs several closeted athletes who live in repressive countries; then writes about the whole thing in a tone of mocking yet lurid condescension. By 10:30 a.m. ET, the Daily Beast had, in response to criticism, edited out the most identifying details about closeted athletes—but that’s too little, too late. (Update, 9:15 p.m.: On Thursday evening, the Daily Beast took down the piece entirely.)
I’ve been steaming about this all day.
Walter, One Week Later
One week ago today:
And tonight, during first dinner:
I’m feeding the guy like a hobbit, and it really is paying off. And his personality is really starting to come out, too. He’s a big goof. Now granted, I’m the one with food and bones and brush, so he’s always happy to see me, but he really does smile a lot.
Debit and I have agreed upon the best way to get him there is to just ship him, so I am going to once again rattle the tin cup. The cost is about 1100 bucks, and he will ride solo (with a driver) in a minivan all the way from my front porch top Debit’s. So if you have a little shake you want to throw in, that would be appreciated.
*** Update ***
STOP. We have reached what we need. Thank you all!
Schadenfreude Open Thread: “Meltdown”
Looked into the polls of the covenant. pic.twitter.com/UM3LJxKcAY
— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) August 11, 2016
Yes. Yes it is.
The 2016 campaign is getting out of control https://t.co/1NFwrGEFAo
— John Scalzi (@scalzi) August 11, 2016
However you define political leadership Donald Trump is pretty much doing the exact opposite of it. https://t.co/6ZnCAdFprD
— Daniel Drezner (@dandrezner) August 11, 2016
… The problem is that Trump doesn’t really care about the truth value of his rhetoric. Rather, he uses such language at his rallies to whip up his supporters and generally promote the greater glory of Donald Trump. As Tom Friedman wrote Wednesday in the New York Times, this is the kind of loose talk that leads to violence…
Open Thread: Newt Finds An Apt Comparison
Maybe a little too apt…
Newt Gingrich has said that Trump will be "at least as reliable" as Andrew Jackson as Pres. A historian responds: pic.twitter.com/ExXqLgULRg
— Adam Smith (@aipsmith) August 9, 2016
Ed Kilgore, in NYMag:
Newt Gingrich’s comment to the New York Times today that Donald Trump is at least as mentally stable as President Andrew Jackson feels refreshingly honest in the world of political flacking. This is his answer in response to the question of whether Trump is psychologically fit for the Oval Office:
“Sure. I mean, he is at least as reliable as Andrew Jackson, who was one of the most decisive presidents in American history,” Gingrich continued. “Nobody would have predicted Abraham Lincoln’s capabilities before he became president, and most people didn’t believe him while he was president.”
….But as a serial duelist and someone who became completely unhinged at any insult to his or his country’s perceived honor, Old Hickory might not have been considered well suited to the presidency in an era of complicated, real-time diplomacy — much less nuclear weapons.
Indeed, what is known as the “Jacksonian tradition” in U.S. foreign policy is the highly anachronistic belief that America should remain disengaged with other countries unless they provoke Uncle Sam and hence earn total annihilation. Trump has already been identified with that tradition by a number of experts who observe in him a “deep repugnance” toward diplomacy, alliances, or the limited use of military power. It is not a compliment.
Y’know, Newton Leroy Gingrich is a failure as a human being, a blot on the political landscape, and a joke as a ‘historian’, but he’s a very good con artist. None of President Jackson’s misdeeds are going to hurt him with Trump’s voting base, but it’s going to come as news to some low-info voters who may vaguely remember that there was some kinda media fuss about that Jackson dude when Treasury announced the new Tubman currency proposals. Now that President Donald Trump is looking less and less liable to happen, could it be that… just possibly… The Newt wants to shiv a guy who’ll be looking to muscle in on Gingrich’s “former celebrity stateman” grift, come December?….
Naaah.
Open Thread: Newt Finds An Apt ComparisonPost + Comments (250)