Trump keeps lurching from one unforced error to another. Wednesday morning he was still playing his chicken game. Wednesday evening he’d changed his mind, saying he’d keep families together, but he insisted on a quick legislative fix. So congressional Republicans scurried around to ready a couple of bills to vote on.
But Thursday morning, before the Republicans could vote on anything, he’d changed his mind again. Trump — or his tweeting alter ego, Stephen “Seig Heil” Miller –Â undermined the whole thing. He has noticed that passing stuff in Congress actually requires some bipartisan cooperation, which is an alien thing to him.
What is the purpose of the House doing good immigration bills when you need 9 votes by Democrats in the Senate, and the Dems are only looking to Obstruct (which they feel is good for them in the Mid-Terms). Republicans must get rid of the stupid Filibuster Rule-it is killing you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2018
Tara Golshan at Vox —
And as if on cue, lawmakers seemed to suddenly hit the brakes on one of the two votes slated to take place on Republican-led immigration bills on Thursday: a “compromise†bill between House conservatives and moderate Republicans, and a conservative bill originally introduced by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA). Neither proposal was designed to get any Democratic votes, and Republican House members are already preparing for both bills to fail on the floor.
Charles Pierce explains what happened to the bills:
On Thursday afternoon, there were two bills pending to address the crisis caused by the administration*’s cruel and boneheaded zero-tolerance policy on the southern border. One of them was a draconian bill, and the other a purportedly more moderate one backed by Ryan and his Keystone Kops leadership team.
The former got clobbered when it came to a vote. And then, when it was time for the latter to come up, the Freedom Caucus belfry came alive with bats, and Ryan had to postpone the vote lest he suffer yet another embarrassing loss.
There was a significant altercation between Ryan and Mark Meadows, leader of the House Freedom (for Troglodytes) Caucus.
Meadows is all up in Ryan’s grill, in the well of the House, in front of God, man, and Louie Gohmert. If someone had done this to Sam Rayburn, that person’s desk would be out on the sidewalk by the end of business that day. But, because Ryan is as terrible a leader as he is an economist, Meadows pretty much blows him off.
Today, Trump has decided that Republicans in Congress should stop “wasting their time” on immigration, but to wait until after the midterms.
“Republicans should stop wasting their time on Immigration until after we elect more Senators and Congressmen/women in November,” Trump tweeted. “Dems are just playing games, have no intention of doing anything to solves this decades old problem. We can pass great legislation after the Red Wave!”
Sure, guy, whatever you say. Meanwhile, the border is in chaos. Nobody seems to know what to do.
President Donald Trump’s administration was gripped by confusion on Thursday as agencies struggled to implement his executive order halting the separation of migrant families at the U.S. border.
At the heart of the problem was uncertainty about how to begin detaining families together and whether the government would make any effort to reunite parents still in the U.S. with children currently held in separate shelters or foster facilities.
The mixed messaging began Wednesday, just hours after Trump signed his order, when the Department of Health and Human Services sent out a statement saying one of its spokespeople “misspoke†in saying that children who were already separated would not be returned to their parents but rather processed as unaccompanied minors.
On Thursday, the Department of Justice took issue with a report that border crossers would no longer automatically be referred for prosecution — the central tenet of Trump’s “zero-tolerance†enforcement policy, announced in April by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
The chaos followed the hasty development of the executive order in response to a growing public outcry over the separations, which resulted in even babies and toddlers being sent alone to shelters. Two people familiar with the process said Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told only her inner circle about the executive order, keeping top officials at DHS — including those at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — out of the loop.
It seems virtually none of the people responsible for implementing Trump’s executive order got any kind of advance notice it was coming. And more importantly, the practical implications of continuing a “zero tolerance†policy without separating kids from parents being prosecuted weren’t worked out at all. That became obvious today when border-control officials and the Department of Justice got into a public conflict with the Washington Post in the middle.
In brief, the Border Patrol informed WaPo “We’re suspending prosecutions of adults who are members of family units,” but the Justice Department told WaPo that prosecutions were not at all suspended.
Of course, immigration isn’t exactly a new issue:
“Looking Backward” (Puck, January 11, 1893) This cartoon satirizes those immigrants and their descendants who have made it in America but would deny new immigrants the same opportunity.
Click here for more ironic images.
A United Nations report condemning entrenched poverty in the United States is a “misleading and politically motivated†document about “the wealthiest and freest country in the world,†according to the Trump administration’s ambassador to the world body.
U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley criticized the report for critiquing the United States’ treatment of its poor, arguing that the United Nations should instead focus on poverty in developing countries such as Burundi and Congo. The U.N. report also faulted the Trump administration for pursuing policies it said would exacerbate U.S. poverty.
“It is patently ridiculous for the United Nations to examine poverty in America,†Haley wrote in a letter to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Thursday. “In our country, the President, Members of Congress, Governors, Mayors, and City Council members actively engage on poverty issues every day. Compare that to the many countries around the world, whose governments knowingly abuse human rights and cause pain and suffering.â€
Yeah, the nitwit actually said that.
Didn't you see, Melania showing the girls that illegals can become First Lady, it's easy, be best!. We see the "angel" families being at risk by the brown toddelers, lock them up, those babies must be stopped. They can only stay as long as they get a number!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-062j9dafg
To their credit, the media is keeping the spotlight on the known instances of families who have no clue where the members are. Children with no way to contact mothers and vice versa. Trump is trying to undo the stories and I hear there's a "Family Reunification Task Force", which is a wholesale admission of the cluster flock the policy has been.
As far as I can tell, plans continue for construction on military bases to house 20,000 people. The courts would have to OK this, and the resources are there to appeal to the USSC or Saint Peter, if necessary. Trump may be aware that the plan is doomed by the courts. It's hard tot know if Trump has any objective awareness of reality, but a lot of his jabs at Congress seem to indicate he's planning to blame Congress, especially Democrats.
This is leasing with the chin for Trump. "You craft legislation without out input on immigration in House where you have a majority and don't need a single Democratic vote, and you blame US for not passing a racist bill?!!"
I think Independents will appreciate the message in November – if you want to solve the problem with us, invite us to participate in crafting the solution. Otherwise, go to the leader who proclaimed, "I alone can save us."
OT – Am I the only one who thinks the First Lady was extending the middle finger to the White House with the coat that said, "I don't care." She did wear it twice on the DC end of the trip, and not in Texas where she visited the kids. My personal guess is that things are so chilly in the living quarters of the White House between Trump and the Missus that they haven't had to run the A/C all month.
Something about one of the hottest models to hit the runway getting dissed for a porn star that might be causing friction. Trump lied to M about the payment which he recently admitted to in a filing. She might have bought the original story – Cohen did it on his own, but that yarn got flushed out in public. Did a private lie also get exposed.
Donnie and Billie might have something in common – a PO'd first lady who doesn't care anymore. HRC put up a public defense but in private, Monica have been the cause of a hell of a fight. Stormy is staying in the spotlight and even doing a national tour. Maybe I'm wrong – not the first time as some of you can point out. But I think it's contributing to the meltdown.
Don't you see this is exactly what Trump promised: the tearing down of government. He's at it every day in every way.
For some reason I found myself thinking about one of my favorite books, Barbara Kingsolver's "The Poisonwood Bible." No one who has read it can forget the scene where Ruth May is bitten by the Green Mamba. "There is a strange moment in time, after something horrible happens, when you know it's true but you haven't told anyone yet." I know that I'm being excessively dramatic, but, that seems to describe where we are from time to time.
One of the advantages that the Right has is that they have a full spectrum of soldiers. It runs from rabid nazis and incels, through religious zealots, to doddering "sages" like David Brooks. In short they have something for everyone. Nikki Haley is packaged as a young, bright, ambitious woman, a woman of our times, "on the go, on the move, on the way up." But, if you strip away all the packaging, their agenda is pretty much the same. They are brothers in arms, at least for the moment.
"Two dots an inch apart, as small and tidy as punctuation marks at the end of a sentence none of us could read. The sentence would have started somewhere just above her heart."
I'm sorry to be so gloomy and tangential, but, I find these passages hold out some hope. They testify that humans contain a capacity for insight and empathy, that some have the talent to communicate it. That's the power we have on our side.
tRUMP is beloved by his Deplorables because of his and his mis-adminisration's in-your-face gall, cruelty, bigotry, lack of empathy, and a plethora of other undesireable traits. One's that are frowned upon by civilized societies.
What his fascist deplorable "MORANS" don't realize, is that Putin is trolling America through his evil puppet, tRUMP.
And tRUMP is trolling all decent American's daily.
How do you troll decent American's in the middle of a self-induced immigration disaster, with Central American's seeking asylum in the US by going through Mexico?
THAT'S EASY!
Have (hairless) Herr Miller und Frau Nielson* go to expensive DC MEXICAN restaurants – Note: Not together.
There's no point anymore whether 'It Can Happen Here,' BECAUSE IT HAS HAPPENED HERE!!!
* Why isn't she cooking in her Kuche for her Kinder, getting them ready for Kirche, like a good NaZi house-Frau?
You look at Nikki Haley and at first glance here's someone we all should be proud of — a relatively young woman, educated and intelligent, of immigrant heritage who by virtue of her accomplishment is an example of what the possibilities are for non-whites to "make something of themselves" and realistically reach for higher goals of attainment.
The example Haley sets by not only working for an administration that, if it had its way, would prevent the Nikki Haleys of the world from coming to America and doing as she did and inbsp; instead, promotes a racist white nationalism that is opposed to non-whites in every aspect, sends the message that character and integrity is secondary. Its really depressing to see someone so willingly to sell themselves for the proverbial thirty pieces of silver.
I can imagine someone as educated as she is deep down finds herself twinging at some of the more stupid things Trump does, but any honorable person with character and integrity wouldn't continue on, unless they (a) have completely sold out for material gain or (b) are the type of minorities who, once they reach a position of power instead of setting an example and reaching back to help others up the ladder, works to, by virtue of their position and support for certain policies, in effect, pull the ladder up behind them to prevent others from attainment. Honest political differences is one thing, but to support a party that is clearly racist and whose policies exist to hurt those who are the object of that racism makes Haley no better than the worst of the Trump administration — Miller, Sessions, etc.
What is interesting is when Sen. Nelson went to homestead fl. Detentuon ctr on 6/19 he was refused entry. When Sen. Rubio went there, he was allowed in. Democrats have been trying for days to get in and are refused. Melania can visit.
Trey Gowdy can threaten impeachment of Rosen stein for failure to turn over documents in ongoing investigations, because Republican oversight is sacred. Democrat oversight refused. If sitting Senators cannot enter who can?
Am I the only one who thinks the First Lady was extending the middle finger to the White House with the coat that said, "I don't care."
I don't know what her game is, but whatever her game is it is insensitive and mocking of the entire situation. I suspect she was running interference for her scumbag husband. I mean, really, doesn't she have enough sense and humanity to know that in a situation where children and parents are being traumatize that offering some cryptic message just doesn't do it. I could understand it if she were a crew member of the USS.Pueblo. but in her situation it's either gross stupidity, complicity, or pure cowardice.
I choose not to credit her with decency. Her statement was a complete wash in regard to taking a moral stand to show her real values. It's the same bullshit a majority of repugs used in perpetrating Trump's birther argument and his being a Muslim. " Well, if he say he is then maybe he is, but I really don't know" A statement without power or conviction. And the bible says: "You are neither hot nor cold, and I'll vomit you out of my mouth". It's sorta like saying nothing while saying something and the nothing still remains even though that nothing is a lie.
I'm sorry folks, but I'm glad these bozos are so incompetent. We could not afford to buy all the bad press they generate for themselves and their causes. This would be a good chance to ratchet up outreach on behalf of decent change. I honestly think our worst problem at this point is that the corporate Democrats will be successful in preventing us from taking advantage of our opportunities.
Some friends and I got to discussing the jacket a few days back. A few theories were advanced, among them, a passive/aggressive rebellion by Melania and a reassurance to the base that despite the show, Trump remained steadfast. Since Trump recently opined that his "base loves the policy," I'm going with the latter.
I noticed long ago that some of my rightwing friends saw anger and hatred as indications of conviction and dedication to the cause, and therefore, as virtues. This seems to have slipped into overdrive.
I suppose that we're all hoping for the "have you no sense of decency, sir?" moment. The separation policy might be it or it might just be a small step towards it. One problem is that the concept of "decency" seems to have been redefined.
I find it worrisome that Trump has begun predicting a "red wave." The Quislings of the Republican party have made sure that nothing has been done to provide cyber security that might fend off Russian meddling in the midterms. You can be sure that they are gearing up. It's going to be a skin of our teeth moment.