(image courtesy of pixabay.com)
He has been having a bad time lately, since the election it seems. His trip to Paris didn’t go well. When Theresa May called him while he was on the flight over, he unloaded a bellyfull of bile. He insulted French President Macron over his misunderstanding of Macron’s speech plumping for a European army– apparently he thought that Macron was saying that Europe needed to defend itself against the US. In reality, Macron was referring to cyberattacks coming from Russia, China, or the US, not actual military aggression by the US.
Macron responded by giving a speech in front of 60 or 70 world leaders, forcing him to sit there and listen, glowering in silence next to Angela Merkel, while Macron denounced nationalism and called it the opposite of patriotism.
Now that he is back at the White House, he has holed up in his bedroom, hate-watching CNN and tweeting his lies and calumnies non-stop. He has cancelled all his activities (although he was forced to appear in the White House for a celebration of the Hindu holiday Diwali.) Ironically, Diwali is supposed to commemorate the cosmic triumph of good over evil. He didn’t even go to Arlington Cemetery on Veteran’s Day, breaking a tradition that has held since JFK.
We don’t have to wait for a constitutional crisis any more. It is here. One of the few things that he did, without any publicity, the other day was to publish an unlawful executive order denying pursuit of asylum to anyone not presenting themselves at an official port of entry. Meantime, the largest port of entry on the southern border, Tijuana, with 100,000 crossings a day and 22 or more lanes of traffic, will only process one hundred applications a day for asylum. Applicants must wait for weeks at the southern end of the border crossing for their turn to apply for asylum. Of course, the vast majority of asylum requests will be turned down.
What’s more, none of the additional personnel dispatched to the border to stop this “invasion” will be assigned to take applications for asylum. He is determined to slow-walk asylum claims and add to the years-long backlog of immigration court cases.
His order denying asylum to those not presenting at official ports of entry is unlawful because the governing statutes specifically state that people can apply regardless of when they come to the attention of authorities– whether it is voluntarily at a port of entry or later, if a person is apprehended north of the border. He can’t override specific laws with executive orders and the court will not allow him to ride roughshod over the legislative branch of government as long as Marbury v Madison is settled law.
Sessions, while he was head of the Department of Justice, narrowed the criteria for successful asylum applications by removing the fear of personal violence as an allowable claim. Those who say that their husbands are threatening to kill them, or who are being extorted or hunted by gangs, will no longer qualify for asylum. Those who have applied because of personal fear can seek asylum in Mexico, but gangs are waiting for them in places like Tijuana and have been known to kidnap and extort those with sufficient family resources (there are also husbands who kill their wives if they find them.)
Meantime, the number of people applying for asylum each year has skyrocketed from roughly 5,000 to nearly 100,000 over the last ten years. Yet the US historically has only allowed about 25,000 people a year to enter under asylum provisions.
He who must not be named claims that people are lined up to apply for jobs at the White House– despite the fact that taking a job like that could be a career-ending move. He is suffering severe cognitive dissonance over the shellacking he has gotten in the elections. He’s in hiding, still tweeting furiously. His multifaceted pathological personality and defective character are providing us with a horror show every day that we can’t turn away from. Our eyes are locked on this unfolding disaster, unable to look away, nauseated, disgusted, and ashamed for our country.
(photo courtesy of pixabay.com and yogeshree2989)
The reader should be aware that this symbol long predates the twentieth century in several cultures distant from Germany– it looks shocking, but I guess that’s the point. This really is an authentic Diwali picture and it just makes you wonder… is good good or is it really evil?
(photo collage courtesy of pixabay.com and InspiredImages)
@Jason – After watching Scott and Rubio whining about finishing the vote count in Florida I’m convinced that there is some overarching and dangerous influence over the Republican Party in D.C. That is not a partisan observation. They are behaving like there is a metaphorical gun to their heads.
(photo courtesy pixabay.com)
- Glackin
- western Ma
The first “immigration” bill was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The nation had survived its first 103 years (since the Constitution was adopted) without immigration restrictions. After 1795, any immigrant could become a citizen afte five years in residence.
The next major change came with the desire to limit the rush of Eastern European Catholics and Jews in the early decades of the 20th Century. Immigration regulation has always been code for immigration restriction, for keeping out the “other’.
The ironic point to that is that the nation has profited from every influx of the “others”. Each new wave has further enriched he nation far beyond the cost of accepting them.
The Senate has passed a typical piece of legislation, filled with the plums and goodies that were needed, or demanded to get that mythical 60 vote threshold. We would see much cleaner legislation were the Senate adopt the startling concept that a majority of their House is 51, and not 60.
We have some 11 Million people living here without documentation. They didn’t all climb over “that dang fence”. Most overstayed visas. They are at work at every level in our economy, and are a vital part of our economy.
It is time for politicians to stop posturing for cameras and reciting the same talking points to fire their bases, and admit to reality
It is time to end the fear of the “others” and embrace the policies that built this country.
“Give me your tired, your poor ….”
Immigrants who came to the US 100 years ago via Ellis Island had to prove financial stability and undergo a brief physical before they were allowed to enter the country. They were required to show some form of financial stability – either cash, or a sponsor willing to offer to support them, or offer them employment. There were no food stamps, welfare grants, free lunches, or bilingual schools. They came here to bootstrap themselves and their children into the mainstream melting pot. Those who chose to raise large families did so knowing that they woul be required to support their own children. All but the elderly learned to read and write English. They came at a time when folks were not embarrassed to be poor. No $150 Nikes or new cellphone every six months. They came at a time when the economy was expanding, and they were able and willing to work long hours under horrible conditions in order to gain a foothold in a country with a future. Most of all, they came legally. Few walked across the border expecting a handout.
- Robert Baesemann
- Los Angeles CA
NYT Pick
Emigration and immigration are processes driven by powerful economic forces. The Soviet block had a very difficult time controlling emigration despite their willingness to resort to murder to stop it. Vietcong crossed the border between North and South despite B52 strikes, defoliants, and ground troops. The only way to control borders is destroy the incentives for illegal immigration and smuggling.
If we do not want illegal immigrants crossing the border, we need to take away employers’ incentives to hire illegal immigrants. The legal machinery to do that is in place already. Major corporations regularly ask for a pass port to verify citizenship when they hire people because they need to avoid penalties.
No matter how formidable the wall the Republicans hope to build, they will have as little success as they have had with keeping out marijuana, heroin and cocaine. Fortified borders went out of style in 1940. The Euro zone has no passport controls. No one ever prevented Michigan from hiring cheap labor from Southern States. House Republicans need to advance the interests of their constituents rather than insist on throwing tax dollars away building fortified borders.
- maryo00
- Atlanta
NYT Pick
It is sad to read all of the (typical) anti-Republican comments. This is about granting amnesty to 20 million (not 11) illegal immigrants. Our court systems, schools, ERs, and jails are filled with reasons to have a sensible debate about immigration reform. Starting with enforcing existing laws. This is not about work visas, green cards, or even ‘fairness.’
It’s about our government’s complete disregard for enforcing immigration laws and monitoring those on visas to ID those that have expired. Too many of you claim that these illegal immigrants came here to escape a lousy situation. However, we can not take all of the people that want to leave their country – we’d explode. Not because the US is perfect, but because too many countries offer their people nothing. Not even an education.
As far as the diversity arguement – please! People like to live with their own kind, always have.
- Chicago Bear
- Chicago
NYT Pick
I’m willing to bet that all those folks ranting about criminals pouring across the border and the peril of immigrants don’t know a single undocumented person in this country. Well, I do and I do what I can to help them have a better life in this country. They aren’t freeloading on welfare; they’re working as hard as they can to support themselves and their families. Along the way, they are cheated and exploited by their employers. I would much rather have these people in our country than those narrow minded xenophobes whose graceless ignorance shows up in these comments. I hate to think what our country would be like if the majority was like them.
He’s certainly not anything like Hitler.
He’s certainly not anything like Hitler. It’s not the Jews who have to worry now. I get the impression that you are trying to diminish the importance and danger of what he is doing. What I pointed out in the post was that he is obsessed with doing this because of his demagogic character, the way he loves to work a crowd and lives for their adulation… what is clear to me at least is that the people (35-40% of them anyway) are too stupid to realize they are being artificially whipped up with lies and exploited by his speeches (He supposedly did read Hitler’s speeches) to vote for people who want to take away their actual government support and give it to armaments manufacturers. People like every Republican in Congress, who are all in debt to fascist-admiring billionaires… It is obvious to me that 1/3 of the people can take over the government and turn it into a fascist parody of democracy while they hobble the economy with protectionist policies, destabilize the world militarily, and try to stick with the oil economy while the polar ice caps melt. That’s dangerous and I’m sorry if I am repeating myself, crying in the wilderness apparently. It would be boring except that it is terrifying.
I wrote this on March 15 of this year in response to what I would call a troll who commented on my post of that date, which was basically the facts behind he who must not be named and his demagoguery, by which I meant the art and practice of leading large, stupid crowds of people in mobs. In my original post, and I rechecked this right now, I never mentioned Hitler. When I first responded to him, I never mentioned Hitler. It was he who mentioned Hitler, on his response to my cautious response. Spooky.
This is the problem, and I’ve been deeply depressed ever since I realized this: Hitler overtook Germany with roughly 1/3 of the people supporting him. he who must not be named has a roughly 40 percent popularity rating. The similarities are eerie.
Please help by contributing sympathy and likes: my snowflake is melting! snark.
I came across this answer to a Quora question about illegal immigrants and the US economy. It is old, but highly instructive. In short, illegal immigrants are a huge positive for the economy, and I mean putting dollars and cents in your pocket (and getting your lawn cut, with no risk of having your throat slashed.) This answer has been viewed roughly 189 thousand times, and I hope you two will also read it.
That’s what he wants. He wants his people to act towards him the way Kim Jong-Un’s people act towards HIM. Any deviation and you’re an “enemy of the people” unless you apologize and agree to kill the last traitor. This from Tony Plank on Quora, quoting an article in politico.com.
(as before, this image comes courtesy of pixabay.com and its original author)
@Jo Jamabalaya
You state that the senate guarantees that minorities cannot be overruled by the majority. But what you have now is that the majority can be and often times is overruled by the minority. Would you call that democracy? The Eu tokk different measures to ensure the protection of minorities while at the same time ruling out minority rule. If there are decisions made that do not need unanimous agreement, the there needs to a mjority of votes in the European Council that represent more than at least 50% or as I believe even 60% of the EU population. Apply that to the senate rules in the US and you have mitigated the current diproportinate weight of the the votes.
JT
@Todd Huttunen The constitution was compromised by the need to sanction slavery, creating an ever growing bias toward democratic control of the country.
17% of the population controls a majority of the senate. 70% of the senate will be controlled by 30% of the population within a few decades.
The minority Republican party controls two branches of government, since the senate installs the judiciary. The same minority of our population is additionally given an advantage in choosing the president and enacts gerrymandering to control the House. It appears likely that from the 21st century forward-that if a house divided against itself can indeed stand- a popularly elected president will be a rarity and the senate and judiciary will be “elected” by a shrinking minority of the population that likes to refer to the majority as “elites.”
The Republican minority’s M.O. is to act in anti-democratic bad faith to cheat the majority of Americans. It refused to allow a popularly elected sitting president of the other party to appoint judges or a Supreme Court Justice. The senate’s judiciary committee, repreenting a super-minority of voters, ran “Kangaroo” hearings and allowed the unpopular president who badly lost the popular vote to appoint the third branch of government. Those branches together codify voter suppression. As a “kicker,” they enact “tax relief” that increases taxes in “blue” states.
This can’t be fixed.
Conrad Theodore Seitz 