Shutdowns, military pullouts, and resignations: it’s Christmas and Trump thread 89

[TheClaws]

It’s chaos in Trump’s world, more so than usual, with #TrumpResign trending in Twitter after a number of key debacles: the pull-out of US troops from Syria, the resignation of General Jim Mattis, and the shutdown of the government over Christmas due to bipartisan disagreement over wall funding. (Those are just 3 issues.) The next few weeks will be rocky.

Previous thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3442038-But-When-the-president-does-it-that-means-it-is-not-illegal-Trump-thread-LXXXVIII

I'm living in the middle of the Trump shit show Justanotherlurker and I will say (and read) anything I damn well please, thank you very much. And I will seek support where and with whom I choose This is my Country and I'm damned pissed about the state of things. Just as pissed as I was 45 years ago during Watergate. Just as pissed as I was 50 years ago when my friends were dying in Viet Nam.

But please, provide me with some sources that you feel will give me an unbiased your take on things. I'll be happy to read them. And don't fob me off with any excuses for not doing so. If you aren't going to put your money where your mouth is, get on your horse and ride off into the sunset.

Yeah, on the subject of smug - I'm a lurker on the details of Americal politics. But as well as sitting on the world's biggest nuclear arsenal, US seems to be where the UK goes. No smugness here, just worry. The US at least has its size and diversity to protect it.

This is interesting and touches on a number of the issues that have come up in the past:

five myths about congressional oversight

So, the workers’ children will have to adjust to empty tummies, then? Soulless, dangerous idiot.

Sarah Reese Jones
‏
Verified account

@PoliticusSarah
Follow Follow @PoliticusSarah
More
Trump tells government workers to adjust to not getting paid, as he claims they support his shutdown 100%. ow.ly/HDuf30ncTVm

Justanotherlurker I really cannot imagine why you keep coming back if you don’t like the content here. These threads are UNASHAMEDLY ANTI-TRUMP. As I said up-thread, we do explore other sources - I particularly like Breitbart, Fox, RT, plus a number of others, and I always keep an eye on North Korean and South East Asia news from a range of sources. I’m sure most other contributors do similar to me in their geopolitical area (I’m in Australia, so that makes a difference to, say, how important I see the South East Asia influence to be).

The point of these threads is news collation and curation from our particular standpoint. If you don’t like it, lurk somewhere else.

Sarah Sanders attempted to push the false claim about terrorists being caught at the southern border on Fox News Sunday

Bravo to Chris Wallace. We've fact-checked this bogus claim and it's great to finally see a TV anchor nail a WH flack for using it.
twitter.com/glennkesslerwp/status/1081949756484665346?s=21

'Neoconservative' Bill Kristol (not a lefty lib)
www.defendingdemocracytogether.org/
conversationswithbillkristol.org/

It’s pretty clear that what’s driving Trump now isn’t a governing strategy. It isn’t a re-election strategy. It’s a “hold enough of your base to stop the Senate from convicting when the House impeaches” strategy. Trump must expect that the Mueller report will be very bad for him.

Meanwhile, back to real life and it's a useful point Perking made about the shutdown being a distraction. I remember there being a constitutional crisis in September?

Yes, and what about the caravan just before the midterms? That was reported endlessly and then... poof.... the caravan disappeared the day after voting. Strange that.

Bill Kristol nails it. I think it's a mixture of diversionary tactics (his emoluments court case has been delayed because of the shutdown) and keeping his fan base happy and the likes of Ann Coulter and Limbaugh.

thehill.com/homenews/administration/423993-biden-rush-limbaugh-and-the-conservative-blonde-woman-to-blame-for

www.thedailybeast.com/we-need-to-know-what-happened-when-trump-was-left-alone-with-putin?ref=home

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/01/presidential-emergency-powers/576418/

I seem to remember that the NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) had a notice regarding Government shutdown the last time it happened.
It doesn't seem to be up now and it seems to be working as usual.
Does anyone know how severe this shutdown is compared to others, or is it always the same?

www.lawfareblog.com/case-closed-justice-department-wont-stand-behind-its-report-immigrants-and-terrorism

I don't know how it compares but this is interesting on the ripple effect.

www.washingtonpost.com/national/us-towns-with-federal-workers-brace-for-impact-as-the-shutdown-continues/2019/01/06/893c6d2c-a51e-4d62-b242-23c0732ef0bc_story.html?utm_term=.9b07ee3aae26

They Atlantic article about emergency powers is very interesting, especially as Trump has mentioned it on a few occasions now. I'll bet very few people understand what emergency powers really entails. Who is going to stop this lunatic?

Er.....Batman

Emergency state is always bad news for democracy, unless there's a war or something similar.

I wonder how GOP would view such abuse.

I think it depends on the polls and whether they think they can keep their seats (just as it has with all the other things). None of the other abuses have mattered.

Shut down comparisons:

www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/politics/longest-shutdowns-history/?utm_term=.afd760b42255

www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/vulnerable-republicans-seek-distance-trump-new-congress-n954946

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is missing arguments for the first time in more than 25 years as she recuperates from cancer surgery last month, the Supreme Court said.

Ginsburg was not on the bench as the court met Monday to hear arguments. It was not clear when she would return to the court, which will hear more cases on Tuesday and Wednesday, and again next week.
apnews.com/b1d7eb8384ef44099d63fde057c4172c?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP_Politics&utm_campaign=SocialFlow

Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said the 85-year-old justice is continuing to recuperate and work from home after doctors removed two cancerous growths from her left lung on Dec. 21.

edition.cnn.com/2019/01/07/politics/donald-trump-authentic-shutdown/index.html

Blimey.... so he is interrupting peak time news channels tomorrow to address the nation on the shutdown, then he's off to the southern border to press his case.

I'm not sure how many of you saw the goady thread earlier today about 'being frightened in America' (I know Lewji did), but MN's deletion message gave me a right chuckle.

"Message from MNHQ: OP is indeed a PBP, and possibly also POTUS, so we're taking this down now."

Well done MNHQ. They made me LOL (OK, chuckle OL) on public transport.