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

Darn! Missed that one!

Something about Mexican looking young men chasing the OP's car down an alleyway around a caravan trailer park in some God forsaken American desert town, in a... wait for it... golf cart.

Donald J. Trump
‏
Verified account

@realDonaldTrump

'I am pleased to inform you that I will Address the Nation on the Humanitarian and National Security crisis on our Southern Border. Tuesday night at 9:00 P.M. Eastern.'

10:44 am - 7 Jan 2019

Well, I am pleased to inform POTUS that I will be chewing glass Tuesday night at 9:00 PM. Eastern. Because I'd rather be doing that than listen to more of his puffed up braggadocio and hot winded mendacity.

Blackwater founder Erik Prince says Mueller asked about meeting Russian Putin pal in Seychelles: 'You probably would rather go to a proctology exam'

• Blackwater founder Erik Prince said he would have preferred getting a "proctology exam" to being interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller's team of investigators.
• Prince was questioned by Mueller's team about his meeting in the Seychelles islands shortly before President Donald Trump's inauguration with Kirill Dmitriev, who was appointed by Russian leader Vladmir Putin to run a sovereign wealth fund.
• A member of the delegation of the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed, who was meeting with Prince, suggested the former Navy SEAL speak with Dmitriev, according to Prince.

www.cnbc.com/2019/01/07/erik-prince-on-mueller-interview-would-rather-go-to-a-proctology-exam.html

Fair point.

He certainly needs this 'crisis'.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-lays-groundwork-for-national-emergency-as-officials-argue-border-is-in-crisis/2019/01/07/e0f9aa34-1299-11e9-b6ad-9cfd62dbb0a8_story.html?utm_term=.88b9067e98fe

This move smacks of isolationism... very worrying
www.dw.com/en/trump-administration-downgrades-eu-mission-to-us/a-46990608

slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/01/ocasio-cortez-tlaib-news-women-power-ruth-bader-ginsburg.html?fbclid=IwAR0R7tiVc1DTM0saAMUbG19x5xXTcN5wc-TarmjLsxxEjS_1D7YtIHrhHBo

Declaring a national emergency? This is really worrying.

timesofsandiego.com/opinion/2018/12/24/if-there-is-a-crisis-on-the-border-why-is-san-diego-so-safe/

I'm hoping that his address is not that Natsku.

Everything with him is saving face with his cult followers, and from what I can gather it would be a long protracted legal battle to stand up...

www.npr.org/2019/01/07/682965555/fact-check-can-trump-use-emergency-powers-to-build-the-wall

@funder
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BREAKING: Speaker Pelosi just demanded Democrats get "equal air time" to respond to Trump’s PR stunt tomorrow night

And Nancy Pelosi should speak after him with copious fact checking.

He’s very good at creating a crisis, which actually did not exist before his refusal to sign the budget.
Please correct me if I have that wrong.

Julia E. Ainsley
‏*@JuliaEAinsley*
Exclusive Finally got the answer to the question we've been asking since Sarah Sanders said 4K terrorists were stopped at the southern border.

www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/only-six-immigrants-terrorism-database-stopped-cbp-southern-border-first-n955861

Rachel Maddow MSNBC
‏*@maddow*
4000. Or 6.

Maybe they were rounding up to the nearest 4000?

Susan Hennessey
‏*@Susan*_Hennessey
We should be clear that part of the prime time strategy here is for Trump to falsely create sense of "national emergency" by interrupting scheduled programming for a special message from the president, the same way he did with "deploying" troops and calling it an "invasion."

An interesting response from Jon Faveau who worked for Obama to Brian Stelter (CNN) 's explanation on why the networks are giving Trump airtime to spew his lies. Obama was refused airtime to talk about immigration but Trump is indulged for fear of the consequences.

https://twitter.com/jonfavs/status/1082359022865461249

Except they didn’t give Obama time in 2014 because they believed his speech about immigration would be “overtly partisan.” So this should be a relatively easy decision.

https://twitter.com/brianstelter/status/1082357359962456065

TV exec texts: "He calls us fake news all the time, but needs access to airwaves… If we give him the time, he'll deliver a fact-free screed without rebuttal. And if we don't give him the time, he'll call every network partisan. So we are damned if we do and damned if we don't."

From the NBC article

Overall, 41 people on the Terrorist Screening Database were encountered at the southern border from Oct. 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018, but 35 of them were U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents. Six were classified as non-U.S. persons.

On the northern border, CBP stopped 91 people listed in the database, including 41 who were not American citizens or residents.

If this is the reasoning for building a wall, he's building it on the wrong border - they need one with Canada.

shareblue.com/military-leaders-fox-news-afghanistan-troops-trump/

'Military leaders tried to use Fox News to make Trump care about troops.'

If they're damned either way then they should stand up to him. If you know the outcome is going to be the same, why wouldn't you take the action that better aligns with your declared values (of telling the truth, remaining consistent with partisanship etc)?

It's about ratings, isn't it?

Bet this wee man gets better ratings. I need an "aw" moment just now.

Governor Gavin Newsom's sleepy son invades stage during speech
www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-46791236/governor-gavin-newsom-s-sleepy-son-invades-stage-during-speech

Or watch from around 1:08:30.
Inauguration of Gavin Newsom, California's 40th Governor

Roussette

Really hope it's not.

Aww that little boy!!

He used to get ratings which is why the networks indulged him during the 2016 campaign but I'm not sure that still stands. MSNBC who have stopped routinely taking his press briefings etc because it's just lies and propaganda have seen their ratings improve and they are now competing regularly with Fox News.

I wonder if this is a test to see how the address goes. It's the first time he's asked for prime time so it might be hard to say no. If when he just uses it to spin lies then it might be easier to refuse next time.