All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!(Part II)

[WestPhillyPunisher]

From Philadelphia Daily News columnist Solomon Jones:

Threatening birthright citizenship is an attack on African Americans

President Trump's plan to pen an executive order that would stop granting citizenship to children born to noncitizens in the United States is more than a swipe at immigrants. It is an attack on African Americans.

That's because the Constitution's 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States," was written specifically to protect the rights of formerly enslaved people. At the time of its passage in 1868, political violence was a reality, and recently freed blacks trying to eke out an existence faced brutal reprisals both from defeated Confederates and Northern racists.

Blacks face a similar moment now, but we don't face it alone. As recent mail bombs and shootings have shown us, political dissenters are not safe in their offices, Jews are not safe in their synagogues, blacks are not safe in grocery stores, and none of us can safely assume that law equals justice. That kind of existential uncertainty won't be limited to minority groups if Trump is allowed to independently change the Constitution's meaning. All of us will be in danger.

Most legal experts say the president's plan to strip away birthright citizenship through the use of an executive order is unconstitutional. Still, Sen. Lindsay Graham (R., S.C.), upon hearing Trump's plan, said that he would introduce legislation mirroring the president's proposal.

Though many political observers say it's all a publicity stunt meant to excite the GOP base on the eve of the all-important midterm elections, let's suppose for a moment that Trump and his allies actually follow through. The results would go well beyond the immigrant community.

That's because the 14th Amendment is about more than birthright citizenship. In fact, it is one of the most frequently cited amendments in Supreme Court cases, because it also guarantees due process and equal treatment under the law. And if Trump, or any president, can eradicate such safeguards with the stroke of a pen, no one in America will be safe from government tyranny.

It's no secret Trump has been obsessed with keeping brown skinned people out of the country from day one as if they all possess fatally communicable diseases, and his rhetoric has only gotten worse since his election. If he pulls off what, in a normal world, would be an impossibility that could sink the Constitution, maybe even democracy as we know it in this country (and he now has a conservative edge in SCOTUS to back him up), who's to say he'll stop with Hispanics? Blacks, Jews, Native Americans, Muslims, gays, ANYONE he deems a threat to white America could end up in the crosshairs. You'd have to be crazy to think he won't keep that monstrous roll going if given half a chance.

[Ragged Maw]

It's not really necessary, as any protest has to get a permit, so local law enforcement will know about it ahead of time.

Well, here’s hoping they just want data simply to get an idea of how the Secret Service should go about their jobs protecting the President (regardless of who happens to be in office at any given time) while on tour.

[Gray Lensman]

Before he becomes irrelevant, Mark Sanford has one last thing to do before he leaves. He's gotta be a huge square and a ruin a kid's Halloween night.

Has he ever read it himself?

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Veterans slam Trump for border 'stunt'

With his decision to deploy more than 5,000 troops to the US-Mexico border, President Donald Trump has ordered more military personnel to the US southwest than he has serving in some of the world's most contentious combat zones.

Senior military officers have defended the deployment on national security grounds but the mission -- dubbed Operation Faithful Patriot -- raises a slew of questions, with many veterans condemning it as a political stunt by a President eager to fire up his political base just days away from the midterm elections.

"Donald Trump thinks unarmed people who are fleeing horrors and are still 1,000 miles away are a national security threat a week before election day?" said Will Fischer, a former Marine who now works for the VoteVets, a progressive veteran's organization.

"I don't think so," Fischer said. "It's a political ploy to blow upon the embers of racism and nativism, and he is using the military again as a political prop to advance his own agenda"

Fischer and other veterans point to the unknown cost to taxpayers, given that much smaller deployments of National Guard to the border have cost hundreds of millions of dollars. They also question the cost the military will bear, as the operation pulls troops away from training, other missions and their families. And then, they say, there's the murky legality of the mission, its scope and its purpose.

Meanwhile....

**********

Trump surprise rattles GOP in final stretch

President Trump's plan to end birthright citizenship has tossed a grenade into the final stretch of the midterm elections, roiling centrist Republicans and further endangering a House majority already at risk of slipping away.

While Trump's proposal could boost Senate GOP candidates and earned applause from allies such as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), others worry it could hurt the party's chances in key suburban swing districts - critical territory to retaining the House.

Trump's call to change the Constitution via executive order also struck a discordant note with a GOP conference that filed court briefs in a lawsuit against former President Obama's executive actions on immigration.

"Well, you obviously cannot do that. You cannot end birthright citizenship with an executive order," Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) told Lexington, Ky., radio station WVLK. "We didn't like it when Obama tried changing immigration laws via executive action, and obviously as conservatives, we believe in the Constitution."

Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), who supported immigration reform efforts this summer and is locked in a tough reelection battle in his Miami-area district, blasted Trump over the proposed move.

"Birthright citizenship is protected by the Constitution, so no @realDonaldTrump you can't end it by executive order," Curbelo tweeted. "What we really need is broad immigration reform that makes our country more secure and reaffirms our wonderful tradition as a nation of immigrants."

Trump's vow seemed aimed at stoking his base, but the reaction from Republicans indicated they are increasingly worried about how the fight to retain their House majority is going.

Trump's obsession with illegal immigrants could well hurt the GOP big time next week, to which I say....KEEP AT IT, DUMBASS!

[BeastieRunner]

So ... apparently the POTUS or somebody really close to the POTUS has been subpoenaed and is fighting it. But losing ... yugely.

The brief docket entries say:

* The parties and the judges have moved with unusual speed. Parties normally have 30 days to appeal a lower court action, but the witness appealed 5 days after losing in the district court. Then again 3 days later filed a motion before the appellate court to stay the district court’s order. So a grand total of 8 days.

* 1 day after getting the witness’ motion, the court gave the special counsel just 3 days to respond, very short as appellate proceedings go. The special counsel’s papers were filed October 1. The appeals court itself moved with remarkable speed, too.

* At this point an unspecified procedural flaw seems to have emerged, and on October 3, the appeals court dismissed the appeal. Just 2 days later, the lower court judge cured the flaw, the witness re-appealed, and by October 10 the witness was once again before appellate court. Thanks to very quick action of all the judges, less than 1 week was lost due to a flaw that, in other cases, could have taken weeks or months to resolve. Very unusual.

* On October 10, the day the case returned to the court, the parties filed a motion for expedited handling, and within 2 days, the judges had granted their motion and set an accelerated briefing schedule. The witness was given just 11 days to file briefs; the special counsel just 2 weeks to respond and reply papers 1 week later, on November 14. That’s 8 days after the midterm elections. Oral arguments are set for December 14. This case’s very special handling continued.

So ... who is it!?

https://www.politico.com/magazine/st...d-trump-222060

[BeastieRunner]

The synagogue shooter received 44 counts, all hate crimes. Sessions gets to determine if he gets the death penalty.

[PaulBullion]

With regards to 'Rabbi' Loren Jacobs...

Messianic Jews, aka 'Jews for Jesus', are a particularly wierd strain of fundamentalist Christian. See, among the hard core elite fundamentalists, 'winning' a Jew to Jesus is like...a guaranteed golden ticket to Heaven. And those Jewish folks who become Messianic Jews turn their backs on their faith, but try to retain some of the cultural identity...never mind that said cultural identity is rooted in said faith.

Every Jewish person I've met laughs when asked if they consider Messianic Jews to be Jews or Christians. Every one has said, 'Yeah, no. They're Christian. They might be ethnically Hebrew, but they aren't Jewish anymore, once they call Jesus the Messiah.' Because, according to the Jewish faith, the Messiah will fulfill a number of prophecies...Christians say Jesus did so, but Jews say he didn't...and that's kind of an important distinction...

So, yeah. Pence peddling a Messianic 'rabbi' after a tragedy struck actual Jewish faithful? Tone deaf, at BEST...callous, deliberate dickery, at worst. Maybe Pence and 'Rabbi' Jacobs thought that Jewish faithful grieving a horrific tragedy would be a good opportunity to 'win souls to Christ', since fundamentalist Christians are like vultures, that way...preying on the weak and vulnerable to fatten themselves up...just like Jesus taught...

In addition, I now hear that the "Messianic Jews" sect distanced themselves from "Rabbi" Loren Jacobs, saying he had been defrocked years ago. So not only did Pence bring a Christian cosplaying as a Rabbi, the guy was a fake everything.

[Raiders]

From Philadelphia Daily News columnist Solomon Jones:

Threatening birthright citizenship is an attack on African Americans





It's no secret Trump has been obsessed with keeping brown skinned people out of the country from day one as if they all possess fatally communicable diseases, and his rhetoric has only gotten worse since his election. If he pulls off what, in a normal world, would be an impossibility that could sink the Constitution, maybe even democracy as we know it in this country (and he now has a conservative edge in SCOTUS to back him up), who's to say he'll stop with Hispanics? Blacks, Jews, Native Americans, Muslims, gays, ANYONE he deems a threat to white America could end up in the crosshairs. You'd have to be crazy to think he won't keep that monstrous roll going if given half a chance.

He will be going after some white people too. Any whites that’s not Anglo-Saxon will be his target.

[PaulBullion]

That is a worthless internet poll. He is ahead by almost 20%

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/house/iowa/

Nate Silver himself, the guy behind the web site you linked to, has been defending that poll:

Except that previous polling had shown King up "only" 6-10 points, before the most recent round of controversies kicked in and before the Democrat had a chance to take advantage of his 3:1 fundraising advantage. He's probably a favorite but the poll is entirely plausible.

https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/st...34841672679427

And this is what the pollster says about the methodology:

Methodology note. Change Research polls online using a patent-pending approach called Bias Correct: unlike other online polls, we don't use panels, so we can poll affordably in small areas.

(We were the only pollster with Gillum ahead in FL Dem primary.) info@changeresearch.com

https://twitter.com/ChangePolls/stat...34658641510400

Edit: Add to that that the three polls showing King with the 18 to 21 point leads are partisan polls published exclusively on... Steve King's own campaign web site.
The other polls had much more modest leads between 6 and 11 points.

[Gray Lensman]

The synagogue shooter received 44 counts, all hate crimes. Sessions gets to determine if he gets the death penalty.

Sessions, who said go for the most serious thing you can prove? If he doesn't, he proves his bigotry yet again.

I'm normally against thd death penalty except in extreme cases - and this one certainly counts as extreme.

[Ragged Maw]

Sessions, who said go for the most serious thing you can prove? If he doesn't, he proves his bigotry yet again.

I'm normally against thd death penalty except in extreme cases - and this one certainly counts as extreme.

The fact that it’s Sessions deciding may result in a ton of people interpreting the ruling as a political statement on top of it all. As if tensions weren’t strained enough.

[Raiders]

Nate Silver himself, the guy behind the web site you linked to, has been defending that poll:


https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/st...34841672679427

And this is what the pollster says about the methodology:



https://twitter.com/ChangePolls/stat...34658641510400

Polls don’t mean too much in this election, because we’ll be getting a lot of unlikely voters, which favors the Dems

[PaulBullion]

Polls don’t mean too much in this election, because we’ll be getting a lot of unlikely voters, which favors the Dems

Ah, I wish the pollsters were aware of that. How come nobody told them?

[MajorHoy]

In addition, I now hear that the "Messianic Jews" sect distanced themselves from "Rabbi" Loren Jacobs, saying he had been defrocked years ago. So not only did Pence bring a Christian cosplaying as a Rabbi, the guy was a fake everything.

I thought I read Pence didn't actually bring him there, but it was more he was there and Pence gave him recognition and an opportunity to speak?

[PaulBullion]

I thought I read Pence didn't actually bring him there, but it was more he was there and Pence gave him recognition and an opportunity to speak?

More likely Pence brought him there, then later tried to pin the blame on somebody else.