All Purpose News and Politics Thread Part IV: The Center Cannot Hold

[aja_christopher]

I'm eager to see Bernie, Harris, and Beto explain what limiting principle they want on legal immigration. But a claim that they're against open borders is meaningless when they're not willing to say what they're for.

I'm sure you are -- it makes for a nice distraction from the immorality, criminality and blatant dishonesty of the Republican party.

"Good faith" goes both ways when discussing these issues and you know as well as I do that mainstream contemporary Democrats have never attempted to legislate "open borders" in America. You can't prove your assertions with actual facts, so you rely on "inferences" which both of us know are biased, whether you are willing to admit it or not. The fact that you are the only one who even uses such terminology is telling -- it's an obvious conservative talking point, which no one outside of said circles even takes seriously.

Just because you're hung up on dog whistles like "limiting principles" doesn't mean others have to cater to your needs -- there doesn't have to be a "limiting principle" on immigration just because you think it's necessary. Democrats have said what they are "for" repeatedly -- I've even provided links -- and those words aren't "meaningless" especially when backed by actual legislation.

It's the Republican party that is known for lying, Mets (immigration, deficit spending, voter fraud, birtherism, etc) -- not the Democrats.



And you're right -- I don't have any "good faith" left to give the Republican party: I saw where that got Obama and learned from it.

[PwrdOn]

You could have a limiting principle without strict quotas. It's difficult to have a political issues not ultimately be settled by bickering partisan lawmakers.

You could try to do that, but whenever they've tried that in the past they couldn't come up with any kind of meaningful criteria that weren't explicitly racial. This is why the current system relies on burying applications in red tape and fees, so they can semi-credibly claim that they aren't outright discriminating, but can still favor certain groups in practice.

[SquirrelMan]

Well...

New charges for Ed Burke and R. Kelly.

Have you ever seen Burke and Kelly together?

They are the same person.

[SquirrelMan]

One more economically destructive distraction -- use tariffs on Mexico to stop "illegals" but do nothing about "illegal" interference in our elections by Russia.

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"Trump announces tariffs on Mexico starting June 10 if it doesn't slow flow of migrants"

"President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to impose new tariffs on Mexico if the country does not step up its enforcement actions. Trump said in a White House statement that the first round of tariffs would begin on June 10 at 5% "on all goods imported from Mexico."

The statement said Trump would carry out his threat under authority from the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and that he would lift tariffs only "if the illegal migration crisis is alleviated through effective actions taken by Mexico." The statement warned further that if Mexico did not act as Trump demanded, tariffs would go up to 10% by July, 15% by August, 20% by September and reach a permanent level of 25% by October.

According to the Office of the US Trade Representative, US imports of goods from Mexico totaled $346.5 billion in 2018. That includes cars and machinery as well as agricultural products.

The President preceded the statement with a pair of tweets promising that the rising tariffs would stay in place until immigration flows are cut off."

https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/30/polit...ion/index.html

So it's like a paywall?

[SquirrelMan]

This may change with the Wonder Woman endorsement.

Dude! Secret identity!
Ixnay on the Ianaday!

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled Chris Simcox, a primary challenger to Sen. John McCain in the 2010 elections who ran to McCain’s right, particularly on the issue of immigration. Simcox did so because he just so happened to be a co-founder of an anti-immigrant militia group known as the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps (the other half being mass murderer, Neo-Nazi, and aspiring Arizona state legislator J.T. Ready). Simcox, prior to running for office, was interviewed in a documentary called “USA Under Attack” where he openly talked of revolution, and lynching politicians in Washington, D.C. He also accused John McCain, of all people, of having ties to ACORN, and was a frequent guest of Alex Jones on InfoWars and J.D. Hayworth on Newsmax to rant about McCain’s supposed soft stance on immigration. His campaign came to an abrupt end, however, after Simcox went on the lam from law enforcement, after he was accused of molesting three little girls, one of them his ten-year-old daughter. He was arrested in 2013, and was found guilty, being sentenced to prison for quite a long stretch.


It was in both 2016, 2017, and 2018, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled Tennessee State Senator John Stevens, who shortly after South Carolina removed the Confederate flag was removed from their state capitol, was dismayed to hear a small minority of Democrats in the Tennessee state legislature then begin debating whether or not the state should change the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park, named after the Confederate general who went on to be the founder of the Ku Klux Klan. Stevens went ballistic, and said it would lead to a slippery slope that would lead to people acting like ISIS, saying, “I’m certainly not going to defend Gen. Forrest. I just think it’s a slippery slope when you start changing names and taking down statues. What separates us from ISIS? Because that’s what they do, they go around and tear down history in those nations that they’ve conquered. If that’s what America is about now, then it concerns me.”

Alright, let’s unpack that a little, just for giggles. Comparing any dissenting opinion to the worst of humanity, be it ISIS, Nazis, or terrorists of whatever kind… is just terrible discourse in that whole Godwinn’s law vein. But that’s not even quite correct, in any aspect. ISIS destroys historical landmarks of religious significance, as part of their radically perverted views of Islam. So for anyone to be attacking Nathan Bedford Forrest, he would have to be held as some sort of figure of revered spiritual significance. Unless Stevens was saying he felt Bedford was that sort of icon…

Anyway, John Stevens has been involved in some of the most ridiculous legislation to come out of Tennessee the past several years, including voting to bring back the electric chair as a method of execution, voting for TRAP laws to try and shut down every abortion clinic in the state, voting for a highly unconstitutional measure to make the Bible the state book, trying to block Syrian refugees from being resettled in the state, and voting to allow for firearms to be carried in parks around the state.

Wouldn’t you know it, Stevens was re-elected to a second term in 2016 on the benefit of getting to run for re-election unopposed. He continued wasting time and money on quests that are… well, of a bigoted nature. In March of 2017, he became one of a few Tennessee State legislators to file a lawsuit against the federal government, trying to use the Tenth Amendment and claim “State’s Rights” like Republicans do… because they’re upset that the state will have to resettle Syrian refugees. In August of 2017, he tried to re-write language in state marriage law to better gain footing to attack the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, and not recognize same sex marriages.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, this Islamophobic, Confederate monument defending nitwit will remain in office now until the 2020 elections. Dandy.

[shooshoomanjoe]

It's against the law to hire undocumented workers. If law makers really wanted to prevent illegal immigration they would go after businesses that hire illegal immigrants.

[4saken1]

It's against the law to hire undocumented workers. If law makers really wanted to prevent illegal immigration they would go after businesses that hire illegal immigrants.

I always thought that this would be a much less expensive and more humane way than raiding peoples homes and splitting up families for what is actually a misdemeanor offense. If businesses that did this were heavily fined, these operations would essentially pay for themselves and undocumented immigrants would willingly leave (or not even come in the first place) as jobs dried up.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

While all of this is true, Trump and the Republicans feel they have to cater to their base by keeping as many (non-white) immigrants out as possible.

Steve Bannon has already made it clear that immigration is the key issue in that regard, and Trump is just following through on said agenda.

Everyone knows it, but like Ben Shapiro did with Steve King, they will disavow it if it's said aloud in public -- instead they use terms like "open borders" and "limiting principles" usually for the purpose of (as Mets once put it) "plausible deniability".

What kills me is why these miserable fuckwads waste time with plausible deniability in the first place. Anyone with two working brain cells to rub together has known for years that the GOP wants to return the country to those grand old days before the Civil Rights Act when whites were at the top of the societal food chain and minorities were so far down to the point of being underground. I mean, seriously, who in the hell would right wingers and conservatives from Trump on down alienate if they came right out and publicly admitted they were racists and white supremacists? Minorities whose votes they weren't going to get anyway? Women? Hell, more than some are onboard with the bigotry themselves. Christians? Shit, they're driving this goddamn train. Republicans hiding their racism when it's already out there for all to see makes no damn sense to me.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Grassley slams Trump tariffs on Mexico: 'A misuse of presidential tariff authority'

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) condemned President Trump's new tariffs on Mexico late Thursday, calling the move a "misuse" of presidential tariff authority and cautioning the levies could derail passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

"Trade policy and border security are separate issues. This is a misuse of presidential tariff authority and counter to congressional intent," Grassley said in a statement.

The lawmaker cautioned that following through on Trump's tariff threat "would seriously jeopardize passage of USMCA," a revision of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

"I support nearly every one of President Trump's immigration policies, but this is not one of them," he added.

Meanwhile....

New front in trade war could cost consumers $93 billion

Tariffs that the U.S. is threatening to impose against Mexican goods could have steep costs, both economically and politically, while also affecting important policy decisions.

President Donald Trump said the duties will be imposed June 10 unless Mexico takes steps to address illegal immigration. While White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said the hope is that the tariffs aren't necessary, the president has shown that his threats are not idle.

Under the plan Trump outlined, the tariffs would begin at 5%, levied the first day of each month until they reach a maximum of 25%.

Based on 2018 trade numbers, in which the U.S. imported $371.9 billion from Mexico, that would equate to a tax on U.S. consumers that would start at $18.6 billion and escalate to just shy of $93 billion.

Should Mexico choose to retaliate with a similar 5% rate, the initial costs to its consumers would be about $15 billion in U.S. dollars, graduating to $74.8 billion assuming the duties follow the same path as what the White House has threatened to impose. Those figures are based on the $299.1 billion worth of U.S. goods that Mexico imported last year, a figure that represents 47% of Mexico's total.

**********

But, Trump's buddy Kim Jong Un, a.k.a. "Rocketman" is such a nice guy....

North Korea executes envoy in a purge after failed U.S. summit: media

North Korea executed its nuclear envoy to the United States as part of a purge of officials who steered negotiations for a failed summit between leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump, a South Korean newspaper said on Friday.

Kim Hyok Chol was executed in March at Mirim Airport in Pyongyang, along with four foreign ministry officials after they were charged with spying for the United States, the Chosun Ilbo reported, citing an unidentified source with knowledge of the situation.

"He was accused of spying for the United States for poorly reporting on the negotiations without properly grasping U.S. intentions," the source was quoted as saying.

The February summit in Vietnam's capital Hanoi, the second between Kim and Trump, failed to reach a deal because of conflicts over U.S. calls for complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and North Korean demands for sanctions relief.

Reuters was unable to independently confirm the report. Previously, North Korean officials have been executed or purged only to reappear with a new title, according to media reports.

[Gray Lensman]

Grassley slams Trump tariffs on Mexico: 'A misuse of presidential tariff authority'



Meanwhile....

New front in trade war could cost consumers $93 billion



**********

But, Trump's buddy Kim Jong Un, a.k.a. "Rocketman" is such a nice guy....

North Korea executes envoy in a purge after failed U.S. summit: media

1 - call me when the Senate is willing to stand up to Trumplethinskin by voting to undo those tariffs. Even allowing a vote seems like a bridge to far for the Mitchocrite.

2 - the constant threat to my financial well being is why I can't vote for any Republicans even if any of the other stuff they do wasn't an issue. Besides much of the produce available where I live coming from Mexico, my job in a plastic sheet factory is at least partially tied to supporting the automotive industry (1/4 to 1/3 by my estimates) and I would go to part time hours if that wasn't there.

3 - Life should not imitate the Team America movie - that's the action of a cartoon villain. Or in this case, a puppet villain.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

1 - call me when the Senate is willing to stand up to Trumplethinskin by voting to undo those tariffs. Even allowing a vote seems like a bridge to far for the Mitchocrite.

I think we both know, or at least suspect Republicans will dutifully fall in line and vote for the tariffs. Even Turtle Boy McConnell will give it his blessing. Fear of Trump easily overrides fear of the economy going down the toilet.

3 - Life should not imitate the Team America movie - that's the action of a cartoon villain. Or in this case, a puppet villain.

And yet, here we are. Remember, Kim was said to have bumped off some lackeys by lashing them to howitzers and shooting them off. This particular puppet is more like Chucky than anything from Team America.

[BeastieRunner]

Yet another Republican blocks the Disaster Relief bill.

Well ...



It's an appropriate saying for the times.

[BeastieRunner]

Beastie's Cartoons of the Week:

[JCAll]

A judge issued a temporary order today that the last abortion provider in Missouri can stay open, It was scheduled to close this afternoon. The race to the bottom isn't won quite yet.