Thursday Open Thread | Trump insults Australian prime minister

Posted on February 2, 2017 by SouthernGirl2

australian-prime-ministerIt should have been one of the most congenial calls for the new commander in chief — a conversation with the leader of Australia, one of America’s staunchest allies, at the end of a triumphant week.

Instead, President Trump blasted Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull over a refu­gee agreement and boasted about the magnitude of his electoral college win, according to senior U.S. officials briefed on the Saturday exchange. Then, 25 minutes into what was expected to be an hour-long call, Trump abruptly ended it.

At one point Trump informed Turnbull that he had spoken with four other world leaders that day — including Russian President Vladi­mir Putin — and that “This was the worst call by far.”

Trump’s behavior suggests that he is capable of subjecting world leaders, including close allies, to a version of the vitriol he frequently employs against political adversaries and news organizations in speeches and on Twitter.

“This is the worst deal ever,” Trump fumed as Turnbull attempted to confirm that the United States would honor its pledge to take in 1,250 refugees from an Australian detention center. Trump, who one day earlier had signed an executive order temporarily barring the admissions of refugees, complained that he was “going to get killed” politically and accused Australia of seeking to export the “next Boston bombers.”

U.S. officials said that Trump has behaved similarly in conversations with leaders of other countries, including Mexico. But his treatment of Turnbull was particularly striking because of the tight bond between the United States and Australia — countries that share intelligence, support one another diplomatically and have fought together in wars including in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The characterizations provide insight into Trump’s temperament and approach to the diplomatic requirements of his job as the nation’s chief executive, a role in which he continues to employ both the uncompromising negotiating tactics he honed as a real estate developer and the bombastic style he exhibited as a reality television personality.

The depictions of Trump’s calls are also at odds with sanitized White House accounts. The official read-out of his conversation with Turnbull, for example, said that the two had “emphasized the enduring strength and closeness of the U.S.-Australia relationship that is critical for peace, stability, and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and globally.”

A White House spokesman declined to comment. A senior administration official acknowledged that the conversation with Turnbull had been hostile and charged, but emphasized that most of Trump’s calls with foreign leaders — including the heads of Japan, Germany, France and Russia — have been both productive and pleasant.

Trump also vented anger and touted his political accomplishments in a tense conversation with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, officials said. The two have sparred for months over Trump’s vow to force Mexico to pay for construction of a border wall between the two countries, a conflict that prompted Peña Nieto to cancel a planned meeting with Trump.

About SouthernGirl2

A Native Texan who adores baby kittens, loves horses, rodeos, pomegranates, & collect Eagles. Enjoys politics, games shows, & dancing to all types of music. Loves discussing and learning about different cultures. A Phi Theta Kappa lifetime member with a passion for Social & Civil Justice.
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94 Responses to Thursday Open Thread | Trump insults Australian prime minister

  2. rikyrah says:
    February 2, 2017 at 8:37 pm

    FYI

    Find out how your Reps and Senators are voting, almost in real time, here:
    https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/115-2017/h73

    Reply
  4. rikyrah says:
    February 2, 2017 at 8:31 pm

    This writer’s tweet raised over $100,000 to wipe out students’ school lunch debts
    Abigail Hess
    3 Hours Ago

    With a single tweet, New York City-based writer Ashley C. Ford sparked a movement that’s raised thousands of dollars towards paying off student lunch debts across the country.

    Students that can’t afford cafeteria lunches have the option to receive a meal at no charge — often a cheese sandwich and a carton of milk — and the cost is carried by the school district. Communities are rallying en masse to help pay off that debt.

    Since these modest meals are sometimes distributed from a separate line, it can make a student’s financial distress obvious to classmates. Ford herself received substitute lunches, and wanted to make a wider audience aware of the opportunity to help. The tweet resonated with her 66,000 (now 68,600) followers.

    Kristina Arwood of Evansville, Indiana, was one of those followers inspired by Ford’s words. She launched a campaign that so far has raised nearly $24,000 to pay lunch debts in her region.

    “It really hit home for me. I grew up on free and reduced-price lunches, but even that 40 cents was hard to get together with four kids,” Arwood told the Associated Press. “There were times I wouldn’t eat because I didn’t have money and didn’t want to be labeled as the poor kid.”

    Arwood is just one of hundreds of people who’ve sprung to action.

    Reply
  8. rikyrah says:
    February 2, 2017 at 8:09 pm

    ———————
    Ohio pastor walks back comment that Chicago gang leaders want to work with Trump

    An Ohio pastor told FOX 32 that he “misspoke” at the White House. He created a national sensation by telling President Trump Wednesday that Chicago gang leaders would “lower the body count” if given new federal programs.
    FEB 01 2017 10:55PM CST

    An Ohio pastor told FOX 32 that he “misspoke” at the White House. He created a national sensation by telling President Trump Wednesday that Chicago gang leaders would “lower the body count” if given new federal programs.

    FOX 32: So, there are no gang leaders offering to reduce the body count in exchange for federal funds?

    “No! I mean, c’mon now! (laughs) No!” Pastor Darrell Scott said.

    Rev. Darrell Scott was laughing about it Wednesday night. A few hours earlier, though, the Cleveland Heights, Ohio, pastor told President Trump that Chicago’s “top gang thugs” wanted him to pass along a sensational offer.

    Reply
  14. rikyrah says:
    February 2, 2017 at 7:42 pm

    Luvvie’s Back…..LOL

    On the First Day of Black History Month, Beyoncé Gave To Us… TWINS

    Awesomely Luvvie

    February 2, 2017

    Listen. We needed something good. We were all in dire need of some news that will lift our spirits and make us SANG. Yesterday, the Matron Saint of Being EVERYTHING, Beyoncé,broke the internet. She has been laying low for months and minding her business. But yesterday, she made her triumphant return by making us all lose our shit with news that she is pregnant with twins.

    I almost cried like I know the woman. It was as if I was there as she
    was doing the sonogram that revealed TWO instead of one. I was in my feels for this lady. It was like November 8-gate happened and she lookedat Jay-Z and said in all her selfless glory “We need to bring some light into the world.” And so it was done.

    We needed this, man. We needed this like edges need castor oil. We needed this like New York men need Timbs.

    We needed this like Nigerians need rice.

    We needed this like Democrats needs spines.

    We needed this like we need Captain Planet to swoop in and save us all.

    As always, Black women to the rescue.

    ……………….

    Lemme go buy Blue Ivy a “Big Sister” tshirt. Red Petunia and Purple Hibiscus are going to bust on to the scene in this year of our Lord, to keep our hope alive as we watch our country crumble.

    Reply
  16. Ametia says:
    February 2, 2017 at 6:24 pm

    Notice media skirting around Pelosi calling Steve Bannon what he I A WHITE SUPREMACIST.

    Chris Matthews, Rachel Maddow, or that mealy-mouthed Chris Hayes, why aren’t you having a sit down with Nancy and ask her about Bannon? Instead, Chris Matthews sit down with that lying dingbat, Kellyann Conway, who spins, twists, ducks, dives and word salads any responses to questions, and is allowed to do so

    Why aren’t you holding specials on Bannon and where he stand on white nationalism? Will he even sit down with the media? NO, he’s no dummy.

    Reply
  18. Ametia says:
    February 2, 2017 at 6:10 pm
    Reply
  19. Ametia says:
    February 2, 2017 at 6:01 pm
    Reply
  22. Ametia says:
    February 2, 2017 at 3:19 pm

    CHEETO, BANDITO was not present in the Situation Room, during Yemen raid.

    Reply
  24. Ametia says:
    February 2, 2017 at 3:01 pm

    //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    BRING DOWN THAT GAVEL ON THEM, NANCY

    Reply
  26. rikyrah says:
    February 2, 2017 at 2:17 pm

    I have read and scene a lot of the Hoteps talking about the Muslim ban, talking about..

    ” It doesn’t affect us.”
    ” They wouldn’t come out for Black Lives Matter.”
    “It’s only those countries.”

    First of all, if you are an American, you should believe in the Constitution, and it’s principles, flaws and all.
    Next of all, I oppose it because it’s wrong.
    I oppose it because it doesn’t keep us safe.
    I oppose it because it’s a recruiting tool for those who REALLY do want to kill US, and by US, anyone on American soil.
    You can’t possibly be stupid enough to believe that it’s only going to be ‘ those’ countries. That list will include most of Africa before the year is up.
    And, finally, you must not know any HISTORY. Black people should be against it, not because we love Muslims. But, because EVERYTHING that starts with someone else ALWAYS winds up AT OUR DOORSTEP. So, shut the shyt down at the beginning.

    Reply
  27. rikyrah says:
    February 2, 2017 at 2:10 pm

    About those believing that Gorsuch’s ‘ Facist Forever’ was just a ‘child’s prank’

    Here’s the quote from his High School Yearbook….

    WHO THE PHUCK THINKS LIKE THIS?

    “I will become a powerful man, such as a banker or a judge, so that when I start strangling men under the 16th street bridge, the law will not be able to stop me.”

    The famous person he chose to quote?

    The illegal we do immediately, the unconstitutional takes a little longer.
    —-Henry Kissinger
    August 29, 1967

    Tell me again why I should think the man has any humanity.

    Reply
  28. rikyrah says:
    February 2, 2017 at 2:01 pm

    Found this at BJ about the botched raid in Yemen:

    polyorchnid octopunch says:
    February 2, 2017 at 2:52 pm
    Interesting thing. Right now Reuters is reporting that US military officials say the raid in Yemen was approved by Trump without sufficient backup, intelligence, and ground support. I wonder when that decision was made… and if the demotion of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the DNI were because they insisted on bringing up those inconvenient not-alternative facts about this mission during discussions of it at the NSC and were therefore demoted by President Bannon because they weren’t telling Der Trumper what he wanted to hear.

    Reply
  29. rikyrah says:
    February 2, 2017 at 1:49 pm

    Republicans Face a Tough Medicaid Dilemma
    KEVIN DRUM
    FEB. 1, 2017 6:39 PM

    ep. Phil Roe (R–Tenn.) is a member of the Republican Study Committee, the uber-conservative wing of House Republicans. A while back he got the assignment of coming up with a replacement plan for Obamacare, which he cheerfully admits was a difficult task: “I was asked to put together a plan that increased access [and] lowered costs but didn’t increase entitlements, so my hands were a bit tied,” he told Sarah Kliff in an interview yesterday. But she says the most surprising part of the interview was this:

    What I thought was going to be easy was I thought Medicaid, we’d just block-grant it to the states. That one actually is going to be a little harder than I thought. The reason is there are states like New York, states that expanded [Medicaid]. How do you cover that 10 or so million people on Medicaid?

    As Kliff notes, every Republican is on board with block-granting Medicaid. The reason is that, in practice, it pretty much guarantees a steady reduction in Medicaid spending, which opens up budget room for more tax cuts on the rich. What’s not to like?

    So what is Roe’s problem? Allow me to translate. If you block-grant Medicaid, you have to decide how big a grant each state gets. This would be based on how many Medicaid recipients each state has.

    And that presents a difficulty. You see, blue states have all taken advantage of Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, while red states haven’t. This means that blue states now have an outsize share of Medicaid recipients, and therefore would get outsize grants. Here’s a picture to demonstrate the problem using everyone’s favorite red and blue states:
    ………………………………………………..

    These are rough numbers, but they’re in the ballpark of what Medicaid looked like before and after Obamacare. Assuming a total block grant budget of roughly $350 billion, California’s grant increases from $55 billion to $58 billion thanks to Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion. Meanwhile, the share allocated to Texas declines from $25 billion to $22 billion.

    Reply
  30. rikyrah says:
    February 2, 2017 at 1:43 pm

    Why Republicans Might Fail to Repeal Obamacare
    by Nancy LeTourneau
    February 2, 2017 12:01 PM

    Since his inauguration, Donald Trump has been busy defending his legitimacy, making unfounded accusations about voter fraud, signing executive orders, approving botched terrorist raids, threatening federal workers and bullying foreign allies. Meanwhile, when it comes to Congress, not much is happening.

    Republican leaders made it clear that their first legislative priority was to repeal Obamacare. That got bogged down because they have no idea about how to replace it and are experiencing a backlash from constituents who fear losing their coverage. Lately the divisions in Republican ranks have been fueled by a controversy over whether to repeal or repair the law.

    Some Republicans in Congress are starting to talk more about trying to “repair” Obamacare, rather than simply calling for “repeal and replace.”

    There’s good reason for that.

    The repair language was discussed by Republicans during their closed-door policy retreat in Philadelphia last week as a better way to brand their strategy. Some of that discussion flowed from views that Republicans may not be headed toward a total replacement, said one conservative House lawmaker who didn’t want to be identified…

    Republicans are grappling with their party’s desire — and President Donald Trump’s promise — to dismantle Obamacare, as well as the political disaster that could ensue if millions of Americans lose coverage as a result of legislation.

    Reply
  31. rikyrah says:
    February 2, 2017 at 1:40 pm

    Philadelphia teacher starts crowdfunding campaign to “buy” Sen. Pat Toomey’s vote against Betsy DeVos

    — Select All (@selectall) February 2, 2017

    The Capitol switchboard number is 202-224-3121, and Sen. Toomey’s direct office line is 202-224-4254.

    Other district phone numbers:

    (610) 434-1444 – Allentown
    (814) 453-3010 – Erie
    (717) 782-3951 – Harrisburg
    (814) 266-5970 – Johnstown
    (215) 241-1090 – Philadelphia
    (412) 803-3501 – Pittsburgh
    (570) 941-3540 – Scranton

    Reply
  32. SouthernGirl2 says:
    February 2, 2017 at 1:27 pm

    #MuslimBan Please donate to the @ACLU. It’s for the soul of our country. Give what you can. We need their help.

    https://www.aclu.org/

    Reply
  38. rikyrah says:
    February 2, 2017 at 11:55 am

    Why Trump’s National Prayer Breakfast speech matters
    02/02/17 12:45 PM
    By Steve Benen

    Every year during Barack Obama’s presidency, the Democrat would make an appearance at the National Prayer Breakfast, where he’d deliver pensive, thought-provoking remarks about the depths of his Christian faith. And nearly every year, conservatives would express their outrage over the ideas the president challenged them to consider.

    Donald Trump is clearly a very different kind of president, and his remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast captured an almost unrecognizable perspective.

    For example, the Republican thought it’d be wise to reflect on his NBC reality show. “[W]e had tremendous success on ‘The Apprentice,’” Trump said, adding, “And they hired a big, big movie star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to take my place. And we know how that turned out. The ratings went down the tubes. It’s been a total disaster and Mark will never, ever bet against Trump again. And I want to just pray for Arnold if we can, for those ratings, OK?”

    Yes, the president used the National Prayer Breakfast to talk about television ratings for a reality show – which he remains the executive producer of – because everything at all times is about him and his career.

    Trump went on to use inspirational rhetoric such as, “The world is in trouble, but we’re going to straighten it out. OK? That’s what I do. I fix things. We’re going to straighten it out. Believe me. When you hear about the tough phone calls I’m having, don’t worry about it. Just don’t worry about it.”

    But there was a substantive element of the speech that probably mattered more than Trump’s embarrassing boasts:

    Reply
  43. rikyrah says:
    February 2, 2017 at 11:35 am

    Trump’s VA nominee at odds with Trump over privatization
    02/02/17 11:20 AM—UPDATED 02/02/17 11:34 AM
    By Steve Benen

    When it comes to choosing cabinet nominees, Donald Trump’s lineup has sent a plethora of nominees to the Senate. Some are odd, some are conventional, some are ridiculous, and a few are even qualified.

    But of all the president’s selections, the one that’s hardest to explain was one of his final choices. Three weeks ago, Trump, with the rest of his cabinet nearly complete, tapped David Shulkin to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. There’s no doubt that Shulkin is qualified and committed to the VA’s core missions, and he’s practically a shoo-in for confirmation.

    What’s notable about this, however, is that Trump spent a year and a half railing against the Obama administration’s treatment of veterans, but when it came time to pick a VA secretary, Trump picked the Obama administration’s undersecretary for health at the VA – making Shulkin the only top political appointee who’ll serve in both administrations.

    Complicating matters further, Shulkin seems to have no use for one of Trump’s key ideas on veterans’ care. The Washington Post reported yesterday:

    David Shulkin, President Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, said at his confirmation hearing Wednesday that he would seek “major reform and a transformation of VA” – but would not privatize the federal health care system for veterans.

    “There will be far greater accountability, dramatically improved access, responsiveness and expanded care options,” Shulkin told the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. “But the Department of Veterans Affairs will not be privatized under my watch.”

    Reply
  50. Ametia says:
    February 2, 2017 at 10:58 am

    SMGDH

    iv-2-untitled
    Trump and his daughter Ivanka depart for Dover Air Force Base from the South Lawn of the White House. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

    it-untitled
    President Trump boards Marine One for an unannounced trip to Dover Air Force Base yesterday afternoon to to pay tribute to William “Ryan” Owens, the Navy SEAL who died during a weekend raid in Yemen. He was the first U.S. service member killed in combat since Trump took office. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

    Reply
  52. Ametia says:
    February 2, 2017 at 10:51 am

    Liza, here’s your dose of Borowitz

    Trump Says He Heard Frederick Douglass Was Alive from Betsy DeVos

    WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—After raising eyebrows by suggesting that he believed that Frederick Douglass was still alive, Donald Trump revealed on Wednesday that everything he knew about Douglass had come from his Education Secretary nominee, Betsy DeVos.

    “Betsy told me all about Frederick Douglass,” Trump told reporters. “I think she’s going to be a fantastic Education Secretary. She really made Frederick Douglass come alive.”

    Before his breakfast meeting to mark Black History Month, Trump told DeVos, “Betsy, write down everything you know about black history so I can read it at the meeting. She took out a pen and did it in, like, three minutes. She’s fantastic.”

    http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/trump-says-he-heard-frederick-douglass-was-alive-from-betsy-devos?mbid=nl_020217%20Borowitz%20Newsletter%20(1)&CNDID=24441272&spMailingID=10352770&spUserID=MTMzMTgyNDUyMzAyS0&spJobID=1100162871&spReportId=MTEwMDE2Mjg3MQS2

    Reply
  54. rikyrah says:
    February 2, 2017 at 9:54 am

    EXCLUSIVE: Trump’s Supreme Court pick founded and led club called ‘Fascism Forever’ at his elite all-boys Washington prep school
    By Alana Goodman For Dailymail.com
    03:05 02 Feb 2017, updated 13:45 02 Feb 2017

    Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch founded and led a student group called the ‘Fascism Forever Club’ at his elite high school, DailyMail.com can reveal.

    The club was set up to rally against the ‘left-wing tendencies’ of his professors while attending a Jesuit all-boys preparatory high school near Washington D.C.

    The name may be inconvenient for a Supreme Court nominee facing a tough confirmation battle. However it also shows the depth of Gorscuch’s right-wing credentials – and his penchant for mischief while attending his exclusive prep school in the 1980s.

    President Donald Trump nominated Gorsuch, a 49-year-old U.S. appellate judge, to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Tuesday.

    Gorsuch founded the ‘Fascism Forever Club’ during his freshman year at Georgetown Preparatory, a now-$30,000-a-year private Jesuit school that is one of the most selective in the United States.

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      February 2, 2017 at 11:15 am

      Yep, any ties, to TRUMP, from anyone he nominates, selects, buddies around and pals around with will get TAGGED A FACIST, BIGOTED, RACIST, XENOPHOBIC, WHITE NATIONALIST.

      Need I go ON?

      Reply
  55. rikyrah says:
    February 2, 2017 at 9:52 am

    Team Trump took aim at a key layer of accountability
    02/02/17 10:40 AM
    By Steve Benen

    The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General announced late yesterday that it’s moving forward with an investigation into how Donald Trump’s Muslim ban was launched and implemented. The Washington Post noted that the probe, launched in response to congressional appeals and whistleblower complaints, will focus on “whether employees engaged in misconduct or failed to comply with court orders.”

    The story is a reminder about the importance of inspectors general – and why Trump World may not care for their work. The Post had a related report yesterday on aides to the new president taking aim at IG offices throughout the executive branch.

    An email from the Trump transition team on the evening of Jan. 13 instructed all transition team leaders to “reach out tonight and inform” the inspectors general in their agencies “that they are being held over on a temporary basis.”

    The email from Katie Giblin, a member of the presidential transition team, confirms a story The Post reported last week that inspectors general, who by bipartisan tradition have open-ended appointments regardless of party, had been told that they would be held over only on a temporary basis and that they should seek other employment.

    The email shows that the effort to replace the inspectors was not limited to a handful of agencies, but that it was intended to take aim at inspectors general across government departments.

    Note, this isn’t based on rumors, but rather, an actual email obtained by members of Congress.

    Reply
  56. rikyrah says:
    February 2, 2017 at 9:26 am

    Progressive activism takes its toll on congressional Republicans
    02/02/17 10:08 AM
    By Steve Benen
    There’s all kinds of compelling evidence that progressive activism, spurred by Donald Trump’s election, is stiffening Democratic spines on Capitol Hill. At the same time, it’s starting to have the opposite effect on their Republican colleagues.

    House Ways and Means Committee Kevin Brady (R-Texas), for example, scheduled an event in his district two weeks ago to discuss the Affordable Care Act, and he seemed eager to limit the audience to his allies. The gathering was held at a local Chamber of Commerce headquarters, it wasn’t announced to the public, and the congressman’s office said the point of the event was to hear from constituents facing “rising costs and loss of coverage and choice” because of “Obamacare.”

    As the Houston Chronicle reported, dozens of “skeptical and at times testy” locals showed up to express their vocal support for the health care reform law.

    There’s a lot of this going around. Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) recently snuck out the back of a library in order to steer clear of constituents who wanted to tell him not to take away their insurance. Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) faced a similar reaction during a town-hall event in Grand Rapids. TPM had a related report today out of Illinois.

    Rep. Peter Roskam’s (R-IL) office cancelled a meeting with constituents about Obamacare on Wednesday when a staffer for the congressman learned that a reporter was present, according to the Aurora Beacon-News.

    Constituent Sandra Alexander told the Beacon-News that she arranged the meeting about the Affordable Care Act with Roskam’s staff ahead of time and informed them that she would be bringing along a small group.

    But staffers cancelled the meeting before it could begin, ostensibly because there were members of the media present

    .
    In Virginia, meanwhile, Politico reports that Rep. Barbara Comstock (R) “stood up constituents over the weekend who attended two townhalls with questions about an Obamacare repeal and the Trump Administration’s travel ban.”

    Reply
    • rikyrah says:
      February 2, 2017 at 9:22 am

       Leaked Draft of Trump’s Religious Freedom Order Reveals Sweeping Plans to Legalize Discrimination
      If signed, the order would create wholesale exemptions for people and organizations who claim religious objections to same-sex marriage, premarital sex, abortion, and trans identity.
      By Sarah Posner
      YESTERDAY 7:11 PM

      A leaked copy of a draft executive order titled “Establishing a Government-Wide Initiative to Respect Religious Freedom,” obtained by The Investigative Fund and The Nation, reveals sweeping plans by the Trump administration to legalize discrimination.

      This article was reported in partnership with the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute.

      The four-page draft order, a copy of which is currently circulating among federal staff and advocacy organizations, construes religious organizations so broadly that it covers “any organization, including closely held for-profit corporations,” and protects “religious freedom” in every walk of life: “when providing social services, education, or healthcare; earning a living, seeking a job, or employing others; receiving government grants or contracts; or otherwise participating in the marketplace, the public square, or interfacing with Federal, State or local governments.”

      The draft order seeks to create wholesale exemptions for people and organizations who claim religious or moral objections to same-sex marriage, premarital sex, abortion, and trans identity, and it seeks to curtail women’s access to contraception and abortion through the Affordable Care Act. The White House did not respond to requests for comment, but when asked Monday about whether a religious freedom executive order was in the works, White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters, “I’m not getting ahead of the executive orders that we may or may not issue. There is a lot of executive orders, a lot of things that the president has talked about and will continue to fulfill, but we have nothing on that front now.”

      Language in the draft document specifically protects the tax-exempt status of any organization that “believes, speaks, or acts (or declines to act) in accordance with the belief that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, sexual relations are properly reserved for such a marriage, male and female and their equivalents refer to an individual’s immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy, physiology, or genetics at or before birth, and that human life begins at conception and merits protection at all stages of life.”

      The breadth of the draft order, which legal experts described as “sweeping” and “staggering,” may exceed the authority of the executive branch if enacted. It also, by extending some of its protections to one particular set of religious beliefs, would risk violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution.

      “This executive order would appear to require agencies to provide extensive exemptions from a staggering number of federal laws—without regard to whether such laws substantially burden religious exercise,” said Marty Lederman, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center and an expert on church-state separation and religious freedom.

      Reply
  58. rikyrah says:
    February 2, 2017 at 9:16 am

    The Long-Term Economic Wreckage of Trump’s Travel Ban
    by Anne Kim February 1, 2017 2:58 PM

    After weeks of silence, U.S. business leaders have become increasingly critical of President Donald Trump’s announced ban on refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries.

    “Trump’s actions… are so un-American it pains us all,” wrote Netflix CEO Reed Hastings in a Facebook post earlier this week, while Flickr co-founder Stewart Butterfield pronounced the ban “…gratuitously evil” in a Tweet. At the normally staid Goldman Sachs, CEO Lloyd Blankfein told employees in a voicemail that “[t]his is not a policy we support.”

    Corporate America has good reason to condemn Trump’s travel ban – it is a humanitarian travesty and an affront to American values. Moreover, its long-term impacts could wreak incalculable damage to the American economy.

    Much of the innovative energy in the United States that’s led to new jobs and economic growth has come from its immigrants. According to the 2016 Silicon Valley Index by the think tank Joint Venture, 37% of Silicon Valley residents are foreign born, including 50% of workers ages 25-44. Many of the tech world’s most prominent entrepreneurs are also immigrants, including South African-born Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX; Google’s Sergey Brin; and Israeli-born Safra Catz, now CEO of Oracle. In fact, finds the Kauffman Foundation, more than 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies in 2010 were founded by immigrants or the child of an immigrant.

    Yet Trump’s travel ban sends a broadly anti-immigrant signal to the rest of the world just as other nations are vying for – and winning – the best and brightest minds in the increasingly global market for talent. Already, the United States is slipping in its ability to attract and retain the world’s top workers. A 2015 report by the Business Roundtable, for instance, ranked the United States ninth out of tenth – after Germany, Australia, Singapore and other nations – in the friendliness of its policies toward high-skilled immigration.

    Trump’s continued lurch toward insularity, which includes his plans for a border wall as well as his ban on refugees, will only accelerate the flight of top-tier global talent to friendlier shores – a phenomenon that urban theorist Richard Florida noted as early as 2004 in an especially prescient piece for the Washington Monthly:

    Reply
  59. rikyrah says:
    February 2, 2017 at 9:14 am

    Chinatown’s South Side neighbors see surge in Asian-American residents
    By Marwa EltagouriContact Reporter
    Chicago Tribune

    On paper, the South Side neighborhoods of Bronzeville and Canaryville could not be more different.

    The first is named for the skin color of people who migrated to the area from the South, forming Chicago’s once-bustling “Black Metropolis” of urban African-American culture. The second might be named for the sparrows that populated the area, feeding off the refuse of the since-closed Union Stock Yard, which fueled the economy of the almost all-Irish working class neighborhood for nearly a century.

    Yet strip away their racial makeup and what surface are two neighborhoods rooted in their traditions, two enclaves that until recently seemed immune to the demographic changes transforming the neighborhoods around them. Bronzeville since the 1930s has remained a largely black community, and Canaryville, nearly 50 years after the stockyards closed, remains predominantly white.

    Now, the two neighborhoods share another common thread. They’ve started to diversify and are opening their gates to the country’s fastest-growing ethnic group: Asian-Americans.

    “I think a lot of Chinese people are starting to move into those areas block by block, by word-of-mouth, and living there because housing is more affordable. I think they consider themselves safer there than they (once thought they’d be). They’re definitely a community,” said Debbie Liu, community development coordinator at the Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community.

    Chicago’s greater Chinatown population is surging. Chinatown has seen its Asian residents increase by 30 percent between 2000 and 2010, and bordering neighborhoods have seen a rush of Asian families moving in. Bridgeport’s Asian-American population grew from 26 percent in 2000 to an average of 34 percent between 2010 and 2014, while in that same time period, McKinley Park’s grew from just under 8 percent to 19 percent, according to an analysis of census data.

    The rise in Asians can be attributed to a steady stream of Chinese immigrants moving to Chicago, as well as Chinese empty-nesters leaving their suburban homes for the city, in order to seam themselves into the Chinese community. Competitive housing in Chinatown and its surrounding neighborhoods has therefore forced Asians to settle farther south and farther east — in neighborhoods like Bronzeville and Canaryville, where neighbors and experts say they’ve created their own micro-communities.

    In Bronzeville, Asians now crowd the King Drive bus, which picks up and drops off families living in high-rise apartment complexes between 27th and 35th streets. On a sunny January day, Chinese international students studying at the Illinois Institute of Technology shopped among black residents at a nearby Jewel-Osco, and two older women, groceries in hand, had a lengthy conversation in Chinese outside Dunbar High School.

    ………………

    Siu, the real estate agent and restaurant owner, immigrated to the Chicago area with his family from China when he was 16. They first settled in Hoffman Estates, and then, seven years ago, Siu moved to Chinatown. It was at that time that he bought the restaurant near Canaryville with his brother, who had just returned from the Afghanistan War and needed work. He acknowledges he was anxious doing business in the area.

    For the next six years, he’d serve Canaryville customers in his restaurant and deliver to their houses. He began to understand the working-class neighborhood and its residents, some of whom would buy just one box of white rice, the only food they could afford for the day. Sometimes, customers would enter the restaurant yelling, upset about something with their order. But the next day, Siu said, they’d come back into the restaurant as though nothing had happened. Friendly as ever.

    …………….

    Siu bought his Canaryville house last year to be closer to his restaurant, and because he believed the neighborhood to be a good place to raise his young children. As a real estate agent, he now helps Chinese immigrants settle in Canaryville, knowing the neighborhood is relatively safe and more affordable than Chinatown.

    “Neighborhoods like McKinley Park, they’re not convenient for getting to Chinatown because Archer is backed up during traffic,” he said. “And the Latino families there don’t speak English. If a (Chinese) family has a problem, if their house is broken into, they can’t communicate with their neighbors … here, they speak English.”

    …………….

    The move to Bronzeville

    Bronzeville’s history is one of segregation, and its story is one of residents trying to make the best of a difficult situation.

    ……………….

    “There are those who definitely have continued to champion the importance of Bronzeville to black Chicago and black America.”

    For decades, Bronzeville held onto those black roots. Through the 1980s, the Douglas community area, which includes Bronzeville, was 86 percent black and less than 10 percent white, and had few Asian residents, according to Paral’s analysis.

    Now, the neighborhood is 70 percent black, but the Asian population has risen to 13 percent and 12 percent of the neighborhood is white.

    Mell Monroe, president of the Bronzeville Area Residents and Commerce Council, believes older Bronzeville families’ reactions to the changing demographics, and the potential move away from a historically black community, are mixed.

    “If you’re part of the working poor, or if you’re jobless, I guess many would be unhappy, and feel like they’re getting pushed out,” he said.

    In many ways, Bronzeville is the perfect location for a new Chinese immigrant. It’s an easy train ride to the Loop, it’s close to the lake and about a half-hour bus ride to Chinatown, depending on traffic.

    Reply
  60. rikyrah says:
    February 2, 2017 at 8:43 am

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 2/1/17
    Democrats forcing GOP to deal with confirmation system they broke

    David Leonhardt, writer and editor for The New York Times, talks with Rachel Maddow about why he thinks Democrats should accept that Republicans broke the confirmation system when they refused to giving Merrick Garland a hearing and should give Neil Gorsuch the same treatment.

    Reply
  61. rikyrah says:
    February 2, 2017 at 8:42 am

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 2/1/17
    Senator Booker: What’s happening with Trump is worthy of outrage
    Senator Cory Booker talks with Rachel Maddow about Democratic opposition to Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick, Neil Gorsuch, the concerns of his constituents about Trump, and the need to stay focused and resist fatigue in challenging Trump

    Reply
  62. rikyrah says:
    February 2, 2017 at 8:41 am

    Key questions surround Trump’s first military raid
    02/02/17 08:42 AM—UPDATED 02/02/17 09:35 AM
    By Steve Benen

    It’s been described as a mission in which “almost everything went wrong.” As we discussed yesterday, the first military raid ordered by Donald Trump was launched on Sunday in Yemen, and the plan was to acquire intelligence and equipment at an al Qaeda camp.

    What transpired was a fight that left three al Qaeda leaders dead, but also killed Chief Petty Officer William “Ryan” Owen, a member of SEAL Team 6, and Nawar al-Awlaki, an 8-year-old girl born in the United States whose father was an al Qaeda leader killed several years ago. A New York Times report noted, “There are allegations — which the Pentagon acknowledged on Wednesday night are most likely correct — that the mission also killed several civilians, including some children.”

    The piece added, “[A]lmost everything that could go wrong did.”

    The question now is who, if anyone, bears responsibility for the deadly incident. This Reuters report suggests some in the military are looking at the White House.

    U.S. military officials told Reuters that Trump approved his first covert counterterrorism operation without sufficient intelligence, ground support or adequate backup preparations.

    As a result, three officials said, the attacking SEAL team found itself dropping onto a reinforced al Qaeda base defended by landmines, snipers, and a larger than expected contingent of heavily armed Islamist extremists.

    Reply
  63. rikyrah says:
    February 2, 2017 at 8:39 am

    Congressional Republicans deliver for the oil industry
    02/02/17 09:21 AM
    By Steve Benen

    Big Oil had quite a day in Washington yesterday. Rex Tillerson, the former ExxonMobil CEO, was sworn in as the new Secretary of State, despite the fact that he has literally no experience in official diplomacy or foreign policy. The final vote was 56 to 43, with literally every Republican in the Senate supporting the nomination – including those who scoffed initially after Donald Trump announced Tillerson’s nomination last year.

    Just a few hours before the vote, Politico published an interesting piece about Tillerson personally having lobbied Congress during the Wall Street reform effort, urging lawmakers to reject a provision that “required drilling and mining companies to disclose any payments they make to foreign governments.”

    Tillerson reportedly argued at the time that forcing oil companies to disclose such payments “would put them at a competitive disadvantage. He also explained that the provision would make it especially difficult for Exxon to do business in Russia, where, as he did not need to explain, the government takes a rather active interest in the oil industry.”

    That, of course, was in 2010, when there were sizable Democratic majorities in both chamber of Congress, and when the ExxonMobil CEO’s pleas were largely ignored. The Wall Street reform legislation passed anyway, the provision was included in the bill, and some other countries soon after followed our lead and approved similar disclosure requirements for oil companies.

    Vox noted yesterday what’s become of this provision in the law.

    Using the little-known Congressional Review Act, the House GOP voted on Wednesday to kill an Obama-era regulation that would require publicly traded oil, gas, and mining companies to disclose any payments that they made to foreign governments, including taxes and royalties.

    The roll call on the vote is online here. Note that 98% of House Republicans voted to kill the disclosure requirement, while 98% of House Democrats voted to keep the requirement in place.

    Reply
  64. rikyrah says:
    February 2, 2017 at 8:34 am

    Did he REALLY go to the National Prayer Breakfast and talk about ratings for The Apprentice?

    Reply
  65. rikyrah says:
    February 2, 2017 at 4:44 am

    He also threatened the PRESIDENT of Mexico 😕😕😕

    Reply
  66. rikyrah says:
    February 2, 2017 at 4:43 am

    Good Morning, Everyone 😐😐😐

    Reply
  68. eliihass says:
    February 2, 2017 at 3:13 am

    Here’s a throwback to Turnbull’s and other MP’s responses to the Billy Bush tape…

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wfcnTCN2ZMU

    Here’s today after leaks about the phone call with the buffoon..

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=va7mICwH5fE

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LlQ8bQc_f_I

    Reply
  69. eliihass says:
    February 2, 2017 at 3:12 am

    So much for Mika and Joe Scarborough;s contention that Trump never said ‘Muslim ban’…

    This is Mika’s scripted and thoroughly choreographed interview with the buffoon’s 3rd wife as they sought for a reset and to help present her and the buffoon more positively 6 months ago…

    Here they discuss the Muslim ban and ‘illegal’ immigrants..

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XbvGxDmD3dY&feature=youtu.be

    Reply
  70. eliihass says:
    February 2, 2017 at 3:05 am

    Here’s a shell-shocked Turnbull being interviewed re: the US election results the day after on November 9…

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3IkiVYbHBUY

    Here’s a throwback to his and other MP’s responses to the Billy Bush tape…

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wfcnTCN2ZMU

    Here’s today after leaks about the phone call..

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=va7mICwH5fE

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LlQ8bQc_f_I

    Reply
    • eliihass says:
      February 2, 2017 at 2:10 am

      First Simon and Schuster gives this evil, soulless, hate-filled a**hole a book deal, and emboldened his white supremacist, gay-self-loathing, hate…this bloody Breitbart employed foreigner, arrogantly presumed he could now stroll into UC Berkeley with his racist evil filth, and East Bay folks told him not today – or ever – Satan…

      He’s lucky he even came out alive..

      Reply
    • Ametia says:
      February 2, 2017 at 9:37 am

      HA! Fires to send this mofo back to the pits of HELL where he belongs.

      Reply

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