StrangeSox

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Feb 2, 2017 -> 08:44 AM) There was also an 8 year old girl that was killed in that raid. Shot in the neck and left to bleed to death for hours. That 8 year old was also a US citizen QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 2, 2017 -> 08:46 AM) They knew we were coming, we were unprepared, we used osprey's which are loud as f*** and crash landed again. Huge f*** up yeah, and just to be clear, by "the whole situation" I mean the White House in general right now, not just this raid that went to s***. I don't know what things were like towards the end of Nixon's presidency, but new stories every day from inside sources that paint the administration as incredibly incompetent and petty doesn't seem normal.

Sounds like someone needs to be punched in the face again

QUOTE (G&T @ Feb 2, 2017 -> 07:13 AM) There were sources saying your position on the preparation is wrong. I know the press has had a recent history of not doing its job, but that needs to be reported. It seems pretty unprecedented for the military to be throwing the executive branch under the bus for such a bad f***up like that. That, plus all of the leaks coming out of the White House, make the whole situation seem even more chaotic under the surface.

QUOTE (Nixon @ Feb 1, 2017 -> 08:24 PM) There is no line. It's going to be a rough 2 years, a rough 8 if the Democratic party does it's normal thing. I'm pretty sure if he turned around and shot Paul Ryan in the face during the SOTU he'd be impeached. The line is somewhere between "saying extremely stupid and probably dangerous things" and "murdering the speaker of the house on live television," but definitely a lot closer to the latter.

I honestly wonder what the hypothetical impeachment/25th amendment line is.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 1, 2017 -> 03:32 PM) Tillerson was confirmed as SoS, 56-43. http://www.npr.org/2017/02/01/512856220/tr...tate-department That's one dangerously unqualified and likely heavily conflicted nominee confirmed.

You'll also probably notice that the same people saying "why do you care about immigrants when HOMELESS VETERANS!?" curiously don't ever bring up homeless veterans in any context other than as a deflection.

Tillerson was confirmed as SoS, 56-43. http://www.npr.org/2017/02/01/512856220/tr...tate-department That's one dangerously unqualified and likely heavily conflicted nominee confirmed.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Feb 1, 2017 -> 01:25 PM) Maybe because we didn't want it then, and we don't want it now. Get back to complaining about emails

QUOTE (greg775 @ Feb 1, 2017 -> 01:19 PM) Not taking sides but didn't Trump run on these issues? Why is everybody so surprised there's a wall coming and a ban on immigrants? I thought he ran on these issues. And he won the election. So why the outrage now? America elected the guy on these issues. This is exactly what he ran on, but I think some people* are shocked at just how quickly and incompetently they're implementing all of it. *this includes me

QUOTE (ChiliIrishHammock24 @ Feb 1, 2017 -> 02:46 AM) I checked again today, and the cheapest tickets through American Airlines now are $430. So I think I did well. Groom thinks we can get our AirBNB place at the MGM for about $120 a person for the 3 nights. So we are talking under $300 for my flight + board, with access to MGM pools. My stress about this has changed to excitement, for sure. Spirit is one of those nickle and dime airlines, so keep that in mind when you're packing. They charge for carry-on and checked bags, so pack light.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 1, 2017 -> 09:56 AM) That categorical stance is new in the nation’s history, the professors, Robin Bradley Kar and Jason Mazzone, wrote in a study published online by The New York University Law Review. The Senate has never before transferred a president’s appointment power in comparable circumstances to an unknown successor, they said — an argument that many Democratic lawmakers have also made. In every one of the 103 earlier Supreme Court vacancies, the professors wrote, the president was able to both nominate and appoint a replacement with the Senate’s advice and consent. This did not always happen on the first try, they wrote, but it always happened. “There really is something unique about the position Republican senators are taking with respect to the Scalia vacancy,” said Professor Mazzone, who teaches at the University of Illinois. “You really cannot find any single comparable case,” he said. “We really did not find any precedent for the idea, notwithstanding the Senate’s very broad powers in this area, that a sitting president could be denied outright the authority to offer up a nominee who would receive evaluation through normal Senate processes.” https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/14/us/polit...rland.html?_r=0 That's a good reminder that we've already had a constitutional crisis. Our system is fairly unique and is fragile in a lot of ways. It relies heavily on norms and cooperation, both of which have largely been overrun in recent history. We may only end up with a functional government in times of one-party rule.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 1, 2017 -> 10:03 AM) *Spits out same arguments that people did 60 years ago, 100 years ago, 150 years ago* "But NOW it's different!" Nazi sympathizers and antisemites from the 30's (which included lots of non-German Fascist Fans) are why we must ban Muslims today! Make America White Again!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 1, 2017 -> 09:45 AM) This is the dumbest reason yet. It is a cycle, which means it is always going on in some stage. A cycle, by definition, is a never ending circle. It's also something that was pulled out of thin air. There wasn't any sort of norm that Presidents don't get appointments in the last 25% of their term.

Brett, do you honestly believe that the Republicans didn't engage in obstructionism over the past 8 years?

Trump filed his candidacy for 2020 hours after his inauguration. I guess that means we're in an election cycle and he shouldn't get to choose? This whole "in an election cycle" was something invented by Republicans to steal a SCOTUS seat. QUOTE (brett05 @ Feb 1, 2017 -> 09:34 AM) What the Democrats are threatening is obstructionism. This isn't a point of negotiation and the Republicans need to finally grow a spine and stop bending to whatever the Democrats want like they did thru the eight years of President Obama and make a stand. Garland was not selected. Get over it. We live in separate realities.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 1, 2017 -> 09:10 AM) Yes, frankly it's not replacing Scalia that worries me it's replacing RBG. Replacing Scalia with a 49 year old Scalia rather than a 49 year old RBG still really sucks, though.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Feb 1, 2017 -> 08:25 AM) I know, it's just weird to hear. I also don't think he considers himself a Leninist. I saw the other day someone call him a Leninist Communist. No. He just liked how Lenin used a Vanguard party to tear an old system down. I'm sure outside of that he thinks Lenin was the devil. Right, he's not following Lenin's doctrine other than "smash the state and rebuild in your own vision." But I get LH's reference, and it provided the opportunity for a Simpsons Commie-Nazi reference, so ultimately I'm okay with it. Bannon seems more like a combo of ethnic nationalism and anarcho-capitalism. Smash the entire state, rebuild a ~truly free~ society (non-whites need not apply).

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Feb 1, 2017 -> 08:14 AM) Leninist Nazi? Bannon is a Nazi, and he has described himself as a "Leninist" in that he wants to completely tear down the system to rebuild his vision (ethnic nationalism) in its place. LH is right when he says that this pick is what we could have expected out of a Jeb or Rubio or any other Republican.

QUOTE (Brian @ Feb 1, 2017 -> 07:12 AM) What needs to change about the vetting process? It's a lengthy year and a half long process where no terrorists have gotten through. What am I missing? Absolutely nothing. The idea that we "don't know what we get" with refugees is pure fiction.

Jerry Falwell jr. To head task force on federal higher education policy. Falwell runs the conservative fundamentalist creationist liberty university, and has talked about allowing concealed carry on colleges so that he can "end those Muslims." http://www.chronicle.com/article/Jerry-Fal...He-Will/239062/

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jan 31, 2017 -> 04:58 PM) I guess I'll be the one to say it, I don't disagree with us temporarily stopping and reassessing our vetting process. What I disagree with is how we went about it and how unsmooth and undiplomatic the entire process was. That said, the statement made by Rudy Guilani regarding his order, was terrifying. The issue with this is that it assumes there was some sort of problem that needed to be addressed that this ban helps with. Instead, it only hurts our country's safety, as explained in this dissent channel letter signed by about 900 state department officials. https://www.google.com/amp/mobile.reuters.c...android-verizon A trump supporter in Quebec city killed more Muslims since that order was issued than the total number of people killed by immigrants to this country by everyone who came from the targeted countries since 1975. And remember that this order went far beyond consideration just for new refugees. You couple this with the earlier directive for DHS to publish a regular report detailing all of the crimes committed by immigrants, the draft orders to deport any and all legal immigrants who receive some sort of aid and charge their us sponsor, the idiotic wall, and you get a very dark picture.

More on the draft immigration orders being considered

Feds detain Katy High School student from Jordan following President Trump's immigration ban

And in more depressing news, 49% of Americans actually support Trump's Muslim Ban.