caulfield12

Six dead and counting....had Quebecois accent....speculation they were Sunnis, as "allahu akbar" was supposedly heard audibly, at least two shooters, as many as 12 others hit or targeted (at least one arrest has been made)

https://www.yahoo.com/style/ivanka-trump-dr...-202610922.html Let them eat cake...Marie Antoinette, errr Ivanka, should have thought first before forcing this Camelot 2 imagery on everyone

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 29, 2017 -> 12:50 PM) G&T, I believe the second part of your statement is correct. I havent read it entirely, but it appears that it is a limited stay. Likely any lawsuit in this matter is going to be limited to those already granted some sort of recognition or those already in the US. That's why separate lawsuits involving the Establishment Clause and Civil Rights Act of 1964/65 are being brought into "general challenges" of the whole shebang...and court commentators like Jeffrey Toobin will be needed to explain this messin layman's terms.

Administration officials also defended the process Saturday. They said the people who needed to be briefed ahead of time on the plane were briefed and that people at the State Department and DHS who were involved in the process were able to make decisions about who to talk and inform about and inform about this (including the Office of Legal Counsel, or OLC). Bannon and Miller were running point on this order and giving directives regarding green cards, according to a Republican close to the White House. But even after the Friday afternoon announcement, administration officials at the White House took several hours to produce text of the action until several hours after it was signed. Adviser Kellyanne Conway even said at one point it was not going to be released before eventually it did get sent out. Administration officials also seemed unsure at first who was covered in the action, and a list of impacted countries was only produced later on Friday night, hours after the President signed the document at the Pentagon. President Donald Trump's decision to reorganize the National Security Council in a way that removes the director of intelligence and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from always attending the principals' committee is "stone cold crazy," former National Security Adviser Susan Rice said Sunday. Rice retweeted another Twitter user, P.E. Juan, who said: "Trump loves and trusts the military so much he just kicked them out of the National Security Council and put a Nazi in their place." Rice, President Barack Obama's national security adviser, was reacting to an executive order signed by Trump that said that the head of DNI and the nation's most senior military officer would be invited to attend the security meetings "where issues pertaining to their responsibilities and expertise are to be discussed." "This is stone cold crazy. After a week of crazy. Who needs military advice or intell to make policy on ISIL, Syria, Afghanistan, DPRK?" Rice tweeted, with DPRK referring to North Korea. http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/29/politics/sus...nnon/index.html

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jan 29, 2017 -> 09:43 AM) We heard similar things about Beck, I'll back Caulfield up on this one. The difference like Q said is people thought Hansen had a shot to be the 1 overall where as Beck was going to be more of a top 10 guy. Hansen also seems to have much better stuff so while I see where Caulfield is coming from they are very different players. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1081432...ber-one-overall Pretty high ratio of hit and miss here...including two players from GSU. Who would have thunk that Georgia Southern would have two of the top draft prospects heading into the 2012 season? Slugging outfielder Victor Roache may get most of the attention, but it's right-hander Chris Beck that could be going higher on draft day. Beck currently ranks behind only Appel among the top college arms, and with a strong, consistent season in 2012, he could give the Stanford ace a run for his money. Beck was excellent in 2011. He thrived as the team's Friday night starter, accounting for a quarter of the team's win total with nine victories. He also posted a 3.23 ERA in 19 starts and struck out a team-high 109 batters in 103 innings. At 6'3" and 220 pounds, Beck has a perfect frame. His fastball is an above-average pitch, sitting in the low-to-mid 90s, sometimes scraping the 96-97 mph range. His slider and his changeup both improved drastically over the course of the 2011 season, with the former showing potential as a plus offering. He has also shown well during the summer, pitching incredibly well (2-3, 2.12 ERA, 41 strikeouts) in the Cape Cod League. Beck has looked sharp in his first two outings of the 2012 campaign, posting one victory while holding down a 2.08 ERA.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/stories-to-watch...-100030101.html In an interview with Yahoo News after the election, Taylor listed some of the campaign promises he most wished to see carried out by the Trump administration, including, “Building a wall to keep out illegals, sending home all illegals, taking a very hard look at Muslims, ending sanctuary cities, putting an end to birthright citizenship.” Trump may not be motivated by their same desire to establish and safeguard a white national identity against the perceived threat of multiculturalism, but Taylor, Spencer and Co. recognize such policies as building a wall on the Mexico border or a temporary ban on immigrants from some majority-Muslim countries as opportunities to limit the flow of nonwhite immigrants into the country. Alt-right leaders would like to see Trump take his proposals even further. According to ThinkProgress, during a press conference at NPI’s November gathering, Spencer outlined a few of the six policy proposals his think tank plans to release over the next year, which, he said, “we hope will directly impact a Trump administration.” Among the policies Spencer reportedly has in mind are a 50-year “break on all immigration, particularly non-European immigration” to the United States, as well as a plan to dissolve NATO and replace it with a new military alliance between the U.S., Europe and Russia. After the election, Taylor outlined his own vision for the future of the country in an interview with WNYC’s Bob Garfield. Deporting undocumented Mexicans and banning Muslim immigration, as Trump has proposed, are just the first steps, he explained. “The ultimate goal is to have at least a portion of the United States where whites are the recognized majority and in which their culture is recognized as the dominant culture and where they can live free from the embrace of people unlike themselves,” Taylor said. “And I believe that that can be achieved through voluntary separation.” Pressed on how, exactly, such a scenario would navigate the equal protection clause guaranteed by the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, as well as the several other federal anti-discrimination laws, Taylor seemed to suggest that the latter, at least, could be subject to change. “The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is not part of the Constitution,” he said, noting that before the landmark legislation was passed, “it was perfectly legal for a private operator to discriminate in his place of business, in his choice of associates.” Taylor expressed a desire to return the country to its pre-civil rights state, arguing that “private individuals should have the right to discriminate for good reasons, bad reasons or no reasons at all.” http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/29/politics/don...x.html?adkey=bn White House discussing asking foreign visitors for social media info and cell phone contacts (Fwiw, this is what the military dictatorship/junta in Thailand is now doing w/ foreign visitors and permanent residents, as well as trying to track their internet usage and building a "great firewall" just like here in China to control access to outside information

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 29, 2017 -> 08:38 AM) They are too spineless to oppose the party. The threat of losing their support and jobs is too much for them to support what's right. And that's where we are with our government. There has only really been ONE that was overtly critical. "This is ridiculous," Dent, R-Pa., told The Washington Post. "I guess I understand what his intention is, but unfortunately the order appears to have been rushed through without full consideration. You know, there are many, many nuances of immigration policy that can be life or death for many innocent, vulnerable people around the world." Two Christian families were sent back on a 18-hour flight, an Allentown relative told NBC 10. Dent urged the Trump administration to reverse his executive order. The Assails' relatives -- two brothers, their wives and two children -- were not refugees. They are reportedly Christian and had obtained visas and green cards months ago, with plans to obtain American citizenship. They planned to live in Allentown, which has a large Syrian population and has been a landing spot for refugees. "This family was sent home despite having all their paperwork in order," said Dent, who didn't endorse Trump in last year's presidential election campaign. "So this 90-day ban could imperil the lives of this family and potentially others, and it's unacceptable, and I urge the administration to halt enforcement of this order until a more thoughtful and deliberate policy can be reinstated."

https://www.dni.gov/index.php/about/leaders...nce-integration With Clapper out, the two principal positions are unfilled currently. Michael Dempsey is acting DNI. With someone as experienced as Dan Coats in the Senate (and w/ foreigm relations), you'd think they are just waiting for his confirmation? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Dunford Dunford was expected to stay on as JCS head, and has worked closely with Mattis at different points in his career. But that won’t be true. In fact, Mattis’ anti-Iran animus and his often over-the-top description of its “malign influence” places him at odds with a number of officers on the Pentagon’s Joint Staff—most notably, with Joseph “Fighting Joe” Dunford, the current Joint Chiefs chairman, who also happened to be chief of staff to Mattis when Mattis was the commander of the 1st Marine Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom. To have a smooth operation at the Pentagon, “Fighting Joe” will have to get along with a man he once saluted—and Mattis will have to respect Dunford’s role as the president’s chief military adviser, even when the two disagree on key military questions. The two are not only friends, they also fought side by side in the same war, but the issue seems in doubt—and the doubt starts with whether Iran is the threat that Mattis thinks it is. Somewhere in Fighting Joe’s office is a thick volume labeled “National Military Strategy.” While the document has not been finalized, it details the military’s thinking on the threats facing the U.S., and how the military plans to respond to them. The most important part of the NMS is its five-part “Annex,” which lists what the U.S. military, and Dunford, believes are America’s greatest threats, what several senior military officers recently described to me as “the four-plus-one”: Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and (the “plus one”), “VEOs”—violent extremist organizations. The NMS contradicts Mattis’ worldview. The gravest threat to America, according to the document, is not “Iran, Iran, Iran,” but “Russia, Russia, Russia.” Dunford has emphasized this in public testimony, but not without some disagreement among his top officers, who head up the powerful Joint Staff, a military headquarters that provides the JCS chairman with strategic direction. Select Joint Staff officers, I was recently told by a ranking senior member of the staff, have pointed out to Dunford that while Russia remains the most dangerous threat to the U.S. (because of its nuclear arsenal) it is not the most likely threat. The most likely threats are the VEOs—like ISIS. Iran comes in at Number 3.

It's going to be impossible to live up to the Cubs' roughly 75% success rate. It has almost been unreal. Normally, you're lucky to be hitting at 40% with major (Top 100/150) prospects.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 29, 2017 -> 06:34 AM) We've gotten in a time machine and gone back 50 years. I'm shocked at what's going on here. It's very reminiscent of the first stages of the nazi party. Well, that would be the height of the Civil Rights movement...moving to the Vietnam protests, riots all across the country in 1967-68, calamitous Democratic National Convention in Chicago w/ Daley, assasinations of MLK and JFK. Then the abrupt change from JFK/LBJ to Nixon. The better parallels are the America First/Lindbergh movement and McCarthyism. Executive Disorder...Inside the confusion of the Trump executive order and travel ban...White House overruled DHS, everyone unclear or not notified until the day of the EO http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/28/politics/don...-ban/index.html Trump's unilateral moves, which have drawn the ire of human rights groups and prompted protests at US airports, reflect the President's desire to quickly make good on his campaign promises. But they also encapsulate the pitfalls of an administration largely operated by officials with scant federal experience. It wasn't until Friday -- the day Trump signed the order banning travel from seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days and suspending all refugee admission for 120 days -- that career homeland security staff were allowed to see the final details of the order, a person familiar with the matter said. The result was widespread confusion across the country on Saturday as airports struggled to adjust to the new directives. In New York, two Iraqi nationals sued the federal government after they were detained at John F. Kennedy International Airport, and 10 others were detained as well. In Philadelphia, a Syrian family of six who had a visa through a family connection in the US was placed on a return flight to Doha, Qatar, and Department of Homeland Security officials said others who were in the air would be detained upon arrival and put back on a plane to their home country. The policy team at the White House developed the executive order on refugees and visas, and largely avoided the traditional interagency process that would have allowed the Justice Department and homeland security agencies to provide operational guidance, according to numerous officials who spoke to CNN on Saturday. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and Department of Homeland Security leadership saw the final details shortly before the order was finalized, government officials said. Friday night, DHS arrived at the legal interpretation that the executive order restrictions applying to seven countries -- Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan and Yemen -- did not apply to people with lawful permanent residence, generally referred to as green card holders.

President* Donald Trump shook up the organization of his National Security Council meetings, Time Magazine White House correspondent Zeke Miller reported, Saturday. The change effectively placed Breitbart editor, spiritual leader of the Alt-Right movement, and Trump’s chief propagandist and political adviser, Stephen Bannon, onto a permanent position in National Security Council meetings. The executive order outlined who would be on the “Principals Committee” or the PC of the NSC. The memo included “the Assistant to the President and Chief Strategist,” who is Bannon. It strangely did not include the Director of National Intelligence, or the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Committee will be Chaired by the National Security Adviser, who is Mike Flynn, a man under investigation for his links to Russia, and for calling Russian officials 5 times the day President Barack Obama ordered several Russian officials to leave the country in retaliation for Russia’s hacking of the DNC. Miller compared the arrangement to the arrangement of the NSC under President Obama, which included all the principals of national security, including the DNI and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, but did not include any political advisers. http://reverbpress.com/politics/trump-adds...n-joint-chiefs/

We all heard the same about Beck coming out of Georgia Southern (projected to go 1-1 to 1-5)...but hopefully Hansen's the real deal. And Basabe should the next position prospect to pop up on that list.

https://www.crowdrise.com/donating-to-syria...draiser/kalpenn Kal Penn (Harold & Kumar, Designated Survivor) has already raised over $160k since yesterday in the name of fighting Steve Bannon and this random internet tool who tweeted to Penn (who's Indian-American) "you don't belong in this country you fuc*ing joke." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kal-pe...4b017637794bb0c Victoria (Texas) mosque burned down early Sat morning.... https://www.yahoo.com/news/texas-mosque-des...-161902098.html VICTORIA, Texas (AP) — An early-morning fire Saturday destroyed a Texas mosque that was a target of hatred several years ago and experienced a burglary just a week ago. A clerk at a convenience store spotted smoke and flames billowing from the Islamic Center of Victoria at around 2 a.m. and called the fire department. "It's sad to stand there and watch it collapse down, and the fire was so huge," Shahid Hashmi, the Islamic center's president, said. "It looks completely destroyed."

Donnelly's order does not appear to interfere with most of Trump's directive, since the judge only moved to protect a limited number of individuals who were already on or were about to board flights to the U.S. when Trump signed his measure. Now, such travelers will likely be blocked from boarding flights in the first place. The legal battle is now expected to move to a series of individual cases filed in New York, Chicago and elsewhere Saturday, where immigrants will be seeking to be released from detention to travel or settle in the U.S. ACLU National Immigration Law Center Southern Poverty Law Center Asian Law Caucus Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights MALDEF The Asian American Justice Center LatinoJustice PRLDEF NDLON

Cynical view: Trump/admin already envisioned the courts would overrule, but he could still claim to have followed through on his campaign promises, win/win for his base. Judge Ann Donnelly, 57 Donnelly received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1981 from the University of Michigan. She received a Juris Doctor in 1984 from the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University. From 1984 to 2009, she was a prosecutor in the New York County District Attorney's Office. From 1997 to 2005, she served as Senior Trial Counsel and from 2005 to 2009, she served as Chief of the Family Violence and Child Abuse Bureau. From 2009 to 2015, she served as a Judge of the New York State Court of Claims. Concurrent to her service on the Claims Court, she has served on the Bronx County Supreme Court, a Special Term for Election Matters, the Kings County Supreme Court and served on the New York County Supreme Court.[1][2] On November 20, 2014, President Obama nominated Donnelly to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, to the seat vacated by Judge Sandra L. Townes, who took senior status on May 1, 2015.[3] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Donnelly The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, aimed to end earlier quota systems that gave preference to immigrants from European nations. As David Bier of the libertarian Cato Institute argues, this law prevents immigrants from being discriminated against based upon “the person’s race, sex, nationality, place of birth or place of residence.” If Trump wants a ban on entry from these countries — even temporarily — he needs Congress to pass that law, Bier argues. Trump is relying upon a 1952 law that allows president to “suspend the entry” of “any class of aliens” if they disadvantage the United States. But Bier and other legal scholars believe the 1965 law supersedes that right. “The 1965 law is clear,” said legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of the law school at the University of California at Irvine. “The law prohibits discrimination based on national origin. This is discrimination based on national origin.” The ACLU is also considering crafting a new challenge arguing that the executive order violates the establishment clause of the Constitution, which prevents the government from favoring one religion over another.

http://www.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/th...flight-2901615/ I wish those same Republicans would look at everything that FDR went through to fight for a new world order back in 1943. Hamilton vividly describes how, in the midst of directing military strategy in the largest conflict in human history, Roosevelt always kept his eye on postwar planning. With Congress and the public still suspicious of American involvement, he juggled various plans and proposals to make sure that this time, unlike after World War I, America would help keep the peace. He needed Churchill’s and Stalin’s support, which is why he kept trekking around the globe to meet them at summits. (To understand the strain on FDR, keep in mind that Roosevelt’s trip to meet Churchill at Casablanca in 1943 entailed a long train ride to Miami, a 10-hour flight to Trinidad, a nine-hour flight to Brazil, a 19-hour flight to Gambia and finally another nine-hour flight to Casablanca. All this for a man who was paralyzed, had a failing heart and had not taken a plane ride since 1932.) We're not just undoing Obama in 9 days, we're undoing the pillars that were put in place in 1943/44 to create an interconnected world of alliances which would bring about 71 years of lasting peace and expanding world incomes. https://fareedzakaria.com/2017/01/27/fdr-st...ming-to-an-end/ FDR started the long peace, under Trump it might be coming to an end In an essay in the New York Review of Books, Jessica T. Mathews points out that since 1945, Americans of both political parties have accepted three principles. First, that America’s security is enhanced by its broad and deep alliances around the world. Second, that an open global economy is not a zero-sum game but rather allows the United States to prosper and others to grow. And finally, though there was debate about whether dictatorships were to be “tolerated, managed, or confronted,” in the end there was a faith in democracy and its advantages. Mathews notes that for 30 years, Trump has attacked these views as costly naivete that has allowed the world to rip off America.

Dent in Pennslvania is the ONLY one to be really outspoken so far in the entire GOP Congress... https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/28/us/polit...p-news&_r=0 Ban likely to increase terrorist threat, not reduce it Can't wait to see the spin going on during Sunday morning political news shows...

In 1980, Ronald Reagan proposed an open border with Mexico. Let’s add this to some other Reagan quotes that illustrate my point very well, shall we? “I supported this bill. I believe in the idea of amnesty for those who have put down roots and who have lived here even though sometime back they may have entered illegally.” Oct. 21, 1984 debate on immigration bill being considered by Congress “We have consistently supported a legalization program which is both generous to the alien and fair to the countless thousands of people throughout the world who seek legally to come to America. The legalization provisions in this act will go far to improve the lives of a class of individuals who now must hide in the shadows, without access to many of the benefits of a free and open society. Very soon many of these men and women will be able to step into the sunlight and, ultimately, if they choose, they may become Americans.” Nov. 6, 1986 signing statement, Immigration Reform and Control Act http://samuel-warde.com/2014/11/ronald-reagan-open-border/ Reagans calls for an open border and for undocumented/illegal immigrants to all get work permits Just a handful of GOPers come out against the ban, no senators speak out, Ryan reverses himself https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/pa...m=.5267ea704729 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix...pm_politics_pop

Whereas Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and UAE do...And here we thought the GOP was against lawyers/lawsuits? Trump has certainly enriched the legal community on the last 9 days already, bigly! https://www.yahoo.com/news/bill-maher-says-...-163338484.html Bill Maher blames Dem losses on PC culture, apologizing for everyone and everything... https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-bans-refugees...-204455380.html Alarms remain over homegrown extremists (but that's okay, they're just angry white males venting about the government) So we are supported by the Czech Republic, where reporters intentionally trip fleeing immigrants (https://scallywagandvagabond.com/2015/09/petra-laszlo-hungary-reporter-trips-fleeing-syrian-refugees/) and blonde models like his ex-wife Ivana abound...and Russia, which is now passing a law to protect men from domestic violence accusations except when there is overwhelming physical evidence. Amazing.

CNN's headline right now is "Shockwaves" about the immigration ban andcreaction around the world...an America that doesn't lead is scaring the hell out of everyone. http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/28/politics/don...tion/index.html Ayoub said his group has already fielded calls from people around the world impacted by Trump's executive order, including from students and legal US residents who are citizens of the seven countries banned by Trump and are now stuck overseas. He said his organization fielded a call from a student who was blocked in Turkey from traveling to the US and cannot return to her studies in the US as well as other students on international trips who now cannot return to the US. Ayoub said the executive order "is causing a really destructive impact on the Arab and Muslim community and on the Iranian community in the US." ... The International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian aid and refugee assistance group, called Trump's decision to suspend refugee admissions "harmful and hasty" and noted that the US refugee program "makes it harder to get to the United States as a refugee than any other route." Refugees must undergo an extensive vetting process -- it typically takes more than two years to be admitted to the US as a refugee. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldvi...m=.3222b8772960 Nobel Prize winner Malala "heartbroken" Trump closing the door on children fleeing violence.... Many foreign leaders said they were aghast over the new US policy. Iran answered in kind by saying it would ban Americans from entering the country, calling Trump's action insulting. But the US leader did get backing from Czech President Milos Zeman, who praised him for being "concerned with the safety of his citizens."

What better way to kick off the day when you still have to prepare to talk to Abe, Merkel, Putin, Hollande, Turnbull... 3h3 hours ago Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump ...dwindling subscribers and readers.They got me wrong right from the beginning and still have not changed course, and never will. DISHONEST 7,014 40.5K Donald J. Trump 3h3 hours ago Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump Thr coverage about me in the @nytimes and the @washingtonpost gas been so false and angry that the times actually apologized to its..... 6,172 31.2K Donald J. Trump 3h3 hours ago Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump The failing @nytimes has been wrong about me from the very beginning. Said I would lose the primaries, then the general election. FAKE NEWS!

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/sena...ional-president Bernie Sanders calls Trump "a delusional president," starts mapping out grassroots strategy to fight back

Nikki Haley is "taking down names" (only for "for those who don't have the US' back) at the UN....seems she has been sent there to deliberately stir things up. New U.S. ambassador Nikki Haley in her first visit to the United Nations put U.S. allies on notice: "For those that don’t have our back, we’re taking names." After making made the remarks to reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York, the new U.S. envoy to the international organization did not take questions about what exactly she meant, saying only, "We will make points to respond to that accordingly." "This is a time of strength, this is a time of action, this is a time of getting things done," Haley added. Her remarks came three days after her nomination to represent the U.S. at the United Nations was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and two days after her visit to President Donald Trump at the White House. A senior administration official confirmed to ABC News earlier this week that the president is considering executive action that could cut U.S. funding to the United Nations as well as U.S. participation in international treaties. Trump Considering Executive Actions Targeting UN, International Treaties "This administration is prepared and ready to go in, to have me go in, look at the U.N., and everything that’s working we’re going to make it better. Everything that’s not working, we’re going to try and fix. And anything that seems to be obsolete and not necessary, we’re going to do away with," Haley said today. "But this is a time of fresh eyes, new strength, new vision, and a great day at the US UN." https://gma.yahoo.com/us-envoy-puts-un-alli...topstories.html Cory Booker goes after Trump, wonders why the media is treating him with "kid gloves" https://www.yahoo.com/news/cory-booker-call...-154037623.html

Just saw him as a priest/confessor in "Jackie" w/ Natalie Portman.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 04:38 PM) I totally agree with you on the bolded in the first post and that's really all you had to say and I am with you. Congress and bipartisanship is a broken system. I certainly don't act like the President can control the economy or all legislation. It goes without saying that it's incredibly hard for a president to get things done when you have congress split and battling with each other. The bolded in the second post basically is expressing the same idea but it's just unnecessary. Congress is a flawed system as you depicted in your first post. You have two opposing forces that disagree. Simple as that. I don't see the need to add that one is "insane." To say Congress is inept suffices but when you call a group ~250 people insane because they don't agree with your side of the aisle then your argument loses some of its validity. It takes two to fight. They'll fight until this democracy crumbles but it's not a matter of whether you support the left or right, they're both penetrated by special interests. They're both running on corporate money. They both have very little concern for the American people. It's a business and they're all complicit whether they're on your team on or not. To act as if one is superior to the other just emboldens this bastardized form of democracy we call our government. The rest not directed at bmags but just my opinion. Where I take issue with Pres. Obama is on things that aren't big public spectacles. Pres Obama running on the idea that he is a constitutional lawyer and all for freedom of information and then acting the way he did in office was a total deviation from what he sold himself as and a complete departure for what is good for the individual Americans. His expansion of the drone program and the murdering of all the civilians in the Middle East was a total deviation from the centrist, dove he purported himself to be. Then his administration had the gall to not even acknowledge the word drone for years while they're using cell phone data to blow up Yemeni's who may or may not be militants. That's not of public interest. That's not of Congressional importance. That's on him and his administration. Nobody on this site had their arms up in air or agreed with me when I brought it up in the past. I thought the left was suppose to be anti-war? I'll be interested to see the reactions if/when Trump (and he likely will) levies the same powers. But to the point that nobody talks about the big things once they're done - Nobody is talking about the loss of rights for Americans or the expansion of power. Nobody was talking about his use of the Executive order. His actions as President went beyond what the position was supposed to entail. He created precedent and brought a wider range of powers to the executive branch. That's a problem. All of these changes are available for Trump to exploit and the people who weren't even acknowledging it during Pres. Obama's administration are going to have a big problem when Trump flexes the newly afforded powers. Frankly, no one knows what Trump is actually capable of, but from a legal standpoint, Trump's capabilities as President are more diverse than any President before him because of changes and precedent brought on by the Obama Administration. That's not a bipartisan issue, that's an American issue. Here's the problem, nobody can ever know with 100% certainty what is good for Americans...whether it's Guantanomo Bay, The Patriot Act, enhanced interrogations/renditions or drone strikes. To say it's not of public interest is like the current administration arguing that Trump's taxes aren't important to anyone...we just don't or can't know, until we do know. Have you ever watched the movie Eye in the Sky? It's a pretty darned realistic case study in how these decisions get made. It's not indiscriminate carpet bombing wiping out thousands of civilians like the Vietnam War. Mistakes always are going to happen...but they have to be looked at in context. The intelligence mistake or overreading/political spin over Iraq lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths and an even more spilintered region now than 15 years ago. The fact of the matter is that NOBODY in the US had the appetite for another foreign war...and precision drone strikes against ISIS or Afganistan/Taliban or Syria or wherever prevents the lives of American servicemen being lost. Isn't that in our best interests? If the Obama admin always fell back to negotiations, sanctions and diplomacy...it would be accused of being weak and lacking the cojones to strike back against America's enemies, yes? This charge has been thrown at every Democratic admin since FDR/Truman, that Dems were somehow weak or soft. So how should we have eliminated those threats against America without putting boots on the ground, using subcontractors, negotiations/sanctions, CIA black ops, etc.??? As far as Yemenis not being relevant, are Syria, Paris, Belgium, Nice, Charlie Hebdo...? They're all interconnected. During the Clinton Administration, there was no hunger (after the Black Hawk Down incident) to go into Somalia, Sudan, the terorist training grounds for what would later end up in the 9/11 attacks. Or to help the victims of genocide in the Rwandan Civil War. But morally, President Clinton said he was wrong and that we had a leadership responsibility to help those in suffering when we had the resources to do so. A drone strike in 1997 or 1998 could have saved the lives of 3,000+ New Yorkers. They had their chances...they missed bin Laden a couple of times but weren't willing to authorize a war on the ground in Africa to take him out. What about today? We can't just bury our heads in the sands and return to isolationism. Should we just completely abandon Europe and NATO to Russia? Allow China to set the rules for the world? Nobody knows. The point is we can never declare Yemenis unrelated to the bigger fight against terrorism...for the same reason that there's another bin Laden that we have turned our backs on and ignored somewhere in the world right now plotting against the US. Maybe history will say we're the heroes if we strike back in retaliation in a righteous way only after being attacked directly on American soil first, but it's never so black and white as to say wiretapping/drone strikes/suspending the writ of habeas corpus is always "bad" or not in the interests of protecting American families.