The All Things Political Topic - Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence

[Lexx]

All I know is that I will get a lot less money this month, because the USD is going down the crapper.

[Malcador]

1 hour ago, BruceVC said:

I was under the  impression that Trumps doublespeak and selective interpretation of facts was a reason for criticism?

But that should apply to both sides

Shouldn't it be normal to believe in fair and balanced opinions?

 

Was a joke on Fox News and their being a propaganda arm for Trump.  Trump doesn't have a selective interpretation of facts, he's an outright liar.   Not sure what doublespeak is going on here, but oh well.

Trump trying to bash Powell, but good Lord his insults suck.  I believe he likes the USD weak, as that'll help the exports. As long as other nations don't tariff the US back for some reason.

 

 

 

[BruceVC]

https://www.investors.com/news/bessent-us-china-trade-war-unsustainable-trump-tariffs-sp-500/

 

Not a surprise,  Bessent acknowledges China trade war a bad idea 

Markets had some recovery just on this sentiment. Its  clear investors want it to end 

" Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly told an event hosted by JPMorgan Chase that he expects the U.S.-China standoff to de-escalate, characterizing it as unsustainable. The Bloomberg report, which suggests the Trump administration is looking for a way to climb down after ratcheting Trump tariffs up to 145%. That helped fuel a soaring S&P 500. " 

 

 

[Malcador]

Bessent is probably going to eject from this circus soon

[Zoraptor]

Oh yeah Donnie, get those interest rates cut. Pump up the bubble because it looks good short term and on paper and makes you look less incompetent.

People may like to compare Trump to Putin but the correct comparison is to Recep Tayyip Erdogan- funny money policies and lurching from manufactured crisis to manufactured crisis because it gives your supporters an endorphin hit.

Then have fun with your 40% annual inflation while trying to keep your currency as world reserve. If there's one thing that'll get it dropped like a rock it's it being worth 60c instead of a dollar after a year.

[uuuhhii]

now usa are going after autistic people

no poor people are safe

[rjshae]

39 minutes ago, uuuhhii said:

now usa are going after autistic people

no poor people are safe

There's a distinct lack of humanity in the cuts I've observed. I'm not sure if that's just because its how they are reported in the Press, or just because the administration is made of wealthy a**holes. Maybe both.

[Malcador]

14 hours ago, uuuhhii said:

now usa are going after autistic people

no poor people are safe

Nah, RFK is going to conclude it's from vaccines probably, regardless of evidence.  

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rfk-jr-autism-study-medical-records/

People's reaction to it is tied into RFK Jr being a grifter, I think 

[Malcador]

https://eu.jsonline.com/story/news/breaking/2025/04/25/milwaukee-county-judge-hannah-dugan-arrested-by-feds-at-courthouse/83270885007/

"Sources have told the Journal Sentinel that ICE officials arrived in Dugan's courtroom on the morning of April 18. When they went to the chief judge's office, Dugan directed the defendant and his attorney to a side door in the courtroom, directed them down a private hallway and into the public area on the 6th floor."

Although, ICE showed up and had no warrant ? Certainly would be on brand

https://bsky.app/profile/ryanclancywi.bsky.social/post/3lnimaviyvs2j

 

[Gromnir]

On 4/20/2025 at 6:54 AM, Bartimaeus said:

The Supreme Court apparently seized the deportation case from Alito after he inexplicably didn't refer it to the Court and then summarily ruled on it without even giving him or Thomas any time to write their dissents at 1 in the morning. If that's not the Supreme Court in a late night panic trying to conserve the little power they have remaining (and in the face of two of their members willingly try to give that away, too), I don't know what is. Waiting for that Gromnir Easter scoop on this...

am actual not familiar with the mechanics o' what happened... am only able to speak to law/legal issues. as is typical for those in our profession, reality and all its attendant filthy details is often an annoying distraction from the important questions. <-- sarcasm.

perhaps ironic, am able to speak to alito's curiously obtuse dissent w/o needing get into the legal weeds-- you not need be a lawyer to see problem with alito's position.

presumptively, the reason scotus provided middle of the night and weekend emergency relief is 'cause the aclu, on behalf o' their clients, informed the Court that the government had put venezuelans on buses seeming with the intent o' taking 'em beyond the physical jurisdiction o' current habeas rulings limiting their deportation, so as to send 'em to el salvador w/o additional meaningful due process. 

...

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/legal-fight-raged-ice-buses-filled-venezuelans-heading-airport-turned-rcna202007

and today we learned o' more government shenanigans albeit in a tangential related case.

https://www.justsecurity.org/110842/ice-dod-custody-deportations-cecot/

"The D.V.D. case directly affects the administration’s ability to deport Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador without an opportunity for them to present their claims of potential torture as required by federal statute. As I discuss at greater length in the substack, a key element to focus upon is that ICE retained custody over the detainees following the court’s Mar. 28 order and then appeared to switch them over to the Department of Defense (DoD) for transfer by military plane to El Salvador. The line of defense (some would say the game) being played here by the government is that DHS/ICE is a named defendant in the case but DOD is not."

to get around a temporary restraining order which prevented ice/dhs from sending detainees out of the country, the government had ice/dhs transfer custody of detainees to the Department of Defense, who then went ahead and deported individuals protected by the tro.

dude.

am aware this is the kinda sh!te people believe is what attorneys do for a living, but that kinda rulez lawyering which happens in the worst dnd campaigns most certainly don't fly with federal judges. the tro named ice/dhs and not dod, but there is also standard boilerplate language in those tros which covers pretty much anybody working for/with or in aid o' those named in the tro, and if ice (executive branch o' the fed government) formal transferred custody of the detainees to dod (also part of the executive branch o' the fed government,) then is no court in the land which is gonna three wise monkey their way outta holding dod just as bound by the tro as ice.

most courts has gotta be losing the patience and faith typical afforded to the executive. is utter unreasonable to pretend this is all just same ol' same ol'. alito pretending mock indignation when the trump administration is making blatant their efforts to thwart and undermine Court orders is less than compelling.

again, the government had detainees on buses headed to an airport. taking those detainees outta the country from the texas district woulda' been illegal, but the shell game o' moving detainees just ahead o' court orders from new jersey or dc were something the feds had already done. even so, it is complete ridiculous to suggest the government would try the same shenanigans in texas, right?  "fool me once..." 

so, for what reason did alito and thomas believe ice were carrying out their little fieldtrip? maybe the venezuelans were being taken for a weekend disneyworld excursion? even if you can imagine an innocuous explanation for the government's actions, what reasonable person would complete dismiss the possibility that the feds were trying to exploit the ordinary slow pace o' a typical judicial response? the fact the government were using "counterterrorism operations" as an excuse for not supplying details to plaintiffs AND the Court is not only beyond the pale, but it should make reasonable persons more suspicious about the government motives, no? nevertheless, alito and thomas can't figure why the aclu and the Court majority is getting their shorts in a twist. 

...

other than death penalty executions, it is difficult to imagine a more clear example o' the need for emergency intervention by the Court than we see regarding the possible extra judicial deportation of detainees to el salvador... and we remain reluctant to call such activities "deportations" as what is happening is that the US, without due process, is sending residents o' this country to a prison in el salvador for an indeterminate period a time. 

wtf

[Gromnir]

On 4/25/2025 at 9:07 AM, Malcador said:

https://eu.jsonline.com/story/news/breaking/2025/04/25/milwaukee-county-judge-hannah-dugan-arrested-by-feds-at-courthouse/83270885007/

"Sources have told the Journal Sentinel that ICE officials arrived in Dugan's courtroom on the morning of April 18. When they went to the chief judge's office, Dugan directed the defendant and his attorney to a side door in the courtroom, directed them down a private hallway and into the public area on the 6th floor."

Although, ICE showed up and had no warrant ? Certainly would be on brand

https://bsky.app/profile/ryanclancywi.bsky.social/post/3lnimaviyvs2j

 

the government's own affidavits submitted severe undermine the narrative that the judge were trying obstruct an arrest, or at the very least, the proof beyond a reasonable doubt standard needed to prove intent o' the judge is looking to be an insurmountable hurdle.

first, pretty much no judge allows arrests in their courtroom, so there is a question as to what the heck the fed agents were doing in the first place as they were clear doing not business as usual. maybe 'cause the public don't know what is ordinary, the judge ejecting the feds from her court sounds nefarious but it most certain is not. 

second, the judge's actions don't look particular obstructive when you read details. while the judge did send flores-ruiz out of her court through the jury door, that egress point led to only one exit-- a hallway where, according to the fed's affidavit, two agents were waiting. if judge dugan were trying something sneaky, then sending him virtual into the arms o' the feds looks shaky. heck, again, according to the fed's own affidavit, flores-ruiz took the elevator down to the ground floor o' the courthouse before he tried to run, and he were not alone in the elevator but were in fact accompanied by a fed agent. 

...

found a useful link

is a bit o' unnecessary editorializing, but read all fourteen.

again, even the government has gotta know beyond a reasonable doubt is goanna be insurmountable, so the arrest o' the judge and detainment looks performative.

this also looks pretty bad. maga has tried to make this a damned if you do scenario and they once again complete miss the underlying due process aspect. the government offers no meaningful proof, but they claim the deported mothers were asked whether they wanted to bring their US citizen children with 'em and they responded in the affirmative.

maga: you libs are gonna be angry no matter what. if there is child separation, you whine. if the child stays with the parent and is deported, the social justice warriors complain. it's a no win. 

Gromnir: bs

we don't have any evidence the mothers agreed other than government says so, but beyond that, we are told these women weren't allowed to talk to family or lawyers when confronted with the dilemma o' whether or not to leave their children in the US. 

the children, who is US citizens, unquestionable deserve due process before deportation and getting a head nod or a quick signature on a form from mom before being loaded on a plane is unlikely to satisfy due process.

furthermore, the law says the mothers get process. even if you think undocumented immigrants don't deserve process, the law says otherwise... and thank god for that fact. example: have mentioned more than once that Gromnir looks quite a bit like esai morales, sans facial hair and the grey. inexplicable have very little grey hair thus far.  anyways, tomorrow we could be picked up off the street by ice, thrown in a van, and subsequent sent to el salvador 'cause we look like an undocumented immigrant on some list. once in cecot, the US could claim there were no way for them to correct their mistake. oopsies. so sorry. due process is those steps which allows Gromnir to challenge the government before or after they does something wrong. if the government claims we is undocumented, a gang member, insurrectionist or terrorist, we should have a way to contest those assertions, no?

again, like it or not, undocumented folks get due process 'cause its in the freaking Constitution. not only do we give undocumented folks process to prevent mistakes, but Congress also passed all kinda laws making it possible for undocumented folks to make asylum claims, so being undocumented don't necessarily mean they got no right to be in the US. 

relative quick aside, am having mentioned how for a few years we worked at a juvenile detention facility. am mentioning 'cause you would likely be shocked to discover just how little process is involved with categorizing a person as a gang member. we were warned during training that while a kid could have their criminal record expunged when they reached eighteen, the gang label would potential stick with kids for life. when a kid were brought into juvenile hall, during the intake process, we would affix appropriate labels to their file... or update existing labels. gang affiliation were one such label.

nothing nefarious for you numerous acab folks. example: s-1 were a designation which indicated that a kid were suicidal or had a history o' self harm. s-1 kids were typical housed with a roommate but for obvious reasons the roommate would not be s-1; two s-1 in the same room were a recipe for tragedy. ok, but there were also designations which indicated an individual were a sexual predator, and those kids were typical housed solo, 'cause bad things could happen at night and between room checks. so what do you do if a kid is both suicidal AND a sexual predator...

we don't need to get into all the ugly details, but as mentioned, one o' those "s- __" designations we utilized at juvenile hall were gang affiliation. you can likely guess why the staff at a juvenile hall would wanna know if a kid were a gang member and to which gang they had an affiliation. the thing is, that s-6 designation decision likely took less than a minute o' reflection by staff. typical factors: tattoos, input from the cop dropping off the kid at the hall, self-identification o' the minor. on busy days/nights at juvenile hall, there were considerable motivation to get kids processed asap. personal, we only ever listed a kid as s-6 if they claimed to be a gang member... we let unit staff who had more time figure it out. the thing is, am also confident a few kids lied about gang affiliation when asked. 

a few o' the folks sent to cecot were first identified as tren de aragua when they were minors and am having only a little doubt that the original labeling were 'bout as probative as what we saw day in, and day out working at juvenile hall. as such am not shocked so many ended up in cecot for little other than suspicious tattoos and maybe secondhand input from a cop. is perhaps worse to realize that the gang identification efforts used to send so many to a dystopian hell hole were likely less sinister than you believe and instead were ordinary.  some clown working at a juvenile hall or jail in kokomo, indiana six years ago probable spent less than a minute deciding whether or not a new intake were a gang member, and that initial assessment stuck. 

HA! Good Fun!

[uuuhhii]

las vegas casino are going into mass bankruptcy

is the whole trade war and recession designed to enact revenge against successfully casino

as plausible as any other theory

[Hurlshort]

1 hour ago, uuuhhii said:

las vegas casino are going into mass bankruptcy

is the whole trade war and recession designed to enact revenge against successfully casino

as plausible as any other theory

Where are you reading that?

I know MGM made some cuts, but cutting concierge service hardly seems like bankruptcy.

[Bartimaeus]

Ever since I said "RFKJ is probably one of the best people in the administration", it feels like every RFKJ headline I see or hear about is worse than the last. The thing about him being a true believer in his own ideas (as opposed to just another mindless sycophant like the rest of the administration) is that while he might fight for some of his decent ideas like banning food dyes and limiting added sugars to food, he's also going to fight to end water fluoridation, limit access to narcan, and round up autistic and ADHD people to put them into work camps. Great. And treat measles with vitamin R or whatever too, but we already knew about that one.

Although I know the liberals aren't great and the conservatives aren't the same as U.S. conservatives, I can't help but think it's a good thing when countries globally stagger out their nationalist parties and candidates...so congratulations to Canada on not electing conservatives.

Edited 1 hour ago by Bartimaeus

[Malcador]

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/strengthening-and-unleashing-americas-law-enforcement-to-pursue-criminals-and-protect-innocent-citizens/

"Sec. 4.  Using National Security Assets for Law and Order.  (a)  Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Attorney General and the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the heads of agencies as appropriate, shall increase the provision of excess military and national security assets in local jurisdictions to assist State and local law enforcement.
(b)  Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Attorney General, shall determine how military and national security assets, training, non-lethal capabilities, and personnel can most effectively be utilized to prevent crime."

Also still crying about DEI.