US Politics: Sit Up Straight and Show Some Respect

[Zorral]

34 minutes ago, كالدب said:

So yeah, the US has functionally kidnapped 2000 children and unlike kidnappers has no actual plan to reunite the children with the people they came with or any other relatives of note. 

I do not understand how this is not a capital crime. This is at the very least negligence on an insane scale. They implemented this policy with absolutely no regards to reunification of the children and parents. 

They STILL do not have a plan. 

Before anyone else goes on the whataboutism for Obama - I don't care, because these are 2,300 kids that we abducted, jailed and separated from their parents RIGHT NOW, in a situation we created right this instant. That didn't have to be that way in any way shape or form. 

We did this. 

Well, like Governor Cuomo wrote in the NY Times yesterday, we need to go after them at the very least with this:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/20/opinion/andrew-cuomo-a-moral-outrage-new-york-will-not-tolerate.html
 

Quote

 

Third, we intend to invoke what is known as the “outrageous government conduct doctrine.” In a 1973 case, United States v. Russell, the Supreme Court wrote that it “may someday be presented with a situation in which the conduct of law enforcement agents is so outrageous that due process principles would absolutely bar the government from invoking judicial processes to obtain a conviction.” That day has come. The callous tactics used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement have no place in this country.

 

This is something on which both the mayor and governor are 100% on the same side.  They both say the first step is FINDING these children who have been sent to New York and other targeted areas.

 

[Jace, Extat]

13 minutes ago, chiKanery et al. said:

Technically speaking, between the two of us, I’m the professional when it comes to politics. Maybe you should stick to yelling at nurses for overusing supplies.

If you hear me yelling, you're already dead.

[Mlle. Zabzie]

2 hours ago, Zorral said:

These are exactly the sort of spots to protest that need to be targeted.

Most of all we have to understand that protesting at the airports where land flights transporting these children from the border to the targeted federally funded (supposedly) gulags and outside those holding pens further terrifies and traumatized kids who are already terrified and terrified, and are unlikely to ever see their parents again.  Especially as we will often be carrying signs, maybe yelling, and be surrounded by law enforcement that has a deliberately frightening appearance to start with and can and often does make a lot of noise.

But the offices and homes of these sadistic, corrupt and so stupid people who are responsible for making this mess without any system in place, much less one that tracks and identifies the children and their parents -- they deserve to be followed and targeted all day and all night everywhere.

So far the elected officials and appointed officials and investigating journalists have counted that at least 900 kids have been sent to New York without anyone informing anyone about them.  Even when a facility is found, unless it's one that was already established in NY for children who need fostering, etc., nobody can even get in to look at what's going on.  They are told this is a federal site and neither city nor state has any right of oversight or any other information.

Lawyers are ramping up like crazy to represent these children -- an in many other ways NY is working to help, from clothes and toys, to volunteering (in the facilities that they can get into, such as some religious based ones), and investigating with the aim of bringing the children together with parent(s).  This must be going on in all the other cities that have been targeted for "tender age secret storage."

 

 

New York is absolutely mobilizing.  City councilpersons are collecting supplies.  They have had to stop accepting them because they are overwhelmed.  Volunteers are sorting as we speak.  There are urgent appeals for Spanish speaking temporary foster parents.  My firm is partnering with Lawyers for Good Governance to create and man a hotline and resource networks to try to match parents with children.  We are also partnering with Kids in Need of Defense to make sure that each of these children not only has a guardian ad litem but an attorney to represent his or her interests in court.  As mentioned above, in lots of cases the parents have been deported and the kids are here and we have NO WAY to find the parents.  None.  This is a tragedy on an epic scale.  And we are all complicit.  I speak no Spanish, but I will be volunteering for the hotline.  A couple of hours of my time a day is nothing to me but could be EVERYTHING for someone else.  I have links for NY based programs if any interest.

[Rippounet]

59 minutes ago, Martell Spy said:

‘Fox & Friends’ Host Brian Kilmeade Defends Family Separations: ‘These Aren’t Our Kids’

https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-and-friends-host-brian-kilmeade-defends-family-separations-these-arent-our-kids?ref=home

Wow.

Technically all nations value their citizens' lives more than others' (that's part of the very principle of nationalism). But throughout the West at least there was kind of an unspoken rule not to say it out loud. Probably because since around WW2 universal ideologies have been preferred to nationalist ones. And well, possibly because no one wanted to go back to circa 1939...

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, Srta. Zabzie said:

New York is absolutely mobilizing.  City councilpersons are collecting supplies.  They have had to stop accepting them because they are overwhelmed.  Volunteers are sorting as we speak.  There are urgent appeals for Spanish speaking temporary foster parents.  My firm is partnering with Lawyers for Good Governance to create and man a hotline and resource networks to try to match parents with children.  We are also partnering with Kids in Need of Defense to make sure that each of these children not only has a guardian ad litem but an attorney to represent his or her interests in court.  As mentioned above, in lots of cases the parents have been deported and the kids are here and we have NO WAY to find the parents.  None.  This is a tragedy on an epic scale.  And we are all complicit.  I speak no Spanish, but I will be volunteering for the hotline.  A couple of hours of my time a day is nothing to me but could be EVERYTHING for someone else.  I have links for NY based programs if any interest.

One thing to keep in mind is that there are a number of other languages that are spoken in Central America (not sure how many). The social workers at these detention centers didn’t know that and that’s why, in part, they were struggling to communicate with the kids who didn’t speak Spanish. You might want to keep an eye out for someone who can handle those cases if you haven’t already done so.

[Zorral]

5 minutes ago, chiKanery et al. said:

One thing to keep in mind is that there are a number of other languages that are spoken in Central America (not sure how many). The social workers at these detention centers didn’t know that and that’s why, in part, they were struggling to communicate with the kids who didn’t speak Spanish. You might want to keep an eye out for someone who can handle those cases if you haven’t already done so.

Yah -- the call has gone out for meso-native american language speakers.

NYC is filled with Spanish speakers, including this household.  But not the others so much.  We may need to bring in Mexicans with the heritage languages . . . .

[lokisnow]

I want people in prison. The people following orders in prison. The people in charge in prison. The analysts and policy wonks that implemented it and helped it along in prison. The people who came up with the idea in prison. The people making money from it in prison. And we should just seize the assets of every person who has profited. Take everything they have.

Lock them all up and throw away the key.

 

[Jace, Extat]

3 minutes ago, lokisnow said:

I want people in prison. The people following orders in prison. The people in charge in prison. The analysts and policy wonks that implemented it and helped it along in prison. The people who came up with the idea in prison. The people making money from it. And we should just seize the assets of every person who has profited. Take everything they have.

Lock them all up and throw away the key.

 

 

[DMC]

It's time it's time it's Vader time!

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

2 hours ago, Zorral said:

Yah -- the call has gone out for meso-native american language speakers.

NYC is filled with Spanish speakers, including this household.  But not the others so much.  We may need to bring in Mexicans with the heritage languages . . . .

Perfecto! 

As far as the other languages goes, wouldn't it be best to contact all the universities in the area? There has to be some professors who could handle this. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

4 hours ago, كالدب said:

So yeah, the US has functionally kidnapped 2000 children and unlike kidnappers has no actual plan to reunite the children with the people they came with or any other relatives of note. 

I do not understand how this is not a capital crime. This is at the very least negligence on an insane scale. They implemented this policy with absolutely no regards to reunification of the children and parents. 

They STILL do not have a plan. 

Before anyone else goes on the whataboutism for Obama - I don't care, because these are 2,300 kids that we abducted, jailed and separated from their parents RIGHT NOW, in a situation we created right this instant. That didn't have to be that way in any way shape or form. 

We did this. 

First, there is no whataboutism here. Did Obama and Bush detain children? Yes. Did they separate them from their parents when they crossed illegally? In most cases, no. Did they separate them from their parents when they crossed legally seeking asylum? No. Is the answer for Trump yes in all three cases? Yes.

 

That said, 2,000 kids might actually be on the low end:

Quote

Washington (CNN)The Trump administration said Friday that it had reunified approximately 500 families separated at the border but the status of thousands more separated families remained unclear.

The lack of further details from the administration belies the disjointed government handling of parents separated from children at the border.

 

As the children and parents were shuttled to separate government agencies under the effort, little planning appears to have gone into how they would be brought back together when the parents were finished with jail sentences for their criminal charges.

 

Now, case workers, lawyers and parents are scrambling to try to find their children through the maze of government bureaucracy and red tape surrounding their cases.

 

The government agencies caring for the parents and children have consistently declined to make clear exactly how many children are in the government's care as a direct result of the "zero tolerance" initiative begun last month to prosecute all adults for crossing the border illegally, thus separating those who have children while they face criminal charges. On Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said there were roughly 2,000.

 

A letter from Customs and Border Protection sent to congressional offices and obtained by CNN, said the 500 families figure was more than 15% of the total number of families that have been separated. By that math, the total number of separations would be more than 3,000.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/22/politics/immigrant-families-separated-reunification/index.html

This is so disgusting. 

[Martell Spy]

Here is how the President is addressing the situation.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/22/donald-trump-undocumented-immigrants-victims-665899

Trump tries to shift focus to victims of undocumented immigrants

The president gave the stage to families he says have suffered from 'permanent separation' from their loved ones.

Quote

 

President Donald Trump on Friday put a spotlight on families who lost loved ones killed by undocumented immigrants — calling them victims of “permanent separation" — as he sought to shift the attention away from his administration’s recently halted policy of separating migrant families at the border.

It was a dramatic way to end a week that saw Trump make a rare reversal in the face of public outcry, and presented a counterargument as mothers and fathers told grisly tales of their children being tortured and murdered — and claimed the media has not covered their stories.

 

 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

14 minutes ago, Martell Spy said:

Here is how the President is addressing the situation.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/22/donald-trump-undocumented-immigrants-victims-665899

Trump tries to shift focus to victims of undocumented immigrants

The president gave the stage to families he says have suffered from 'permanent separation' from their loved ones.

 

I saw this earlier. Is the term "Angel Families" a real term or something Trump just made up? Also, there's this:

Quote

President Donald Trump appears to have autographed photos of deceased young people that were featured at a White House event Friday highlighting victims of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants.

There were 11 photos total being held up by family members who had lost loved ones, and all of the photos bore Trump's unmistakably scrawled signature in large-tipped black pen.

Autographing the photos was an unusual decision, in that it appeared to combine the celebrity element of an autograph with the solemn image of a dead loved one.

It was unclear whether the photos had been produced by the White House, when the president autographed them, or whether this was done at the families' request. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the photos.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/22/trump-autographed-photos-of-dead-crime-victims-for-white-house-event.html

I mean, that's some next level messed up stuff if he just started signing them without being asked, though that hasn't been confirmed. 

[Martell Spy]

35 minutes ago, chiKanery et al. said:

I saw this earlier. Is the term "Angel Families" a real term or something Trump just made up? Also, there's this:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/22/trump-autographed-photos-of-dead-crime-victims-for-white-house-event.html

I mean, that's some next level messed up stuff if he just started signing them without being asked, though that hasn't been confirmed. 

Apparently, Trump also joked about one of the persons in the photos looking like Tom Selleck, at what was supposed to be a solemn event.

I'm not sure if Trump made the term "Angel Families" up, but I'm fairly certain that if he didn't then someone like Anne Coulter did. A normal person would simply call them the families of murder victims. But, these are not ordinary families of ordinary murder victims. They are special and deserve more than the U.S. justice system can give. That is why these children had to be abused at the order of the President. To get revenge on behalf of the "Angel Families." And God wants it apparently, since they are Angel Families.

 

The Genesis of Trump’s Family-Separation Policy

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/06/the-genesis-of-trumps-family-separation-policy.html

Quote

The family-separation policy is the physical incarnation of Trump’s answer to the question of whether he would have relocated Japanese-Americans. Here were weeping migrant children, pulled from their parents and held in cages. The federal government was repurposing new holding facilities especially for children. The bureaucratic chaos and confusion were part of the punishment. One public defender described a judge incredulous that the parents whose children had been torn from their arms were given no information as to where they had been taken. (“If someone at the jail takes your wallet, they give you a receipt. They take your kids, and you get nothing? Not even a slip of paper?”)

 

[Martell Spy]

The Navy Is Planning Tent Cities for Undocumented Immigrants

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/06/the-navy-is-planning-tent-cities-for-undocumented-immigrants.html

Quote

 

Part of what’s been playing out on television screens and heated public debates over the last few days has been the visible implications of a “zero tolerance” policy toward undocumented immigrants crossing the border: It’s chaotic and often inhumane. But in quieter sectors of the federal government, bureaucrats are beavering away at plans to regularize the policy by building facilities to house tens of thousands of immigrants while immigration officials and the courts figure out what to do with them. And not just any bureaucrats — but military bureaucrats. Time has the story:

The U.S. Navy is preparing plans to construct sprawling detention centers for tens of thousands of immigrants on remote bases in California, Alabama and Arizona, escalating the military’s task in implementing President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy for people caught crossing the Southern border, according to a copy of a draft memo obtained by TIME.

 

 

[Martell Spy]

Quote

 

Unsurprisingly, Ohio and Indiana had higher levels of Medicaid coverage and lower uninsured rates for the expansion population than Kansas did.

The most striking findings were in health care access: In Indiana, with its cost-sharing requirements and lock-out provision, the Medicaid expansion population was substantially more likely to delay care because of its cost or to have trouble paying their medical bills compared to the same population in Ohio, which did not ask expansion enrollees to pay much out of pocket.

The unavoidable suggestion is, as the researchers wrote, that “Indiana’s waiver program led to less affordable care than Ohio’s traditional expansion of Medicaid did.”

 

How Republican Medicaid proposals restrict access, in one chart
“Indiana’s waiver program led to less affordable care than Ohio’s traditional expansion of Medicaid did.”

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/6/22/17494744/voxcare-medicaid-expansion

[Martell Spy]

Return of the Blood Libel

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/opinion/blood-libel-trump-immigrants.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region

Quote

 

In any case, the important thing to understand is that the atrocities our nation is now committing at the border don’t represent an overreaction or poorly implemented response to some actual problem that needs solving. There is no immigration crisis; there is no crisis of immigrant crime.

No, the real crisis is an upsurge in hatred — unreasoning hatred that bears no relationship to anything the victims have done. And anyone making excuses for that hatred — who tries, for example, to turn it into a “both sides” story — is, in effect, an apologist for crimes against humanity.

 

 

[Martell Spy]

1 hour ago, chiKanery et al. said:

I saw this earlier. Is the term "Angel Families" a real term or something Trump just made up? Also, there's this:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/22/trump-autographed-photos-of-dead-crime-victims-for-white-house-event.html

I mean, that's some next level messed up stuff if he just started signing them without being asked, though that hasn't been confirmed. 

Ah, here is where "Angel Famiies" came from...

Donald Trump introduced us to “angel moms.” Here’s why they matter.

https://www.vox.com/2016/9/1/12751434/donald-trump-angel-moms-explained

Trump’s "angel moms" have a different origin: They are from the Remembrance Project, a Texas-based nonprofit founded in 2009 that "advocates for families whose loved ones were killed by illegal aliens," according to its website. Its mission is educating "the public of the epidemic of killings across the country, and raising awareness of the effects of illegal immigration."

For the Remembrance Project, and for Trump, "angel moms" is a "term used within the organization" to denote mothers who have lost children to incidents involving undocumented immigrants, Trump’s spokesperson Hope Hicks confirmed in an email.

There are groups in a similar vein to the Remembrance Project across the country. Facebook pages, like "California Victims of Illegal Aliens," dedicated to highlighting stories of Americans who have died due to "illegal aliens and foreign criminals in the U.S., especially those who have been killed by illegals," aggregate news stories and statistics on immigration.

Unsurprisingly, a lot of the news stories shared come from Breitbart News, the outlet that delivered Trump his new campaign CEO, Steve Bannon. There’s even a tag on Breitbart that pulls together all "angel moms" stories in one place.

[lokisnow]

While you weren’t looking, Trump just rescinded every post-Deepwater horizon regulation, reform, restriction and law.

but as the marvelous middle will tell you, if democrats are ever back in power there is absolutely nothing that could or would be done in the future to reverse Such Trump actions. Everyone will allow every one of his actions to become permanent.

unless we have a comprehensive and systematic program of de-Trumpification to eradicate and or reverse the day to day shit like this. From Jan 22 2020 onward, no other business than de-Trumpification, regular rules aren’t adopted by either house of congress until de-Trumpification is complete, no committees, no filibusters, no recess, 16 hour days minimum, five days a week minimum In session until we complete a marathon of congressional direct action that 100% de-trumpifys all the shit stained by his imprint. 

But we will not, because that will be hard, and the marvelous middle and the what abouts will be happy to let Trumps shit be permanent because they’re happy to be a powerless majority just like they’re trilled to be a powerless minority. They don’t even try to win elections, you think they’re going to try to undo the fuhrers damage, they never will.

 

[Zorral]

15 hours ago, lokisnow said:

While you weren’t looking, Trump just rescinded every post-Deepwater horizon regulation, reform, restriction and law.

but as the marvelous middle will tell you, if democrats are ever back in power there is absolutely nothing that could or would be done in the future to reverse Such Trump actions. Everyone will allow every one of his actions to become permanent.

unless we have a comprehensive and systematic program of de-Trumpification to eradicate and or reverse the day to day shit like this. From Jan 22 2020 onward, no other business than de-Trumpification, regular rules aren’t adopted by either house of congress until de-Trumpification is complete, no committees, no filibusters, no recess, 16 hour days minimum, five days a week minimum In session until we complete a marathon of congressional direct action that 100% de-trumpifys all the shit stained by his imprint. 

But we will not, because that will be hard, and the marvelous middle and the what abouts will be happy to let Trumps shit be permanent because they’re happy to be a powerless majority just like they’re trilled to be a powerless minority. They don’t even try to win elections, you think they’re going to try to undo the fuhrers damage, they never will.

 

THIS should be leading the news everywhere and all the time.

It also passed in flash that he did the same for the use of asbestos in homes and public buildings.  Guess who is the largest producer of asbestos?  If you answer "Russia!" you win.