US Politics: Pardon our trespassing and those who have trespassed US

[Maithanet]

The ex-Presidents are walking out, and there's Dubya.  A man I once hated, and now merely loathe. 

2 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

Hilary must be thinking, this should have been the start of my second term. 

Very hard to imagine that Clinton could have been reelected.  4 straight Dem terms in the midst of a pandemic and economic collapse would be a very, very tall order. 

[DMC]

Here's some details on the immigration proposal Biden plans to immediately send to Congress:

Quote

The proposal calls for a fast-track to citizenship for young "Dreamer" immigrants brought to the country by their parents, as well as certain farm workers and past recipients of Temporary Protected Status — such as people who fled wars. This group would be able to get green cards immediately and could apply for citizenship after three years.

Other undocumented immigrants could apply for green cards after five years, and then three years afterward could apply for citizenship. In all cases, immigrants would need to pass background checks and pay their taxes. [...]

Biden's plan would focus on family reunification and also increase the diversity visa program, which the Trump administration sought to eliminate, boosting available spots to 80,000 visa per year, up from 55,000 visas.

The bill also calls for $4 billion to be spent over four years on aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to help the nations address problems spurring migration to the United States.

The bill also would replace the term "alien" in U.S. immigration laws with "noncitizen."

Sounds modest enough it should be good to pass on an up or down vote.  But, like many attempts before it, I don't see how it passes cloture.

Also, for anyone interested, here's the list of the executive actions Biden will take immediately.  Nothing surprising, but more details than we've received thus far.

[Fragile Bird]

I did not laugh at Dan Quayle. He showed up, good on him!

Good grief, Obama has become the silver fox!

[Martell Spy]

2 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

Two things.

First, am I the only one who had to chuckle when hearing the honorable Dan Quayle.

Second. So I turned this show on, with some sorta expectation. So proud boys, qanon, and other crazies. Bring it on. I want entertainment. (j/k).

You might want to mock the man, but I doubt you can spell Quale correctly.

[Ormond]

Just now, Maithanet said:

The ex-Presidents are walking out, and there's Dubya.  A man I once hated, and now merely loathe. 

 

Are you deliberately trying to be ironic? Because I think that for most people "loathe" implies much stonger emotion than "hate".

[Fragile Bird]

2 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

 

Very hard to imagine that Clinton could have been reelected.  4 straight Dem terms in the midst of a pandemic and economic collapse would be a very, very tall order. 

Are you kidding me? Hilary would have taken everything seriously and with empathy.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

1 minute ago, Martell Spy said:

You might want to mock the man, but I doubt you can spell Quale correctly.

So that was sorta my potato(e) moment.

And I just checked, wikipedia agrees with Quayle. So this is now your potato.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Just now, Fragile Bird said:

Are you kidding me? Hilary would have taken everything seriously and with empathy.

Yeah, but economy still would've tanked as a result under her watch, and the red states in particularly still would have acted crazy with rising infections and refusing to go into lockdowns.

[Mindwalker]

PBS, I've seen the handmaiden about 5 times now, stop it.

[Fragile Bird]

Jake Tapper noted, when Biden first arrived and climbed up the steps, that the first time Biden went up those steps he would be serving with people who first entered the building to serve under Coolidge and Roosevelt. Biden represents a heck of a long era.

And good to see Pence and his wife there.

[Fez]

13 minutes ago, Ormond said:

The person serving as official host or hostess for the President will always be "First Lady" or "First Gentleman", and the person serving in that role for the Vice President will always be "Second Lady" or "Second Gentleman", no matter what the genders of the parties invovled. Unless at some point in the future some person who considers themselves "non-binary" serves in the role and asks for some term other than "Lady" or "Gentleman" to be created, like "Gentleperson". 

That seems like the easiest way to do it. But still, in the scenarios I raised, it seems like it would raise some odd issues; at least for protocol staff. For instance if we had a female President and First Lady, the Vice President's wife would be the third woman in the US Order of Precedence (which is used for state dinner and such), but would be "Second Lady."

[Winterfell is Burning]

Surely the US has a pretty unique system, but in the entire world leaders that took the pandemic seriously, followed scientific advice and even insisted on lockdowns saw their popularity increase, and the ones that ran for reelection this year won. Is quite possible that if Hillary was in office, the same thing would happen to her.

[Zorral]

Loved the U.S. Marine Band's rendition of "Hit the Road Jack!"  It was even more spirited, celebratory,  jaunty and sneering than lyricists, arrangers and first performers intended1

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

17 minutes ago, Mindwalker said:

Eugene Goodman, the police officer wo led the mob away fom the Senate chambers, will escort Kamala Harris today.

The Obamas are in the house!

That’s wonderful.

[ljkeane]

That’s a long staircase to walk down on camera. I think I’d definitely trip.

[Martell Spy]

Just to be clear, Trump's final crowd was quite tiny.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

1 hour ago, Fez said:

Until seeing the inauguration program for today, I somehow missed the discussion that Doug Emhoff will be referred to as "Second Gentleman." It makes sense in this case. even though no one has the title "First Gentleman". But what if Biden was gay and had a husband, would Emhoff be "Third Gentleman"? Or if Biden was a woman and had a wife, would Emhoff be "First Gentleman"? Or if Harris was gay and Emhoff was a woman, would she be "Third Lady?"

How do these things get decided?

The only time there was not a first lady was the first year of Martin van Buren's presidency; he was a widower. Eventually his daughter-in-law was named first lady, which is what Andrew Jackson before him had also done. But Vice President Richard Johnson didn't have a wife either, so these things didn't need to be figured out (he was in a long-term, maybe consensual relationship with Julia Chinn, who was a former/current slave; it's a bit unclear).

Just give it a few years, when Lindsey Graham is sworn in.

Scot would you be the Rudy for Graham's Donald?

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

1 minute ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

Just give it a few years, when Lindsey Graham is sworn in.

Scot would you be the Rudy for Graham's Donald?

No.  Just... no.  My hair doesn’t leak.

(And not for all the tea in Assam)

[DMC]

6 minutes ago, Winterfell is Burning said:

Surely the US has a pretty unique system, but in the entire world leaders that took the pandemic seriously, followed scientific advice and even insisted on lockdowns saw their popularity increase

Yes even Trump got an initial, albeit modest, bump.  I don't think anyone can say with any confidence how Clinton's reelection would have turned out with the pandemic - whereas her reelection without the pandemic would have been decidedly doubtful unless the economy continued to surge.

[Fragile Bird]

Interesting to see 1) how many people are double-masking, and 2) how many are wearing some version of N95 masks.

Seeing Hunter Biden there, I wonder if he’s thinking about the future problems his past conduct might cause his father.