The Trump Administration: A Clusterfuck in the Making

[raventhief]

It’s beyond worrying to me that an apparent priority of the new administration is “Stop the flow of information.”

[oft_wears_hats]

@raventhief

It’s beyond worrying to me that an apparent priority of the new administration is “Stop the flow of information.”

Me too. Very, very, very much. But it’s encouraging to see them learn that stopping the flow of information in the digital age is harder than they thought it would be. The rogue twitter accounts are fantastic news. Not nearly enough, but it’s a great start.

[raventhief]

@El_Kabong

Personally, I’m waiting for the National Day of Depression and Moping before celebrating.

What a coincidence, it’s January 20!

[Rick_Kitchen]

@GuanoLad

Forgive my ignorance of how American politics works, but I have heard many mentions of the “checks and balances” that are in place to prevent the truly awful things from happening, and some are falling back on that as their hope that they cling to.

So I’m wondering what these checks and balances are, who enforces them, and are they really going to help stop this mess if the GOP has so much power now?

Ideally, the President can veto bills passed by Congress, and the Supreme Court can declare unconstitutional laws that are passed and signed. And the Congress doesn’t have to pass laws just because the President doesn’t want them. But when one Party runs all three branches …

[Steve_MB]

The Short-Fingered Vulgarian provides some of his best evidence for (drum roll) an epidemic of (ominious echo effect) voter fraud:

Mr. Trump said he was told a story by “the very famous golfer, Bernhard Langer,” whom he described as a friend, according to three staff members who were in the room for the meeting…

Mr. Langer, a 59-year-old native of Bavaria, Germany – a winner of the Masters twice and of more than 100 events on major professional golf tours around the world – was standing in line at a polling place near his home in Florida on Election Day, the president explained, when an official informed Mr. Langer he would not be able to vote.

Ahead of and behind Mr. Langer were voters who did not look as if they should be allowed to vote, Mr. Trump said, according to the staff members – but they were nonetheless permitted to cast provisional ballots. The president threw out the names of Latin American countries that the voters might have come from.

Mr. Langer, whom he described as a supporter, left feeling frustrated…

Alas, he could not get anyone to take him seriously:

The anecdote, the aides said, was greeted with silence, and Mr. Trump was prodded to change the subject by Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, and Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas.

Just one problem: Mr. Langer, who lives in Boca Raton, Fla., is a German citizen with permanent residence status in the United States who is, by law, barred from voting, according to Mr. Langer’s daughter Christina…

[Little_Pig]

Trump administration mandates that any studies or data from EPA scientists undergo review by political appointees before they can be released to the public.

[ThelmaLou]

@GuanoLad

Forgive my ignorance of how American politics works, but I have heard many mentions of the “checks and balances” that are in place to prevent the truly awful things from happening, and some are falling back on that as their hope that they cling to.

So I’m wondering what these checks and balances are, who enforces them, and are they really going to help stop this mess if the GOP has so much power now?

Checks and balances work when different parties and points of view are in place. As you correctly observe, at this time the dysfunctional, narrow-minded, destructive* Republicans control the Presidency and both houses of Congress. They will soon control the Supreme Court, too. Bye-bye, checks and balances.

Maybe someone else can give GuanoLad a better answer.

• And IMHO, evil.

[Poto]

To challenge executive orders, someone has to bring up a law suite in federal court. Eventually it may reach the supreme court if the constitution is involved.

[MindsEye_Watering]

@GuanoLad

Forgive my ignorance of how American politics works, but I have heard many mentions of the “checks and balances” that are in place to prevent the truly awful things from happening, and some are falling back on that as their hope that they cling to.

So I’m wondering what these checks and balances are, who enforces them, and are they really going to help stop this mess if the GOP has so much power now?

It’s the “Perfect Storm” for America. NO checks and balances. None.

[GuanoLad]

Well that’s disappointing.

[Colibri]

@GuanoLad

Well that’s disappointing.

Well, in fact there is considerable dissension between Trump and many Congressional Republicans. It’s an open question whether Trump might be able to get some of his proposals through Congress. But the practical outcome is likely to be which of two bad results ends up enacted.

[foolsguinea]

@Skywatcher

Trump: “Put up that wall!”

No. This is not true. No person named Donald Trump said that, nor could have said that. There is no such person as “Donald Trump,” “Donald J. Trump,” “Mr. Donald John Trump, Sr.,” “The Donald.” nor any variation thereupon. So long as the wall-building program is in operation, his only name is “Schweinficker.”

His sons are “Schweinficker, Jr.” “Eric, son of Schweinficker,” & “Melania’s boy Barron.” His daughters are “Ivanka…Kushner” and “Tiffany really doesn’t deserve this.”

So mote it be.

[ThelmaLou]

@GuanoLad

Well that’s disappointing.

At best. At worst…? One shudders to think.

[standingwave]

@Little_Pig

Trump administration mandates that any studies or data from EPA scientists undergo review by political appointees before they can be released to the public.

Unbelievable. The Ministry of Truth, I suppose.

@foolsguinea

No. This is not true. No person named Donald Trump said that, nor could have said that. There is no such person as “Donald Trump,” “Donald J. Trump,” “Mr. Donald John Trump, Sr.,” “The Donald.” nor any variation thereupon. So long as the wall-building program is in operation, his only name is “Schweinficker.”

His sons are “Schweinficker, Jr.” “Eric, son of Schweinficker,” & “Melania’s boy Barron.” His daughters are “Ivanka…Kushner” and “Tiffany really doesn’t deserve this.”

So mote it be.

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk

[Monty]

@Little_Pig

Trump administration mandates that any studies or data from EPA scientists undergo review by political appointees before they can be released to the public.

Get this. I live in the People’s Republic of China. Their view of science isn’t that skewed. Wow.

[foolsguinea]

This is akin to what Dubya did not so long ago in this country, and what Steve Harper did in Canada.

[Lord_Feldon]

@Skywatcher

Trump: “We need to fight torture with torture! I don’t care what Mattis says!”

This isn’t really a policy issue, but here’s another jaw-dropper from that interview:

That location was given to me. Mike Pence went up before me, paid great homage to the wall. I then went up, paid great homage to the wall. I then spoke to the crowd. I got a standing ovation. In fact, they said it was the biggest standing ovation since Peyton Manning had won the Super Bowl and they said it was equal. I got a standing ovation. It lasted for a long period of time.

The biggest standing ovation since Peyton Manning won the Super Bowl. Equal to that, in fact. This is not someone with a grasp on reality.

He also went back to crowd size again and took the interviewer to a picture of the inauguration so its exact bigness could be explained in detail.

[AK84]

@Monty

Get this. I live in the People’s Republic of China. Their view of science isn’t that skewed. Wow.

:dubious:
Communists typically follow the scientific method fairly thoroughly. Weird com[comparison.

[storyteller0910]

@ThelmaLou

Checks and balances work when different parties and points of view are in place. As you correctly observe, at this time the dysfunctional, narrow-minded, destructive* Republicans control the Presidency and both houses of Congress. They will soon control the Supreme Court, too. Bye-bye, checks and balances.

I keep reading this or variations on this. The Republicans will not control the Supreme Court in any meaningful way, no matter who fills the vacant seat. That seat belonged to Antonin Scalia, the most reliably and aggressively conservative justice on the court. Replacing him with another conservative will not change the balance of the court - the same court that ruled in favor of marriage quality 18 months ago. With four solidly liberal justices, and three solid conservatives, the court will continue to swing on the votes of Anthony Kennedy and John Roberts. While neither of those men has always voted as I’d “like,” neither are partisan hacks and neither is likely to stand by as the nation is dismantled.

Admittedly, the balance shifts a bit if Ginsburg or one of the other non-conservative justices dies or retires. But right now the Supreme Court is still our best hope.

[Der_Trihs]

@AK84

:dubious:
Communists typically follow the scientific method fairly thoroughly. Weird com[comparison.

Not really; consider Lysenkoism, something I’m seeing Trump’s politically mandated “science” compared to.