It’s ultimately a form of humanitarian relief, and loath as I am to give Trump’s administration credit for anything, it sounds like a good cause.
I agree and think that people who come from those cultures, speak the language, understand the customs, etc, would be the ideal ambassadors for this program, rather than outsiders telling another culture what to do.
True enough, but some places are still at a point where local activists can’t speak up without fear of being persecuted, even killed. External pressure from Western countries may help get them past that hurdle.
Is the Trump administration willing to provide people escaping persecution in those countries with permanent resident status in reasonable timescales, and to use such a status code that it will allow those people and their children to live and work in the USA without fear of their status being reversed?
This phrase to me is naive but everyone who says it thinks it hard nosed realism. If something is being done for the wrong reasons, it’s a good bet that it will be done in the wrong manner. If this is indeed a front to punish some specific countries then it could easily do more harm than good.
Here’s a better analogy.
Step 1: Trump wants to encourage kids to grow up voting for Republicans, so he’s looking for an excuse to fire teachers who promote science and critical thinking, replacing them with young-Earth creationists.
Step 2: Several parents across America express frustration over their inability to help their children with homework, citing as an example teachers (correctly) pointing out that sometimes when you’re adding two numbers together and rounding them off, you get different answers if you round off before adding vs rounding off after you add. For example, 2.41 + 2.33 = 4.74 . Round off before adding and you have 2 + 2 = 4 but the actual total of 4.74 is closer to 5. You really should round off after adding, not before. So 2+2=4 is incorrect in this situation.
Step 3: Fox News runs a story mocking the teachers who say 2+2=4 is incorrect, calling the teachers ivory tower elitists with no common sense.
Step 4: Trump takes advantage of the situation by directing the department of Education to write up a loyalty oath which every teacher must sign, threatening to withhold federal funding from schools who do not comply. The loyalty oath, written by CPAC, has several bullet points on it, including denouncing global warming and supporting school prayer. But the very first bullet point (which becomes the title of the document itself) is TWO PLUS TWO EQUALS FOUR.
Step 5: Republicans go along with this terrible plan because no one wants to be on record saying they are against 2+2=4. All the teachers who refuse to sign are fired and replaced. Whenever a Democrat steps up to say Hey wait a minute, Trump tries to shut down the debate by posting 2+2=4 on Twitter, and getting his supporters to chant 2+2=4 at rallies.
If that happened, Yes I would stand up and say what Trump is doing is wrong and we should fight to stop it.
Well said! The devil is in the details. One of the most successful dirty tricks of all time is doing the wrong thing for the wrong reasons but covering it up by claiming you’re doing the*** right*** thing. Want to build a pipeline but the local government won’t cooperate? Easy! Overthrow the government. Justify it by pointing out that the leader was a dictator. Conveniently ignore the fact that the country right next door, our ally, is also a dictatorship. If anyone objects, say to them, “We are spreading democracy. Don’t you think those people deserve democracy? You’re not against democracy, are you???”
Yeah, it is weird. Why in the world is anyone on the left suddenly believing Trump? Why in the world does anyone think that Trump is actually going to do something to help with LGBT rights? Because he said so?
You guys cite ulterior motives. Well, then, he’s going to be working towards something else. And, unlike any other politician, he doesn’t feel obligated to do what he says in order to save face or cover for what he’s really doing. So he’s just going to work for whatever goal he has, and nothing else.
If it’s to punish Iran or attack the Middle East? That’s what will happen. Is it just creating a narrative to appeal to young people? Then that’s all it will be. There is absolutely no reason to believe that there would be any meaningful change.
The only reason to think this could be good is if you think he’ll mess up his goals so badly that he winds up actually helping. But that’s like putting a bull in a china shop and hoping that it happens to protect the valuables in the back from thieves before it leaves.