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The naivety of the man-child they call Mr President

If anyone thought Trump’s campaign rhetoric was overblown bluff, the last week should have disabused them of that notion.

The man-child that they now call Mr President has been issuing executive orders at a blistering pace.

The only trouble is, there is no plan behind any of them.

Many of them appear to be unconstitutional, others illegal, others a green light for wealthy mates to transfer public money to private pockets without oversight, and others that are just not feasible.

Some, like the ban on people from certain countries entering the US, were enacted with no warning causing total chaos for people in transit and immigration and airline employees. A judge has already put a stay on that one for those who were in transit.

One example of the human face of this decision – Seyed Soheil Saeedi Saravi, by all accounts a brilliant young scientist from Iran, was due to travel to Boston to take up a fellowship to study cardiovascular medicine at Harvard – but his and his wife’s visas were suspended indefinitely.

Trump did not suspend entry for citizens from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Turkey – perhaps because he has multimillion-dollar business operations in all those countries.

Donald says he can build the wall because that is his expertise – construction. He can get it done. I would hazard a guess that Donald has never actually constructed anything in his life or even considered the logistics involved beyond paying for it, and even that he is unreliable about.

His idea of putting a 20% tariff on Mexican imports shows he has absolutely no understanding of the trade between the two countries and that it would be American consumers paying for it and American jobs that are reliant on that trade lost.

And where will the wall be built when the border is the Rio Grande? Will he block off access for American farmers to the river?

He has signed an order for the joint chiefs of staff to submit a plan in 30 days for defeating Islamic State. If it was that easy I think it would already have been tried. How will Americans feel about committing ground troops and how will they tell who are the terrorists?

He still wants to know what’s the point of having nuclear weapons if you don’t use them.

Trump apparently thinks that, by wiping all mention of climate change from the US government web site and placing gag orders on government departments, that he can make the problem go away. Approvals are to be fast-tracked, objections ignored, full steam ahead on two pipelines. This has prompted scientists to take the unprecedented move of organising to march on Washington.

There are many threats in the orders, for example the threat to border sanctuary towns which have many illegal immigrants – do as I say, deport them or I take away your funding.

The language of these proclamations and orders is unsophisticated. They read like the Christmas demands of an over-indulged child.

Don’t tell me there’s no such thing as a pink unicorn. Get me one or you’re fired.

Donald is very used to barking orders at people and, when things go wrong, walking away leaving disaster in his wake.

We are about to witness that on a grand scale.

95 comments

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  1. Dyve

    Baby Donald is really a kid who craps in the corner of his cot, crawls to the diametrically opposite corner and says, “It’s not mine!”
    And he’s only just started on his ‘program’. It’s gonna be great. Really, really great.

  2. Kate Ahearne

    Thanks, Kaye. I think one of the big problems for those of us who are watching this train wreck with horrified fascination is that there is such a wealth of detail that we just don’t know. You have been filling those gaps for us here, and in other posts. Great stuff.

  3. babyjewels10

    The cold, hard reality of living in a world gone mad: Nazanin Zinouri feeling fed up at DXB – Dubai International Airport.Follow
    11 hrs · Dubai, United Arab Emirates
    I normally don’t write long posts or any kind of political or religious comments.
    I apologize in advance and I don’t expect my friends to read this long long past!!
    But today I just couldn’t hold it any longer. Friday 1/20/17 started like any other normal day. I was excited about my trip to Tehran. After all I only get to visit them once a year. I was excited and anxious at the same time. I was worried about my little puppy but I couldn’t wait to see my mom…
    It was an uneventful trip. I made him home on Monday 1/22/17, after around 28 hours, exhausted but so so happy. We were all happy. I was going to eat lots of delicious Persian food and make tons of great memories and go back to my life in the US. But the happiness didn’t last that long. On Wednesday, we started hearing rumors about new executive orders that will change immigration rules for some countries including Iran. Soon we started reading drafts like everyone else. I might be banned from going back?!?! No that can’t be true. I’m not gonna let that ruin my trip. But then it got serious so fast. Before I knew it, it was actually happening. Even though I didn’t want to leave my family, I quickly booked a ticket to get on the next flight back. Only a few hours after the order was signed, I got to the airport, got on a plane and made it to Dubai. After waiting in the line to get my documents checked and after 40 minutes of questions and answers, I boarded the plane to Washington, only to have two TSA officers getting in and ask me to disembark the plane!!! Yes after almost 7 years of living the the United States, I got deported!!!
    No one warned me when I was leaving, no one cared what will happen to my dog or my job or my life there. No one told me what I should do with my car that is still parked at the airport parking. Or what to do with my house and all my belongings.
    They didn’t say it with words but with their actions, that my life doesn’t matter. Everything I worked for all these years doesn’t matter.
    I just had to say it…

  4. michael lacey

    Donald is a disgrace to have as President! But the Democrats allowed this to happen and I will not forget what they did!

  5. Keitha Granville

    The future for the USA looks bleak. I was a tourist there last year, had a great time. Just as well, probably wouldn’t be allowed in again. I reckon they will start questioning people about their political beliefs next. I am a socialist greenie so I’d definitely be out.
    As you say, he is just spouting “do this, do that, do it now”without any concept of the how and the ramifications this will have. I hope that for the sake of the country (and the world) some in the Congress realise befoe it goes too far.

    I would add God help us, but apparently DT is on very close terms with God so I am guessing that he may not be on our side.

    (take the time to listen to “with God on our side”Bob Dylan.)

  6. David1

    babyjewels10 ,,, so sad to hear of your disgraceful treatment, Trump is a mad man. There are very good people working hard to help those as yourself caught up in his insanity, with a stay already in action. Be strong, even this would be tyrant Trump may have to reconsider.
    May it all work well for you eventually. Hope you have found someone to look after your puppy.

  7. economicreform

    It might take another six months for the penny to drop – for all of the dumbed-down patsies who actually voted for him to recognise the folly of their decision. I predict that the Republican Party will soon tire of his childish antics antics and attempt to by-pass him in various ways. At the same time you can expect a media campaign orchestrated by the deep state (Wall Street, CIA, etc) to discredit and undermine his image and character, like they did to Nixon. They will drag out every skeleton in his closet (which contains many) and will continue in this vein until he is either persuaded by his party to resign or is impeached.

  8. Kaye Lee

    Accounts of the arrival at New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport of Hameed Khalid Darweesh, an Iraqi, read like a bad Hollywood movie – despite working for the US in Iraq for a decade, for which he was targeted twice, Hameed was detained but his wife and children were allowed in; his lawyer was not allowed to see him; and when the lawyer asked who did he need to contact, he was told by a border agent: “Call Mr Trump.”

    A Syrian refugee family of six, who have been living in a Turkish refugee camp since fleeing the living hell of the Syrian civil war in 2014, had been granted visas and were to arrive in Cleveland on Tuesday – their travel was cancelled.

  9. Stephen

    His plan for getting the Mexicans to pay for the wall probably consists of having Mexican companies build it and then not paying them, that is about the limit of his building experience.

  10. Steve Laing - makeourvoiceheard.com

    If the leaders of other democratic countries around the world showed a bit of solidarity, rather than tried to appease this big baby, then perhaps some sense might be brought to line. Because just now both Turnbull and May are just acting like total suckholes, and it will backfire badly. Either for the world, or their political careers, but it will end badly.

  11. LOVO

    Babyjewels10, I feel so sorry for you. I wish I could help. This is so wrong and so unnecessary. Please keep us updated on how things are going, I, like many here, wish you the best and hope that your situation is resolved soon.

  12. iggy648

    Over 4000 US soldiers died fighting for the democracy in Iraq and their citizens aren’t good enough for Trump? Wonder how the soldiers relatives feel about that.

  13. Terry2

    After numerous promises from Trump during the run-up to the election that he would release his tax files once a supposed IRS audit was concluded, we now here from Kellyanne – I do it my way – Conway that it’s not going to happen.

    Conway said in an interview when pressed on the subject :

    “The White House response is that he’s not going to release his tax returns,” Conway said.

    “We litigated this all through the election. People didn’t care,” she said. “They voted for him, and let me make this very clear: Most Americans are very focused on what their tax returns will look like while President Trump is in office, not what his look like.”

    Just how much of this lying will the American people be prepared to overlook and evidently forgive : this is why we need a strong, fearless and independent media who are prepared to hold politicians to account. Even Wikileaks have picked up on this and are prepared to publish whatever comes their way.

  14. George Swalwell

    Congratulations, again, to Kaye Lee for a brilliant piece of “telling it like it is”.

    Only a week since Trump was inaugurated – seems much longer!

    If only someone could organize a planetary yell, “You’re fired!”

  15. king1394

    As KellyAnne Conway said: “People didn’t care; They voted for him…” I never ever want to hear again anyone suggest that compulsory voting isn’t an important bulwark in Australian democracy. Because it’s clear that an awful lot of US voters did not bother, including those heroic anti-Clinton people who stressed that they were too holy to vote for her and so left the door open for him. Not voting was a vote for Trump

  16. Roswell

    Bacchus, it’s so unlike you to offer something that avoids confusion. ?

    Now, what on earth have you done with that cellar key that a nameless blog owner entrusted you with all those years ago?

  17. Kaye Lee

    Trump claims to be motivated by the horrific September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, but the countries of which the 19 aircraft hijackers were citizens are not on the list – most came from Saudi Arabia and the rest from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Lebanon.

    Also absurdly absent are Pakistan, Turkey and Afghanistan – all of them hotbeds of terror. In excluding them, Trump is grovelling to their leaders, not making a gesture to their people.

    In the 40 years to 2015, not a single American was killed on US soil by citizens from any of the seven countries targeted – Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen – according to research by the conservative-leaning Cato Institute.

    http://www.smh.com.au/world/donald-trumps-muslim-ban-excludes-countries-in-which-he-has-business-ties-20170128-gu0ptl.html

  18. Kate Ahearne

    babyjewels, Thanks for passing on Nazanin’s story, We’ll be hearing lots and lots of these stories from now on. But perhaps we can take heart, because it’s through story that minds are changed. These true accounts from people who are suffering the madness are very powerful persuaders.

  19. Kate Ahearne

    Michael, You say, ‘But the Democrats allowed this to happen and I will not forget what they did!’ Surely you mean ‘some democrats’. And Wikileaks. Let’s not forget Wikileaks.

  20. Bacchus

    Roswell

    I blame LOVO and his Blackberry Nip! ?

  21. Roswell

    Why didn’t I think of that.

    Gosh, where’s my mind? ?

  22. Roswell

    Kaye, you can’t let a little thing like business interests get in the way of an Executive Order.

    Business interests – as American as apple pie.

  23. LOVO

    *clink* to that Baccs…..and while your in the cellar could you have a look for Roswells mind…I think he’s lost it… down there amoungst the old undrunk bottles of Blackberry Nip 😛

  24. iggy648

    Can we nip over and poach some of the brilliant people this idiot is banning?

  25. Kaye Lee

    A FORMER KGB spy chief suspected of helping Brit spook Christopher Steele compile the Donald Trump ‘dirty dossier’ has been found dead in mysterious circumstances
    .
    The Sun reports that Oleg Erovinkin, described as a key source behind the document, was found dead in the back of his car in Moscow on Boxing Day.

    http://www.news.com.au/world/europe/russian-spy-oleg-erovinkin-linked-to-donald-trumps-dirty-dossier-found-dead-in-moscow/news-story/2f09fe637d692769d260d1f3fd603ddd

  26. nurses1968

    Trump has also created some fans from the Left/progressives on social media
    The MMTers with Trumps “the U.S. can’t default, because it prints money” line and those strongly opposed to the TPP, with him killing that off

  27. Kaye Lee

    “I am directing the Government to stop removal if there is someone right now in danger of being removed,” she said in the court hearing. “No one is to be removed in this class.”

    US Department of Justice attorney Susan Riley during the hearing said: “This has unfolded with such speed that we haven’t had an opportunity to address all the legal issues.”

    The lawsuit on behalf of the Iraqis challenged Mr Trump’s order on several grounds. It said the order violated the US constitution’s guarantee of due process by taking away their ability to apply for asylum, and violated the guarantee of equal protection by discriminating against them on the basis of their country of origin without sufficient justification.

    It also said the order violated procedural requirements of federal rulemaking. The next hearing in the case was set for February 10.

    But according to Trump, “It’s working out very nicely. You see it at the airports, you see it all over,” Mr Trump said.

    Donald just can’t accept that there are actually things called laws and due process.

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-29/donald-trump-immigration-order-roadblock-us-court-ruling/8221228

  28. Max Gross

    And our very own Aussie-style Trump – Tony Abbott (He wishes!)- sits on his pampered arse on the back bench like a time bomb. Blitherin feckin idjuts of the world unite… I mean, divide!

  29. Frederick Froth

    Strangely enuf (but perhaps not really) all of the “conservatives” associated with the Quadrant/IPA/Australian Spectator nexus think that the Trumpenfuhrer is more-than-wonderful.

  30. Kaye Lee

    I’ve always respected Rowan Deane’s opinion about things….NOT. The man’s a fool.

    They had a party to watch the US elction results. Mark Latham, Ross Cameron, Bronwyn Bishop, Miranda Devine, Janet Albrechtsen, Rebecca Weisser, Bettina Arndt were all there. I would pay a lot not to have to hang with that bunch of blowhards.

    Deane wrote “I knew Trump would win. I’d known for nearly a year, and had said so at every opportunity, much to the consternation/disbelief/horror of any I had made the comment to. (The moment he said he was banning Muslim immigration into the US “until we can figure out what the hell is going on” I knew he would not only win the nomination, but also the presidency. The first genuinely politically-incorrect leader of the modern era; unafraid to say the previously-unsayable.)”

    Can the fools have taken over so far that people have become that shallow?

  31. Rossleigh

    Not sure where the Rowan Deane comment comes from, Kaye Lee, but – in a strange coincidence – is he the same man who’s book I picked up yesterday while waiting at the newsagent and saw that Andrew Bolt had been quoted as saying that he was the best satirist in Australia?

    I was tempted to buy it just to find out what Andrew Bolt considers satire but I suspected that I’d regret it…

    It suddenly occured to me that I could collect some of my stuff together and ask Andrew Bolt if he’d like to endorse me. I figure whatever he said would probably be a selling point!

    Of course, if it’s a completely different person then this has been a long ramble about nothing. Perhaps I could take Turnbull’s place.

  32. Kaye Lee

    Rowan Deane writes for the Spectator (mentioned by Frederick). He isn’t smart enough to do satire but he has a new book out called “way beyond satire.” That’s him. I would imagine it’s atrocious going by every single time I have heard him speak which he does incessantly on the ABC and Sky

    #TrumpsAussieMates

  33. Kaye Lee

    It’s madness. As my mother would say, Blind Freddy could see this wouldn’t work. The man has no clue about the law and obviously neither do his advisers. It’s illegal for so many reasons and counterproductive for so many more. Loved the speech by the governor, Incompetence writ large.

  34. Kate Ahearne

    And Blind Freddy, who is no fool, would know that treating Muslims this way is going to get right up the noses of ISIS. Another edict that would have drawn a lot of attention if there weren’t so many stupid edicts, is the go-ahead for the Dakota pipeline, in which Trump has a significant interest. Bring on the impeachment!

  35. Kaye Lee

    I mentioned it in the article kate and there are two of them, Dakota and Keystone.

    “Approvals are to be fast-tracked, objections ignored, full steam ahead on two pipelines.”

    Interestingly Obama’s daughter was at a protest against the Dakota pipeline a couple of days ago.

    On Dec. 6, a spokesman for Donald Trump told the press that he had sold all of his stock holdings in June.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/timdaiss/2016/11/26/trump-owns-stake-in-hotly-disputed-3-8-billion-oil-pipeline-conflict-of-interest-looms/#79f50213727a

  36. Kate Ahearne

    Sorry, Kaye, I didn’t mean to suggest that you were ignoring it, but rather that we haven’t heard a lot about it in general. I did notice that bit about Obama’s daughter – good for her! And I just saw pictures of protesters at Standing Rock taken a couple of days ago – It’s snowing.

  37. Kaye Lee

    I didn’t take it that way kate. it’s all good. Well actually….it’s all so unbelievably bad that it’s hard to know where to turn.

    On January 25th Greenpeace activists hung a giant “Resist” banner from a crane near the White House. That is the term being repeated a lot on the Governors facebook feed you linked to.

    RESIST

  38. MichaelW

    Kate Ahearne, I read Andrew nut Bolts ‘opinion’ pieces. Why? I don’t know.. As I write replies my fingers are shaking in anger over the keyboard, not that many get posted anyway.
    The man is a total lunatic, should be sent back to where his parents came from. As for his devoted followers…. I’m speechless.

    Clicked onto the link you provided just to remind me what an idiot he is, hit a paywall, unfortunately his ‘comments’ are free at the Daily Telelaugh. I wish they would put him behind a paywall would keep my blood pressure down…

  39. Kate Ahearne

    Me, too Michael. I don’t know why I was able to get the whole piece through that link – it usually doesn’t work as you say. I can’t help wondering how long it will be before he’s wearing egg on his face, though. The train wreck is unfolding at a dizzying speed. I’ve been wondering whether we’re looking at the beginning of the Second American Civil War. But it could be so much worse than that – We really could be looking at the beginning of World War 3.

  40. Kaye Lee

    the response from Merkel

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C3VOmoZWEAAU_u3.jpg:large

  41. Kaye Lee

    Oops…that came out REALLY big but I don’t know how to fix it. Sorry all.

    The lawyers are going to have a field day what with this and the wall and all his other edicts. Wait till he goes after abortion and gay marriage.

    Many in the UK calling for Trump’s visit to be cancelled. Even Johnson thinks Trump has gone too far

    Boris Johnson ✔ @BorisJohnson
    We will protect the rights and freedoms of UK nationals home and abroad. Divisive and wrong to stigmatise because of nationality

  42. Lindsay Stafford

    It might take another six months for the penny to drop – for all of the dumbed-down patsies who actually voted for him to recognise the folly of their decision. I predict that the Republican Party will soon tire of his childish antics antics and attempt to by-pass him in various ways. At the same time you can expect a media campaign orchestrated by the deep state (Wall Street, CIA, etc) to discredit and undermine his image and character, like they did to Nixon. They will drag out every skeleton in his closet (which contains many) and will continue in this vein until he is either persuaded by his party to resign or is impeached.

  43. Matters Not

    Nothing like the ‘top of the head’ decisions by the ‘inexperienced’ to really f@ck it up. Two examples – albeit at the micro level.

    Minister 1 after taking office after the Joh years and being therefore naturally (and perhaps justifiably) ‘paranoiac’ was easily convinced that the ‘old regime’ was trying to maintain itself through both the new appointments and promotions process. So, decides that all new appointments, hirings, promotions and the like will be subject to ministerial review. Issued a ‘decree’ along those lines.

    Sound reasonable? Well it did to the Minister and his staffers at the time. Congratulations all round. A masterstroke!

    Truth is that ‘decree’ lasted about two hours.. When Principals (and others) found that they couldn’t ‘hire’ or ‘appoint’ relief teachers to take over from those on ‘sick leave’, those going on ‘long service leave’, those who were due to attend seminars and the like … teacher aides, groundsmen etc. A revolt across the State was underway.

    No more decrees from that Minister.

    Minister 2 (also completely out of his depth) arrived with his favourite public servant in tow – who could add and subtract with the best of them – and therefore concluded that the number of extra teachers promised in the Budget couldn’t be delivered because there wasn’t the extra dollars to employ same. (And there never is.) While Treasury does the sums, the political wing delivers the ‘rhetoric’ – press releases and the like. Treasury provides caveats, but political staffers are never constrained – they are always in search of the most optimistic numbers.

    While the Minister 2 and his favourite son were ‘convinced’, those ‘in the know’ were well aware that Budget numbers and those who give meaning to same are dealing with nonsense. But the punters don’t know that. Days wasted. Grid lock everywhere.

    So it is with Trump and his caravan. Simplistic solutions when applied to complex ‘policies’ and ‘organisations’ will inevitably lead to disaster.

  44. LOVO

    Kate, ww3??…isn’t that the war to end all wars where they fire the Clathrate Gun…and end All..wars. 😯
    Poor fella..my planet

  45. Lindsay Stafford

    economic reform I am sorry about the previous repost of yours, I wanted to reference it but it the wrong button and ended up posting it. Then while I was trying to edit it timed out !!??$$**

    I predict that the Republican Party will soon tire of his childish antics and attempt to by-pass him in various ways. … until he is either persuaded by his party to resign or is impeached.

    It must be remembered that Trump is not really a republican, nor was he the choice of the repub powers that be. I will give him maybe up to 12 months before said impeachment unless he is assassinated first. (I suggest that he stay out of Dallas or any of the rustbelt states that put him into power)
    The big trouble is once one of the aforesaid occurrences happens we will be left with Pence, who is acceptable and the things will get a whole lot worse

  46. Kaye Lee

    Thousands of pounds has been raised for an Iranian born Glasgow vet after she was left stranded in Costa Rica following Trump’s executive order.

    Hamaseh Tayari’s flight home from her holiday required her to change flights in New York meaning she would need a transit visa, which was revoked in light of the “muslim ban” because of her Iranian passport.

    Tayari, who grew up in Italy, yesterday told the Guardian: “I am destroyed. I did not know that I could cry for so long. It feels like the beginning of the end. How this is possible?”

    A group of Scottish women lead by Kathleen Caskie from the the Women for Independence campaign group, banded together to set up a Go Fund Me page to raise enough money for her new flight home.

    Caskie said: “Firstly, she works in Glasgow, so therefore is now Glaswegian, and you don’t cross Glaswegians and secondly, we hate Trump and finally, our reach is such that we could raise the money by midnight tonight if she needs it.”

    In the end, the cost of the flights, £2600, was raised in less than 33 minutes. Nearly £5000 has now been raised and all extra money will be donated to the Scottish Council for Refugees “in further protest against Trump’s policies.”

  47. Kaye Lee

    Sir Mo Farah, one of the UK’s most successful athletes has just issued a statement condemning Trump’s travel ban.

    The Somalia-born four-time Olympic champion who lives and trains in the US, said: “On 1st January this year, Her Majesty The Queen made me a Knight of the Realm. On 27th January, President Donald Trump seems to have made me an alien.

    “I am a British citizen who has lived in America for the past six years – working hard, contributing to society, paying my taxes and bringing up our four children in the place they now call home.

    “Now, me and many others like me are being told that we may not be welcome.

    “It’s deeply troubling that I will have to tell my children that daddy might not be able to come home – to explain why the president has introduced a policy that comes from a place of ignorance and prejudice.

    “I was welcomed into Britain from Somalia at eight years old and given the chance to succeed and realise my dreams.

    “I have been proud to represent my country, win medals for the British people and receive the greatest honour of a knighthood.

    “My story is an example of what can happen when you follow polices of compassion and understanding, not hate and isolation.”

  48. Kaye Lee

    Donald Trump would not have admitted the NSW winner and nominee for Australian of the Year Deng Adut, the child soldier-turned-Sydney criminal lawyer – and what a loss that would be.

    Taken from his family’s banana farm in South Sudan at the age of six and conscripted into the army, Mr Adut witnessed child soldiers like him holding guns to their heads in despair.

    In a powerful Australia Day address this year, Mr Adut spoke of the pain of being displaced as a child and the yearning for belonging.

    “I was denied the right to become an initiated member of my tribe,” he said. “The mark of ‘inclusiveness’ was denied to me.

    “I had to wait until I became an Australian citizen to know that I belonged.”

    NSW Premier Mike Baird, who made the announcement at the Museum of Contemporary Art, said Mr Adut “represents the very best of what makes our country great, and has channelled his success into helping hundreds of people in the state’s Sudanese community navigate their way through the Australian legal system”.

    An emotional Mr Adut joked: “I want to cry but I just have to man up.”

    He said a person was not an Australian because they were born in Australia but because Australia was born in them.

    What a person did for their country was what made it meaningful, he said.

    http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/deng-adut-named-nsw-australian-of-the-year-20161106-gsjfvz.html

  49. LOVO

    One would have to think that the Donald may be toast soon. It could be an impeachment or an mysterious heart attack or an assination or an rude video or woteva.
    One wonders if’n the world will dance..like they danced..when Maggie did a..ding..dong etc…
    I know I will….and I also know that that’s not right ? ….and I also know that I will click my heels in delight. ?
    Bring on the Impeachment….or woteva ??

  50. Kaye Lee

    He’s tweeting up a storm…next he will be silencing the press

    Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 44m

    Somebody with aptitude and conviction should buy the FAKE NEWS and failing @nytimes and either run it correctly or let it fold with dignity!

  51. Steven Forsyth

    I think you will find that all his policies will be Steve Bannon’s white supremacy agenda, and/or his own personal vested interests.

  52. TimeWillTell

    So what will you say when it is officially announced that it was actually Obama who named the seven countries? I can’t wait…

  53. Deanna Jones

    Someone should “buy” the ny times? By someone I think he means himself. This is scary shit.

  54. Kaye Lee

    And the deaths begin……

    A US commando died and three others were wounded in a deadly dawn raid on the al-Qaeda militant group in southern Yemen, which was the first military operation authorised by US President Donald Trump.

    The US military said 14 militants died in the attack on a powerful al-Qaeda branch that has been a frequent target of US drone strikes.

    Medics at the scene, however, said around 30 people, including 10 women and children, were killed.

    “The operation began at dawn when a drone bombed the home of Abdulraoof al- Dhahab and then helicopters flew up and unloaded paratroopers at his house and killed everyone inside,” said one resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

    “Next, the gunmen opened fire at the US soldiers who left the area, and the helicopters bombed the gunmen and a number of homes and led to a large number of casualties.”

    http://www.smh.com.au/world/donald-trump-authorises-us-special-forces-raid-on-alqaida-compound-in-yemen-20170129-gu11yb.html

  55. Kaye Lee

    Washington, D.C. ­– U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) released the following statement today on the President’s executive order on immigration:

    “Our government has a responsibility to defend our borders, but we must do so in a way that makes us safer and upholds all that is decent and exceptional about our nation.

    “It is clear from the confusion at our airports across the nation that President Trump’s executive order was not properly vetted. We are particularly concerned by reports that this order went into effect with little to no consultation with the Departments of State, Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security.

    “Such a hasty process risks harmful results. We should not stop green-card holders from returning to the country they call home. We should not stop those who have served as interpreters for our military and diplomats from seeking refuge in the country they risked their lives to help. And we should not turn our backs on those refugees who have been shown through extensive vetting to pose no demonstrable threat to our nation, and who have suffered unspeakable horrors, most of them women and children.

    “Ultimately, we fear this executive order will become a self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism. At this very moment, American troops are fighting side-by-side with our Iraqi partners to defeat ISIL. But this executive order bans Iraqi pilots from coming to military bases in Arizona to fight our common enemies. Our most important allies in the fight against ISIL are the vast majority of Muslims who reject its apocalyptic ideology of hatred. This executive order sends a signal, intended or not, that America does not want Muslims coming into our country. That is why we fear this executive order may do more to help terrorist recruitment than improve our security.”

  56. Harquebus

    The deaths continue. It’s not like Trump started it and nor did Obama. Just let it roll on.

    Search criteria: obama drone casualties

    The war on terror and on drugs are not meant to be won. They are mechanisms to feed the industrial warrior machine and to provide the excuses needed to continually erode our liberties and steal our wealth.

    Cheers..

  57. Kaye Lee

    Of course Harquebus but when American military die on foreign soil, it gets the attention of the US public. Hopefully they will hear about the women and children who were also killed. It’s Trump’s first military death and I have a bad feeling it will be the first of many.

  58. Rossleigh

    By “someone”, he means Rupert, because Fox has been giving him a good run. Of course, Trump should realise that Murdoch is just as likely to turn on him when he doesn’t do all that he wants.

  59. Harquebus

    Kaye Lee

    That soldier will be honored as a war hero. I expect to hear lots of glorification and see lots of symbolism.
    If Trump goes to that soldier’s funeral, I will puke.

    Cheers.

  60. Kyran

    Dr Venturini’s recent articles about the axis of evil that created the Iraq problem serve as a reminder that it all started because of WMD and retaliation for 9/11, both of which were demonstrably false. Notwithstanding that this involvement has been going on since 2003 and has served only to embolden extremist gits and create more refugees. Notwithstanding George Dubbya declared ‘mission accomplished’ more than a decade ago. Notwithstanding that Iraq was allowed to become the access point for incursion into a sovereign state (Syria) by the axis of evil. Notwithstanding that this mess was caused by the axis of evil, using extremist gits as their excuse.
    We now have a situation where the US have over 5,000 troops in Iraq fighting extremist gits. Chump has just put them at odds, not just with the extremist gits, but with the people of Iraq. Surely the people of Iraq have a right to question their presence if this numb-nut has just declared the people of Iraq to be ‘undesirable’? Surely the people of Iraq have a right to ask ‘Why have we suffered through this for more than 15 years and are still deemed ‘undesirable”?
    There will be a lot more than one soldiers funeral. Harquebus, get a big bucket. Chump will probably go to all of the funerals. Not the civilian casualties, though. They don’t count.
    Thank you, Ms Lee and commenters. Take care

  61. Roswell

    Get ready to puke, Harquebus. I expect nationalism to be whipped up to code frenzy.

  62. helvityni

    Vomit buckets are selling like hot cross buns at Easter time, all colours and sizes still available…

  63. Harquebus

    Bucket is at hand.
    Thanks.

  64. ace Jones

    I cant think of an race who have had their nationality prefixed by … ” The Ugly ” as in “The Ugly American” … surely Trump epitomises this reputation and further enhances that view.
    USA will wear their choice of this leader as a millstone around their neck for long, long time to come.

  65. Kate Ahearne

    People commenting on this thread have made so many excellent points and shared a wealth of information. Thanks.
    Kaye, You must have been up all night!

  66. jimhaz

    [If Trump goes to that soldier’s funeral, I will puke]

    Good op for him to tweet a selfie with the open casket.

  67. TimeWillTell

    I’m so sick of seeing regurgitated, George Soros funded claptrap plastered all over MSM and the internet. This is the role Trump was born for. That’s why the powers that shouldn’t be are pooing themselves and doing everything they can to portray him as a monster and destroy him. If you see Trump as a problem to be solved instead of a product of a discredited and failed system, you present more an obstacle than a solution. He needs everyone’s support. If you believe in your heart the system is as corrupt as he does, don’t let him down.

  68. jimhaz

    [Russell Brand met Donald Trump in 2016]

    Well worth listening to all his recent TREWS podcasts, as well.

  69. Ross

    We collectively created the conditions for a Donald Trump to take power.
    Russell Brand – Trump, Right, OKay, the world’s gone nuts:

  70. jimhaz

    @TimeWillTell

    There once was a thing called “honour”.

    Do not ask us to be dishonourable in the meantime for an end result we cannot see. We do not see greater distribution occurring.

    Unlike you we are unwilling to sell our souls to the devil at this Crossroad just because we suffer from the Establishment Blues.
    (Robert Johnson myth, Rodriguez song)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_7u06P3ebU

  71. Kaye Lee

    reports out of the Trump White House say, the former Breitbart head, Steve Bannon, has been the driving force behind the string of extreme executive orders Trump has issued in his first week in office

    Despite the furor over the so-called Muslim ban, all signs suggest Bannon’s influence over Trump is actually growing. Another recent executive order added Bannon to the National Security Council, the president’s key advising group on foreign policy. The order also kicked the the Director of National Intelligence and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff., America’s top military commanders, off the council.

    http://www.vox.com/world/2017/1/29/14431332/steve-bannon-muslim-refugee-ban-explained

  72. Kaye Lee

    After Trump’s phone call with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, he tasked his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner — a real estate executive with no national security experience — with managing the ongoing dispute, according to an administration official with knowledge of the call.

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-trump-kushner-diplomacy-20170128-story.html

    Charlie Kushner, Jared’s father and a Manhattan real estate tycoon, was sent to prison in 2005 for tax evasion, witness tampering and illegal campaign contributions.

    http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/jared-kushner-family-trump-holocaust-225210

  73. TimeWillTell

    Um.. Excuse me but Trump has not banned Muslims from entering the US. Trump has placed a temporary ban on selected countries where terrorism reigns supreme while a proper vetting system is installed. If you can’t tell the truth silence may be best.

  74. Kaye Lee

    Shame on You, Jared Kushner

    Jared Kushner’s grandmother was a Holocaust survivor who was repeatedly denied entry to the US. These were her words.

    “For everybody [there] was a place…but for the Jews, the doors were closed. We never can understand this. Even our good President Roosevelt, how come he kept the doors so closed for us, for such a long time? How come a boat [the SS St. Louis] went for exodus on the water and returned back to be killed? This question I’ll never know, and nobody will give me the answer.”

    http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.768246

  75. Kaye Lee

    TimeWillTell,

    How come he didn’t ban people from Pakistan? Or the countries that the 9/11 bombers came from? 15 of the 19 were citizens of Saudi Arabia, and the others were from the United Arab Emirates (2), Egypt and Lebanon.

    No person from any of the banned countries has ever killed anyone on US soil in a terrorist act. Did it ever occur to you that refugees are fleeing from terrorism and our bombs?

  76. jimhaz

    [Um.. Excuse me but Trump has not banned Muslims from entering the US. Trump has placed a temporary ban on selected countries where terrorism reigns supreme while a proper vetting system is installed. If you can’t tell the truth silence may be best]

    But he has not done it with any form of honour – no allowance made for those in transit or with legit business or sports interests, no real discussion with anyone expect his cronies – and most importantly of all nothing in relation to countries he has investment in or who fund terrorists and adore fundamentalism as a means to retain non-democratic power like the Saudi regime.

    It is the sort of policy one should do quietly and gently after much consideration.

  77. Kate Ahearne

    Thanks for that, Kaye. And it is now clear that Trump wants only Christian refugees to be accepted into the US.This does seem to be in contradiction with what Mr. Turnbull is telling us about ‘the phone call’, but both gentlemen are well able to rise above mere trifles like contradiction.

  78. TimeWillTell

    Perhaps because 9 of the 19 have turned up alive and well and we won’t mention the mounting evidence of Israel’s involvement in 9/11 will we or make any reference to the atrocities happening in Europe of the fact this is a continuation of one of Obama’s policies.

  79. Kaye Lee

    The San Bernadino attackers – Farook was an American-born U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent and his wife Malik was a Pakistani-born lawful permanent resident of the United States. Farook and Malik had traveled to Saudi Arabia in the years before the attack.

    Countries where Trump does business are not hit by new travel restrictions

  80. Kaye Lee

    Gee why does it not surprise me. 9/11 conspiracy rears its ugly head yet again. We won’t be discussing it here thanks anyway TWT.

  81. Kate Ahearne

    TimeWillTell, ‘Perhaps because 9 of the 19 have turned up alive and well ..’ You are wasting the precious time of people here who are deeply concerned about what is happening. One of the things that they are deeply concerned about is ‘fake facts.’ You are a troll, Sir/Madam. If you would be interested, I could recommend some sites where you would be most welcome.

  82. Kate Ahearne

    In Internet slang, a troll (/ˈtroʊl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory,[1] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the intent of provoking readers into an emotional response[2] or of otherwise disrupting normal, on-topic discussion,[3] often for the troll’s amusement.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll
    The Sad Truths of Internet Trolls:

    Serious trolls are immune to criticism and logical arguments. True trolls cannot be reasoned with, regardless of how sound your logical argument is.
    Serious trolls do not feel remorse like you and me. They have sociopathic tendencies, and accordingly, they delight in other people having hurt feelings.
    Trolls, in general, consider themselves separate from the social order.
    Trolls do not abide by etiquette or the rules of common courtesy.
    Trolls consider themselves above social responsibility.
    Trolls gain energy by you insulting them.
    Trolls gain energy when you get angry.
    The only way to deal with an online troll is to ignore him, or take away his ability to post online.
    https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-an-internet-troll-2483704

    No more oxygen for you from me.

  83. Kaye Lee

    Five people have been killed in a shooting in a mosque in Quebec City. The hounds are well and truly off the leash

  84. Miriam English

    The stupidity, delusion and malevolence of TimeWillTell is exactly what propels nasty morons like Trump to power.
    TimeWillTell stands as a perfect example of believing insane things for all the wrong reasons and promoting maximum evil as some kind of “cure” for imagined problems. This is what conspiracy theories accepted without care for verifiable facts does to a person’s mind.

  85. Harquebus

    Not all trolls are human and I suspect that some arguments are trollbot vs trollbot.

    The hounds have been well and truly off the leash for quite some time.

    “Eight women and eight children were among those killed, a provincial official, who did not want to be named, and tribal sources told the AFP news agency.
    The killed al-Qaeda figures were identified as brothers Abdulraouf and Sultan al-Zahab and Saif Alawi al-Jawfi.”
    “According to the UN, more than 10,000 people have died – nearly half of them civilians – since a Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes on Yemen in March 2015.”
    http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/01/yemen-170129101045539.html

  86. Koalaism

    n Internet slang, a sheeple (/ˈshee/, /ˈple/) is a person who knows the media is bought and paid for but still believes whatever they are told. Usually because (1) The alternative is too uncomfortable to deal with. (2) It contradicts their own opinion. (3) They are paid to enforce the doctrine of their masters.

  87. Jennifer Meyer-Smith

    I reckon Humpty Dumpty didn’t think about where the Rio Grande is and that it is inconveniently located for his plans!

    Maybe his tender submiters can suggest two walls on each side of the Rio Grande and a bunch of pirates permanently on the river to capture any would-be asylum seekers by boat?

    Whatever way, if Humpty Dumpty does get his wall built, Americans should sit him upon it and when he falls, he will have fulfilled his destiny.

  88. Koalaism

    Koalaism – Noun
    A cute and cuddly belief system we can wrap ourselves up in and feel secure. Not necessarily restricted to Snowflakes..

  89. Jennifer Meyer-Smith

    Koalaism,

    thanks for the interjection but we’re talking about you NOT to you.

  90. Harquebus

    This was the second on the list for “theaimn yemen” search so, here it goes. Number one was closed for comments.

    “the war is causing one Yemeni child to die of malnutrition every 10 minutes”

    I just thought that it could use a few more page hits. Hope our ABC doesn’t mind.

    Cheers.

  91. Jennifer Meyer-Smith

    An appropriate reminder, H, that Yemeni people need our watchfulness and critical analysis of how the super-powers conduct themselves.

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