Update from the Sunland
No.888
7.1.19 – 13.1.19
Blog version: http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/
To all,
The follow-up news items:
-- What would life be these days without the Bully-in-Chief (BIC) [846] doing his thing? Tragedy is a form of entertainment. Among his many tweets was this gem:
“Billions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forest fires that, with proper Forest Management, would never happen. Unless they get their act together, which is unlikely, I have ordered FEMA to send no more money. It is a disgraceful situation in lives & money!”
7:25 AM - 9 Jan 2019
This is foolish, outright spiteful vindictiveness that has no basis in fact or reality. He thinks he is punishing Californians for not supporting him. In reality, he is demonstrating and displaying how shallow and ill-informed (or rather ignorant) he is on national affairs. He sees only his personal image—nothing else. This is not about forest management; it is entirely about his perception of himself.
-- Well, what do you know! The BIC finally has a bona fide historic, world record all to himself and by his doing alone—longest federal government shutdown [884]. Congratulations Mister BIC, quite an accomplishment . . . and you truly did it all by yourself, no one helped you. You created the “crisis.” You rejected all bipartisan congressional efforts to avoid the shutdown. And, you ignored all voices of sanity and reason to find different means to accomplish your objective. Well done!
Then, Tuesday evening, the BIC decided to up the ante in his confrontation with Congress by publicly suggesting he might unilaterally declare a national emergency in order to bypass Congress entirely and allocate funds from other appropriation funds. In a prime time address to the nation, the BIC offered a reversed, surprisingly calm, rather stilted and short speech to justify his actions. The following day, the BIC summoned leaders of Congress to the White House Situation Room to follow-up his television speech. The meeting lasted a mere 14 minutes, when the BIC learned he would not get his way, just because he wants it or says so, he walked out to tweet:
“Just left a meeting with Chuck and Nancy, a total waste of time. I asked what is going to happen in 30 days if I quickly open things up, are you going to approve Border Security which includes a Wall or Steel Barrier? Nancy said, NO. I said bye-bye, nothing else works!”
12:34 PM - 9 Jan 2019
This is a tweet from a petulant child who was never taught by his parents discipline, respect for others, and compromise to find solutions. The BIC is clearly not used to being told no to his petulant conduct.
I was certainly not the only voice arguing against the BIC’s foolish suggestion.
“Trump’s Presidential Emergency – He probably has the legal authority, but it’s still a bad precedent.”
by The Editorial Board
Wall Street Journal
Published: Jan. 10, 2019; 7:11 p.m. ET
In a negotiation, the parties seek to find intersection and mutually acceptable or equally odiferous solutions. A negotiation is not bludgeoning an opponent into submission. For his self-proclaimed image of himself as the world’s greatest negotiator, he appears strikingly and markedly inept, adolescent and otherwise incompetent. My way or the highway is NOT an intelligent course for successful negotiations.
With the House passage of HJ Res 1 and HR 21 [887], the monkey is now on Mitch McConnell’s back. The Senate Majority leader could force the BIC’s very weak hand by putting the two appropriations bills to a floor vote and force the BIC’s likely veto. Even better, if the Senate passed the bills with 60+, it would signal a potential congressional override of the BIC’s likely veto. Further, senators and representatives could grow up to be mature adults and pass a joint, bipartisan, immigration reform bill with a veto-proof majority.
Unfortunately, the BIC is under the sway of far right-wing talking heads that hold to the decades old Republican mantra, border security first, nothing else, and then we’ll talk about immigration reform. Frankly, immigration reform is border security. As I have argued consistently and persistently, appropriate border barriers make sense when coupled with a defense in depth that engages all levels of government in genuine immigration control and regulation. The absolute best that can be expected by any wall, including the BIC’s vaunted wall, is time . . . that’s it; nothing more. As I have repeatedly noted, only a defense in depth, including border barriers to buy time where appropriate, will provide the border security we all seek. The BIC has been wrong and will always be wrong with his persistence on some magical, mystical, mythological wall.
Declaring a national emergency, as the BIC has the authority to do, he will only make matters far worse and push a solution much farther out. We need a freakin’ solution. The BIC’s wall is NOT the answer. The BIC’s holding 800,000 federal employees hostage is emphatically NOT the proper means to the objective, no matter how much the BIC whines about his impotence.
Comments and contributions from Update no.887:
Comment to the Blog:
Comments and contributions from Update no.887:
Comment to the Blog:
“I use Windows and LinuxMint, but I don’t have anything to do with Apple stuff, so I can’t help you there. I keep our correspondence saved in my email folders, but last week was so voluminous that I have the threads confused.
“NASA completed a major feat by reaching and studying Ultima Thule. We will learn a great deal from the data New Horizons sends back, beginning with the puzzle of Ultima Thule’s shape. I expect the Kuiper Belt will become a new frontier for astronomy with a head start from New Horizons’ data.
“Let’s not ignore the Chinese accomplishment in making a soft landing on the far side of the Moon. While landings have been made on the near side, the Chang’e craft’s landing gives us an opportunity for a great deal of new learning.
“I tire of discussing the damn-fool wall. Closing government departments is more important, especially for government workers, National Parks, the EPA's vital work, and those of us dependent on SNAP benefits for food. Give the baby his binky, which is a fraction of the cost of what he wants. We can take it back when he has been evicted or convicted. Chest beating over status benefits nobody.
“I lost track of our discussion of motivation. I believe results count above speculation, and I commend to you the results of Germany and the Scandinavian countries.”
My response to the Blog:
Thanks for that. I know the problem; it was my procrastination—it bit me. I was just explaining why some of our exchanges were missing.
A number of scientists hypothesize that many of the comets that visit the planetary portion of our solar system originate in the Kuiper and Oort Belts—deflected objects. I agree; those outer belts of orbiting objects are a remote but fertile ground for future exploration and perhaps even exploitation, except for one small factor—time. It took 12 years to get there.
I had considered adding the Chinese accomplishment, but the crash of my file lost that information, and I just did not have time to go reconstruct it. The data returned will be interesting. I congratulate the Chinese on their accomplishment and look forward to seeing the data.
I share your frustration with the BIC’s incessant chant about “his wall.” It is ridiculous. Unfortunately, the BIC has used the authority of the office to which he was elected to ensure “his wall” remains the primary obstacle . . . at least at the moment. The people the BIC is listening to have no skin in the game. That is as much of the problem as the reality of immigration control. Holding federal employees hostage for his failed greed and “negotiation” stance is morally reprehensible; but, the BIC’s reversion to immoral positions is nothing new for that man.
My apologies for the lost conversation. Yes, factual results are vital to our public debate. There are successful, stable, socialist states of various degrees. I think in our instance, at least from my perspective, the greater obstacle is endemic distrust & fear of government—the same phenomenon affecting meaningful firearm regulation.
Another contribution:
"Anyway, nothing wrong with the update-your BIC had his fair share as usual. Even over here we hardly have a news programme pass without a mention, mostly by surname only, no positional name, Christian name or nickname. I guess this shows the lack of respect that the outside world has for your ‘leader’. As for this wall, well surely there are greater and needier challenges in your homeland that needs the time and coinage he wishes to throw at this project.
"But we too have our problems-the parliamentary vote on BREXIT is all but upon us with utter and total division in the house still on all sides of the levitational parties. However our Prime Minister is a stalwart and has without falter said she would activate what the voters agreed-to leave the EU. And we will, with or without agreement. And with help from our commonwealth and ‘colonial’ (excuse the word Cap) friends we will again be an ‘independent’ trading nation devoid of interference from Europe. Reading this you would think I voted to ‘leave’ but I didn’t, however, we need to and will respect the wishes of the people, that’s democracy Cap."
My reply:
No way. I’m Apple through and through. The mistake was mine in not getting my Time Machine app working on my laptop. In the main, I am far more pleased with Apple performance than I ever was with Microsoft.
It is quite understandable why very few respect the BIC. I gave up on that many months ago. He does not respect the office he holds, why should I respect him; his office belongs to us, not him. I can ask for no better from my friends. Yet, the real tragedy in this episode of our history is NOT the BIC, it is the tribal mentality that has infected our culture, and the substantial, vociferous segment of our citizenry who have swallowed the BIC’s worthless snake-oil and truly believe they have been cured of all their ills. The effect on our citizens will last a long time after the BIC is dead and gone. But, I remain optimistic we shall overcome.
Thanks for the update on the Brexit vote. I liken it to removing a bandage off a wound; best make it quick and get it over with. Good luck, my friend.
My very best wishes to all. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Cheers,
Cap :-)
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2 comments:
Understand that “winning” requires an opponent or some type of conflict. That shapes King Baby’s every thought.
I have seen an announcement from a neighboring county that SNAP benefits will not be disbursed for February due to the shutdown. I have yet to verify this disaster. Hunger is a national issue. Border security is a red herring. Study real figures about our nation’s immigration in this century. There’s no need to change how we deal with it and no benefit at all to the "physical barrier" approach.
We know that King Baby takes no responsibility for his actions. (I’ll say again that King Baby probably has an insanity defense available.) That leaves Mitch McConnell with the responsibility for not stopping the shutdown and the circus more generally. Pence could probably do at least a little more as well.
Good luck to your English contributor on getting US cooperation on their trade woes. At this point, the US cooperates with none of our erstwhile allies.
Good evening to you, Calvin,
Yeah, regrettably, this has turned into a macho-thing for the BIC; his self-image is paramount to him. And yet, no matter how this crisis ultimately ends, the BIC will self-proclaim himself the solo victor—the nature of the beast.
I do not agree that border security is a red herring. I certainly understand your prioritization of hunger over border security, but that does not mean border security is not a valid issue. Perhaps you are implying that we have never had border security, so why worry about it now? IMHO, FWIW, border security (immigration control) is a proper issue; the BIC’s vaunted wall is NOT; the BIC’s wall is neither border security nor immigration control. Further, the traditional Republican position of border security first, and then they would consider immigration reform, is as wrong as the BIC’s wall. Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter are NOT the authorities WRT border security or immigration reform; but, those talking heads are clearly who he listens to in such matters. What the Republicans fail to recognize or acknowledge is comprehensive immigration reform is border security—not some damnable border wall.
Absolutely, of course the BIC takes no responsibility for his actions, for one reason and one reason alone—he is omniscient and thus he is never, ever wrong. So, when something fails, by definition, it must be someone else’s fault; it is impossible to be his responsibility. Insanity defense . . . not that far out. Now, McConnell and Pence are impotent, since a solution would look bad for the BIC; he did not get his cookie.
Yeah, the BIC has made sure to alienate our friends, and embrace and bend over for our adversaries (the other dictators) . . . makes sense to him (and no one else).
“That’s just my opinion, but I could be wrong.”
Cheers,
Cap
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