The Trump transition continues to be an embarrassing mess. Today, Trump is holding his first meeting with a foreign leader since being elected. And he’s going into it completely unprepared. The Washington Post reports:
The 5 p.m. session with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump’s first with a foreign leader since the election, has raised questions among some in Washington’s foreign policy community because Trump has apparently not been briefed by the State Department. Officials said Wednesday that the transition team has not reached out to State.
A former State Department official said such a meeting with a foreign leader would normally be preceded by numerous briefings from key diplomats, which is considered especially important here because the Japanese are concerned about comments Trump made on the campaign trail. …
“The world does not stop for the transition,’’ said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak freely. Trump “would want an intelligence briefing. You’d probably want to get briefed on what’s what happening in the region.’’
Face it, Trump transition team: You’re mired!
@Jack
All the deep blue states will be able to rebuke this act. I’m more worried for people in states that don’t care about the well being of others.
If/when this act passes, say hello to the possibility of numerous others when they all collectively realize all their darkest dreams can come true. Hell this might be a hail mary one, and they might have even more ridiculous bills in the wings but never shown them because they thought they would never come to pass in congress.
@Weird (and regrouping quickly) Eddie
I really don’t want a civil war, not even reluctantly. Because if there is, well when national guard comes along and sides with the racists, I don’t think I would want to stay in the US.
I’m afraid for them, too. There’s already so much shit they’ve dealt with. This just can’t pass.
It just can’t.
This is just…I don’t know. I just don’t know.
oops, it was TakeDownMRAs who tweeted this; the name fell off
FYI, I foresee that this image will be useful:
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CxhWLD6WgAA9ffI.jpg
It’s the “Lying Cat” from Saga.
Let the rulers show empathy for their fellows and strike this down.
On top of everything else, it’s so mind-boggling. Why do the Rs WANT this? What do they hope to gain? Is it just spite?
@Karalora
“Kill the unholy gays, get dem women back in line and re-institute god back into the Constitution. Oh and get the Jews ready for the Jesus bait so the apocalypse can happen and us conservatives get to go to heaven.” They literally see themselves as noble heroes fighting back against the filthy swarms of people who want to live lives in peace.
@Mish of the Catlady Ascendancy
Mike, how about you go through that huh? If you seem so earnest about it, why not go there yourself and test out the procedure? I’m sure everything would go fine dandy if they treated you like they treated so many others.
@Laugher at Bigots, Mincing Betaboy
If they haven’t shown empathy for the last several decades what’s gonna make them start now?
@Oogly
I’m sure some of them do, but all of them? What happened to the ones who were just in it for the money?
Y’all know Abe is the Japanese Trump right?
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/18/japan-confidence-trump-president-shinzo-abe
I don’t know what they’d gain from doing any of this, other than making so they can do what they want to people they don’t like, like some dime store cartoon villain. It’s just evil for the sake of evil at this point. Even from an extreme Christian point of view, all they’d gain is hurting others for not conforming to Christian “values”; maybe they think they’re preventing something, preventing what they deem as amoral from overthrowing shit? They still gain nothing. Jesus preached nothing about making people suffer for your morals.
Yeah, some of them, but that’s really only for a minority of Christians. I think maybe Evangelist are the only ones that are rooting for an apocalypse.The Rapture is only part of one Christian sect. Catholics, Protestant, Methodist, Calvinist, Mormon–they don’t want that, they don’t even believe in that, I don’t think.
I’m sure they’ll water it down. All it takes is pointing out what the likes of The Satanic Temple would do with it.
It is unconstitutional. I just don’t think whoever allows it to become law will care.
God, why didn’t they just not block Obama on picking a new judge??? They knew it would be Trump who picks if they get thier way. That’s just more evidence against the “Senate and Congress don’t like him” bullshit.
No. Republican politicians and thier supporters have been clamouring for a president like Trump. This isn’t the death throes of the far right, this may be its rise.
David, when it truely becomes appropriate, you should stop telling jokes about the Trump administration. This can get serious and very bad. I’m usually kind of an optimist. I’m not in favor of doom and gloom scenarios. But so many little red flags are going up and I’m frightened. Trump is showing incompetence, but also showing how dangerous he is.
Also, the Muslim registry will be a thing. It’s not like it never happened before. And the government is already watching Muslims just because they’re middle eastern and Muslim.
@Karalora
They never existed. It’s never just about the money. It’s about money giving them the power to hurt people and make them grovel.
@Ooglyboggles:
I don’t know, but I can hope.
It is already serious and already very bad. But that doesn’t preclude jokes, at least the right kind of jokes, at least some of the time. When jokes seem appropriate, I make jokes. When they don’t, I don’t.
Political critics have used humor to make their points for centuries:
https://www.google.com/search?q=cartoons+french+revolution&num=100&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwib9bW317HQAhWIrlQKHUSaDI0QsAQIGw&biw=1207&bih=555
David Futrelle — I got the impression that there’s a reasonable cause to be worried for your health and freedom, rather.
When I first heard there was some kind of “religious exemption” bill being considered, my first thought was let’s just encourage attaching all kinds of stuff to it. You know, sure, you can refuse service to LGBTQ people, as long as, in the name of your religious freedom, you are really careful to ensure that you refuse service to anybody who’s ever done anything your religion might consider a sin. Otherwise, you totally lose your “religious exemption.” Oh, and of course, if you’ve ever committed one of those sins yourself, you are just going to have to close up shop, entirely. Of course, you won’t have any customers, anyway, so it won’t matter much at that point.
Now that I’ve seen the particularly broad way it seems to be written, along with the odd pre-emption part. I can’t even amuse myself along those lines, anymore.
I’m really depressed right now. And it’s so amazingly counter to the very idea of religious freedom. Letting some groups impose their morals on other groups in the name of religious freedom? While making Muslims sign a registration? I’m seriously going to throw up.
@Handsome “Punkle Stan” Jack
You’re probably thinking about the pre-tribulation or “secret” rapture, which is mostly in the Evangelical sects. Other sects have different concepts of how things will play out that could be described as different forms or timings of “rapture”, whether they use that term or not. As far as “wanting” the end times, I can attest from personal experience that multiple sects – including Roman Catholicism, Missouri Synod Lutheranism, and Southern Baptist – have had movements within them, if not central doctrine, hoping for or even attempting to aid in the return of the Jews to Israel so that the Second Coming could occur.
What’s frightening about the eschatological movements, from a political standpoint, is how we have self-identified Christians claiming that the US must support Israel with the unspoken reason implication that it’s so that Jesus can come back and destroy everyone they don’t like, and yet this demand for unconditional political and military support is blamed on Jews.
Fuck you. Stay the fuck out of our lives. Stay the fuck out of our FUCKING BEDROOMS, you fucking CREEPS!!!! Just what the FUCK is wrong with you? What kind of disgusting, sick minds do you have that you think you get to decide or judge or even FUCKING COMMENT on any of this? What the hell is it with America that these people are even listened to with their religious shit? I don’t CARE what you believe, fuckers, NO ONE CARES WHAT YOU FUCKING “BELIEVE”!!!!! What CREEP gets so worked up about other people’s sex lives…? What is WRONG with them?!
It’s bad enough if you have creeps like that in your social circle/family (I do) and they just can’t stop commenting on your private life, but to actually allow them a national stage? To listen to them without laughing them out of the room as soon as they open their ignorant, uneducated, inferiority-complex riddled mouths?! HOW? HOW can anyone bloody VOTE for them? What’s WRONG with the people who voted for shit like this? I am just so angry. That people like this might get the chance to rule an entire fucking country…
If I can to anything at all to help those who will suffer from these fuckers’ “convictions”, tell me.
PS: Sorry for getting so emotional, but this feels really personal for me. 🙁 Feel free to ignore, I just needed to vent for a moment.
Hello.
It is a bit off topic, i am sorry, but i have a question.
I read in the newspaper (Le Monde, in France), that the Cuban electorate had mostly vote for Trump (in Florida, especially, if my memory is right). Is it true ? And if yes, is somebody have an idea why Cubans would prefer Trump rather than Clinton ?
Have a nice day.
@ occasional reader
That was explained to me thusly: the Cuban population in Florida is mainly composed of exiles and refugees. They hate the current regime over there. So they don’t like anyone who has dealings with the regime. The Dems started a bit of a glasnost thing with Cuba so the Floridan Cubans won’t support the Dems on principle.
But but but but…
Trump had dealings with Cuba way before embargo was lifted!
i cannot even
> Alan Robertshaw and Skiriki
Ok, thank you both for the explanations and the other informations !
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/174f0WBSVNSdcQ5_S6rWPGB3pNCsruyyM_ZRQ6QUhGmo/htmlview?usp=sharing&sle=true#
This may have been posted already, if so I apologize. Seems like they’re planning mass calls about specific issues in certain weeks/on certain days. If that’s right, it seems like a not too bad idea.
@Mish
I just woke up and… what the fuck holy shit that’s the VP saying that ? Is it already too late to go back to bed ?
@David, authorialAlchemy and Skiriki
On the contrary, I think it’s extremely important that David keeps on doing the exact same thing as long as it remains safe, because doing it is exactly what keeps it safe.
Yeah there’s a good chance Trump will go full-blown nazi and start doing whatever he can to persecute anyone who laughs at him. I mean that’s exactly what he’s done his whole life even before that whole POTUS thing. But the thing is, right now everyone’s laughing at him, and he can’t go after everyone.
That said, please be careful.