President Donald J. Trump: The words are painful for many of us. This is understandable; his persona is not one that engenders trust and comfort, and we’ve had it easy for eight years. Obama was quietly charismatic and sought bipartisanship; Trump is almost diametrically opposite. So yes, it’s a bit of a shock.
Since the inauguration, Mr. Trump’s opponents both in the (more…)
I’m going to be honest: This may never see Part Two. There is so very much to write about that a lot of very important things will certainly fall by the wayside over the next few weeks and months, and this may be one of them.
But it was a very important happening on Tuesday, and here it is Thursday and there’s been no coverage. The major media is letting this slide because they have the same problem I do: Too much happens all at once, and there’s only one front page.
But this is important (more…)
(NOTE: This article is being written in advance of the new Executive Order designed to function in place of that order of 27 January which has been partially blocked by the 9th Circuit. It is designed to be predictive in nature. When the new order finally is released, expect to see this updated with comparisons, but I’ll try to leave my predictions intact so you can see how smart I am — or how foolish, just as the case may be. The new order has now been released; comparisons are in a separate section at the end of the article.)
One week after taking office, President Trump released an executive order banning travel to this country on certain passports. I’ve written extensively on the pros and cons of accepting refugees, on the ways the ban went horribly wrong and why, and on the justifications for that ban. Combining that with the decision of the 9th Circuit to block some of its implementation, we should be easily able to predict what’s about to get ordered. (more…)
I don’t know about you, but when I woke up to discover that we’re having a refugee problem with Australia, it made my brain hurt for a bit. I mean, I know they’ve got this cane toad problem, and some of the most poisonous nasty creatures on earth live there — I mean, spiders and snakes, sure, but a snail? A deadly stinging tree? Gina Rinehart, for God’s sake?! — but that’s no reason to flee the country. Or maybe it is; I don’t know. I’ve never met the woman. (more…)
“I Hate This Place”
-Spider Jerusalem
“All government, in its essence, is a conspiracy… One of its primary functions is to regiment men by force, to make them as much alike as possible and as dependent upon one another as possible, to search out and combat originality among them. All it can see in an original idea is potential change, and hence an invasion of its prerogatives.
The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable…”
-H.L. Mencken, “The Smart Set” (more…)
(NOTE: This article has been revised again; the pros and cons listed have been kept up to date, even though the intro is vintage campaign.)
Major media outlets are full of reactions to recent announcements that the President will be asking to increase the ceiling on Syrian refugee acceptance for next year. Unsurprisingly, the stories are largely focused on the reaction to the announcement; contention drives the media profit mill, and so it would be unusual to see any other form of response from them.
Since it’s the height of the upcoming Presidential election cycle, it’s also not surprising that every hopeful candidate has (more…)
The Not Fake News 