Saturday, July 26, 2014

Weekend Newsbites: Sat. & Sun., July 26 & 27, 2014




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The President may be preparing to provide temporary legal status to millions of undocumented immigrants

* THAT'S THE HEADLINE... FROM TIME MAGAZINE... WHICH OF COURSE NEGLECTS TO ADD THAT THIS WOULD BE A TOTALLY ILLEGAL - EXTRACONSTITUTIONAL - ACTION!

When President Obama issues executive orders on immigration in coming weeks, pro-reform activists are expecting something dramatic: temporary relief from deportation and work authorization for perhaps several million undocumented immigrants.

* KINGS HAVE SUCH AUTHORITY. EMPERORS. DICTATORS. NOT AMERICAN PRESIDENTS.

If the activists are right, the sweeping move would upend a contentious policy fight and carry broad political consequences.

* FOLKS... UNDERSTAND... THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA IS NOT... I REPEAT - NOT... GOING TO DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION. AT BEST THEY'LL SIMPLY AVOID MENTIONING THE CONSTITUTION.

* WE'RE... IN... TROUBLE...

The activists met privately with the President and his aides June 30 at the White House, and say in that meeting Obama suggested he will act before the November midterm elections.

(*PURSED LIPS*)

Exactly what Obama plans to do is a closely held secret. But following the meeting with the activists, Obama declared his intention to use his executive authority to reform parts of a broken immigration system that has cleaved families and hobbled the economy.

* MY GOD, FOLKS... JUST RE-READ HOW TIME MAGAZINE PORTRAYS WHAT AMOUNTS TO A COUP AGAINST THE CONSTITUTION!

* OBAMA HAS NO "EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY" TO "REFORM" ANYTHING...!!!

* FOLKS... FOR GOD'S SAKE, UNDERSTAND... THE REPORTERS AND EDITORS CHOOSE THEIR WORDS CAREFULLY AND DELIBERATELY! THEY MISFRAME REALITY TO ALIGN WITH THEIR POLICY GOALS AND PARTISAN LOYALITIES!

* FOLKS... YOU ALL KNOW ME... YOU ALL KNOW THAT IF BUSH HAD THREATENED TO DO WHAT OBAMA IS THREATENING I'D HAVE RAILED AGAINST HIM AS I RAIL AGAINST OBAMA!

After being informed by Speaker John Boehner that the Republican-controlled House would not vote on a comprehensive overhaul of U.S. immigration law this year, the President announced in a fiery speech that he was preparing “to do what Congress refuses to do, and fix as much of our immigration system as we can.”

* THEN WORK TOWARDS A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT GIVING PRESIDENTS SUCH AUTHORITY! BUT AS OF NOW... THEY DON'T!

Obama has been cautious about preempting Congress.

* GEEZUS FRIGGIN' CHRIST...!!! NOTICE HOW TIME PUTS IT - AS IF "PREEMPTING CONGRESS" IS A CONSTITUTIONAL OPTION! (IT'S NOT...!!!)

But its failure to act has changed his thinking.

* BUT NOT THE CONSTITUTION...!!! THE CONSTITUTION HASN'T CHANGED...!!!

* MY GOD, PEOPLE, IF WE'RE NOT A NATION OF LAW THAN WHAT ARE WE...?! WE CAN'T LET HIM GET AWAY WITH THIS!

* WHERE IS BOEHNER...?!?! WHERE IS MCCONNELL...?!?! WHERE IS GEORGE W. BUSH...?!?! WHERE ARE THE LIVING FORMER ATTORNEYS GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES...?!?! WHERE ARE THE DEANS OF OUR NATION'S FOREMOST LAW SCHOOLS...?!?!

* WHERE... ARE... THOSE... WHO... WOULD... DEFEND... OUR... CONSTITUTION...?!?!

Obama has a broad menu of options at his disposal...

* ASSUMING HE IGNORES THE CONSTITUTION...!!! ASSUMING CONGRESS, THE COURTS, AND "WE THE PEOPLE" ALLOW HIM TO DO AS HE PLEASES WHEN HE PLEASES AND THE RULE OF LAW BE DAMNED!

...but there are two major sets of changes he can order. The first is to provide affirmative relief from deportation to one or more groups of people. Under this mechanism, individuals identified as “low-priority” threats can come forward to seek temporary protection from deportation and work authorization. In 2012, the administration created a program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), that allowed eligible young unauthorized immigrants to apply for a two-year reprieve from deportation and a work permit.

* A NUDGE. A STEP AT A TIME. THAT'S HOW IT'S DONE, FOLKS.

* IN ANY CASE, "SETTING PRIORITIES" IS WITHIN THE CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY OF THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE. IGNORING LAWS... NOT SO MUCH (THOUGH HE HAS GOTTEN AWAY WITH IT)... AND WRITING ONE'S OWN LAWS... SUBSTITUTION ONE'S OWN WILL FOR THE RULE OF LAW... FOR THE CONSTITUTION'S STRUCTURE BASED UPON SEPARATION OF POWERS AND SPECIFIC ROLES... NO... THIS IS NOT WITHIN A PRESIDENT'S POWER - NOT WITHIN ANY PRESIDENT'S POWER!

The most aggressive option in this category would be expanding deferred action to anyone who could have gained legal status under the bipartisan bill that passed the Senate in June 2013.

* MY GOD...! LOOK AT WHAT THESE PRICKS AT TIME MAGAZINE ARE TRYING TO DO...! THEY'RE TRYING TO CONFUSE YOU TO THINK THAT SENATE ACTION ALONE EMPOWERS OBAMA! IT DOESN'T! (FOR GOD'S SAKE... ANYONE WHO PASSED 7TH GRADE SOCIAL STUDIES KNOWS THIS!) LAWS HAVE TO PASS BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS...!!!

According to a Congressional Budget Office analysis, the Senate bill would have covered up to 8 million undocumented immigrants.

* WHO CARES...?! TOTALLY IRRELEVANT! CONGRESS AS A WHOLE - HOUSE AND SENATE - MUST PASS THE SAME LAW AND THE PRESIDENT MUST SIGN THE PASSED BILL INTO LAW (OR HAVE HIS VETO OVERRIDDEN) OR ELSE THERE IS NO LAW... NO PRESIDENTIAL AUTHORITY TO ACT!

It is unlikely that Obama goes that far.

* BUT IF HE DID TIME MAGAZINE WOULD NO DOUBT BE FINE WITH THAT...

(*SIGH*)

But even more modest steps could provide relief to a population numbering in the seven figures.

* AGAIN... LOOK AT HOW TIME MAGAZINE PORTRAYS THINGS. "RELIEF." "TO A POPULATION NUMBERING IN THE SEVEN FIGURES."

* HOW ABOUT "RELIEF" TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE... THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER...?!?! HOW ABOUT "RELIEF TO A POPULATION NUMBERING OVER 300,000,000?

One plausible option would be to expand DACA to include some family members of those already eligible.

* NO! THE PRESIDENT HAS NO AUTHORITY TO DO THIS ABSENT CONGRESS CHANGING THE LAW!

Says a Congressional aide: “While there are several options to provide temporary deportation relief, we expect an expansion of the DACA program to other groups of individuals to be the most clear opportunity.”

* WHAT CONGRESSIONAL AIDE...?!?! AN UNNAMED ONE! I'M GUESSING A DEMOCRAT! MY GOD, PEOPLE... TIME MAGAZINE AND THE REST OF THE MSM WILL GO TO ANY LENGTHS TO SUPPORT "THEIR GUY." THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE MSM COULDN'T CARE LESS ABOUT THE CONSTITUTION... ABOUT THE RULE OF LAW. PARTISANISM... IDEOLOGY... THAT'S WHAT THESE SO-CALLED "JOURNALISTS" ARE ALL ABOUT.

Obama could also decide to grant protections for specific employment categories, such as the 1 million or so undocumented immigrants working in the agricultural sector...

* NOT LEGALLY HE COULDN'T...

...or to ease the visa restrictions hindering the recruitment of high-skilled foreign workers to Silicon Valley.

* ONLY IF CONGRESS HAS GIVEN HIM THAT POWER WITHIN LEGISLATION THAT IS PART OF PRESENT LAW! (OR GIVES HIM SUCH POWER VIA FUTURE LAW!)

Either move would please centrist and conservative business lobbies, who have joined with the left to press for comprehensive reform, and might help temper the blowback.

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

* SEE WHAT I MEAN ABOUT THE OLIGARCHY, FOLKS...

* TIME MAGAZINE IS RIGHT ABOUT ONE THING: PLENTY OF RINOs WILL JOIN WITH DEMOCRATS IN SHREDDING THE CONSTITUTION AND THE RULE OF LAW SHOULD THEY BELIEVE DOING SO GIVES THEM EVEN A SHORT-TERM BENEFIT.

(*PURSED LIPS*)

Until now, Obama has frustrated immigration-reform activists by insisting he has little latitude to fix a broken system on his own. To a large extent, he’s right. Any relief the President provides would be fleeting...

* AND DEPENDING UPON THE ACTION... ILLEGAL. UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

It’s up to Congress to find a permanent solution by rewriting the law.

* YES...!!!

Deferring deportations does not confer a green card. It only offers a temporary fix.

* THE DEFINITION OF "DEFERRING" BEING THE KEY DETERMINATE. AGAIN... THE PRESIDENT HAS THE AUTHORITY TO SET PRIORITIES - WITHIN REASON... SINCERELY IN KEEPING WITH THE SPIRIT OF EXISTING LAW - BUT HE DOESN'T HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO "WRITE NEW LAW" OR "RE-WRITE EXISTING LAW" SIMPLY TO SUIT HIS OWN POLICY PREFERENCES.

But legal experts say Obama does have the authority to take the kinds of executive action he is thought to be considering.

* YES... I'M SURE TIME HAS FOUND SOME...

(*SMIRK*)

“As a purely legal matter, the President does have wide discretion when it comes to immigration,” says Stephen Yale-Loehr, an immigration scholar at Cornell University Law School. “Just as DACA was within the purview of the president’s executive authority on immigration, so too would expanding DACA fall within the president’s inherent immigration authority.”

* I DISAGREE!

According to a recent report by the Center for American Progress, categorical grants of affirmative relief to non-citizens have been made 21 times since 1976, by six different presidents.

* SO...??? HELL... THAT'S MAKES MY POINT! IF SUCH ACTIONS WERE LEGAL... WERE CONSTITUTIONAL... WOULDN'T PRESIDENTS HAVE BEEN ISSUING SUCH GRANT LONG BEFORE 1976?

* ANYWAY, FOLKS... THE REPORTER/EDITOR JUST THREW THIS IN TO CONFUSE THE ISSUE. (NOTICE THERE'S NOT COUNTER-ARGUMENT ENTERTAINED WITHIN THIS ARTICLE!) IN ANY CASE, WHAT'S PAST IS PAST. WE TEACH OUR CHILDREN THAT TWO WRONGS DON'T MAKE A RIGHT FOR A REASON!

Even if Obama is on firm footing from a legal standpoint...

* SEE WHAT I MEAN ABOUT TIME MAGAZINE (AND THE REST OF THE MSM)! THEY PICK THE "EXPERTS." THEY SET THE STAGE. THEY CREATE THE ASSUMPTIONS... AND THEN REINFORCE THE ASSUMPTIONS VIA THE EXPERTS THEY CHOOSE!

(*GUFFAW*)

* THE SAD THING IS... THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE EASILY MANIPULATED... OFTEN SUCH TACTICS WORK.

(*SIGH*)

* NOT ON YOU, I HOPE! THIS IS WHY I PERSEVERE! THIS IS WHY I GO LINE BY LINE THROUGH THESE NEWSBITES - SO I CAN BRING YOUR ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU MIGHT NOT YOURSELF NOTICE BECAUSE YOU'RE BUSY WITH... LIFE.

Obama will be pilloried by Republicans no matter what he does.

* YES... THOSE EVIL REPUBLICANS...

(*SIGH*)

* IF ONLY REPUBLICANS - AND DEMOCRATS - WERE UNIFIED IN THEIR REVERENCE FOR OUR CONSTITUTION!

Despite the short-term political consequences, in the long run a bold stroke could help cement the Democratic Party’s ties with the vital and fast-growing Hispanic voting bloc. And it would be a legacy for Obama, a cautious chief executive whose presidency has largely been shaped by events outside his control. In the case of immigration, he has the capacity to ease the pain felt by millions with the stroke of a pen.

* FOLKS... AT THIS POINT THIS IS NO LONGER SIMPLY BIASED REPORTING - IT'S MARKETING! CLEARLY TIME MAGAZINE HAS A DOG IN THIS FIGHT!

3 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://news.yahoo.com/us-evacuates-embassy-libya-amid-clashes-115645465--politics.html

The United States shut down its embassy in Libya on Saturday and evacuated its diplomats to neighboring Tunisia under U.S. military escort amid a significant deterioration in security in Tripoli as fighting intensified between rival militias, the State Department said.

* GOD HELP US...

Speaking Saturday in Paris where he was meeting with other diplomats on the continuing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. was temporarily shuttering the embassy ... "So we are suspending our current diplomatic activities at the embassy — not closing the embassy — but suspending the activities ... ," Kerry said. "We are deeply committed and remain committed to the diplomatic process in Libya."

(*GUFFAW*)

* FOLKS... RECALL... INVADING LIBYA WAS OBAMA'S GRAND PLAN! ARMING THE REBELS WAS OBAMA'S POLICY! WHEN GADDAFI WAS MURDERED... THE-SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON LAUGHED... LAUGHED...

* FOLKS... WE HAVE SOME VERY SICK - AND SOME VERY INCOMPETENT - PEOPLE RUNNING U.S. FOREIGN AND MILITARY POLICY.

William R. Barker said...

http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2014/07/26/coolest-summer-on-record-in-the-us/

The frequency of 90 degree days in the U.S. has been plummeting for 80 years, and 2014 has had the lowest frequency of 90 degree days through July 23 on record. The only other year which came close was 1992 (and that was due to dust in the atmosphere from Mt Pinatubo).

* UMM... er... NEW BUMPER STICK: GLOBAL WARMING CAUSES GLOBAL COOLING!"

William R. Barker said...

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/world/asia/taliban-making-military-gains-in-afghanistan.html?ribbon-ad-idx=5&rref=homepage&module=Ribbon&version=origin&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Home%20Page&pgtype=ar

Taliban fighters are scoring early gains in several strategic areas near the capital this summer, inflicting heavy casualties and casting new doubt on the ability of Afghan forces to contain the insurgency as the United States moves to complete its withdrawal of combat troops, according to Afghan officials and local elders.

* WHAT A FUCKIN' WASTE. THE BLOOD. THE TREASURE. WE SHOULD HAVE GONE IN AND GOT OUT. BUSHED FUCKED IT UP... AND OBAMA CONTINUED TO FUCK IT UP. GOD HELP THIS NATION OF IDIOTS...

The Taliban have found success beyond their traditional strongholds in the rural south and are now dominating territory near crucial highways and cities that surround Kabul, the capital, in strategic provinces like Kapisa and Nangarhar.

* OF COURSE THEY DO! (IT'S AFGHANISTAN...!!!)

Their advance has gone unreported because most American forces have left the field and officials in Kabul have largely refused to talk about it. The Afghan ministries have not released casualty statistics since an alarming rise in army and police deaths last year.

* THEIR ADVANCE HAS GONE UNREPORTED BECAUSE REPORTING IT MIGHT HURT OBAMA AND THE DEMOCRATS... (GEEZUS... AT LEAST LET'S BE HONEST!)

In the past month, a once-safe district beside the major city of Jalalabad, east of Kabul, has fallen under Taliban control, and a district along a crucial highway nearby is under constant threat from the Taliban. South of Kabul, police forces in significant parts of Logar and Wardak provinces have been under frequent attack, to deadly effect.

* WHY RELEASE THE NEWS NOW? PERHAPS TO INNOCULATE THE ADMINISTRATION FOUR MONTHS BEFORE THE NOVEMBER ELECTIONS... MAKE IT "OLD NEWS." (OR PERHAPS THERE ARE SIMPLY SOME REAL REPORTERS AND EDITORS STILL WORKING FOR THE NYT - WHO KNOWS?)

On July 9, the Taliban overran a district center in Ghor Province, a rugged and violent area close to the center of the country, which left Afghan forces scrambling to reclaim it and smarting from the embarrassment. On Saturday, militants stormed Registan District in Kandahar, killing five police officers, including the district police chief, in a battle that continued into the evening.

Two weeks ago, in the Askin Valley area of Alasay, insurgents surrounded a village where the local and national police had only recently taken root. Tribal and interpersonal rivalries fueled the animosity toward the police, but the consequence was clear: The government was not welcome.

An estimated 60 insurgents surrounded Askin Valley and engaged in a gunfight with about 35 local and 10 national police officers in the area, according to police officials. The two sides fought for more than a week, with coalition aircraft entering the area to offer support for the beleaguered security forces. Eventually, the police were forced to retreat, along with hundreds of villagers.

Two police officials in the area, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, relayed the account. One, a local police officer, said the Taliban’s reach permeated the entire district, and the security forces were consigned to their bases, trying to stay alive.

“The Afghan security forces are controlling the bazaar for one in every 24 hours,” the commander said. “From 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., the police, army and local police come out of their outposts and buy what they need, then they go back to their bases.”