my contributions:
They couldn’t impeach Trump for war crimes, oh, no: but for phone call to Zelenskiy in Ukraine, who’d said “No quid pro quo”, but it’s all about ‘Russia’s War on Ukraine!’
Cue Pomp and Circumstance as you watch this Noble and Weighty Procession!!
@senatemajldr ‘Yesterday, the Speaker celebrated impeachment with souvenir pens, bearing her own golden signature, brought in on silver platters. The House’s partisan process distilled into one last perfect visual. Not solemn or serious. A transparently political exercise from beginning to end.’
davidly
Greyson Smythe
LeMoyne
juliania2
ohiobarbarian
stephenadavis1
wendyedavis
café babylon 
the software’s acting up again, and i can’t get a ‘more’ break to work, and other bothersome problems.
Sorry about that, wendye. Thanks though for the strange parade!
my first contribution was to be some passages from this: ‘Russian political earthquake: Putin sets out plan for Kremlin departure & Medvedev resigns’, Bryan MacDonald, RT.com, Jan. 15, 2020
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/478381-russian-government-resignation-mishustin/
but in the end, i’d had to delete it all. some weird
i actually did read b’s coverage of it, and was glad to see that some of you had explained what was really going on to him. medvedev, according to sputnik, needed to be replaced. but bully on vladamir! as long as he keeps FM lavrov, it’s all good. ; )
I watched the circus today on c-span hoping to see some light, enjoyed the blonde democrat lady for her savvy and brightness, (her name began with an L but I chucked my notes in the fire long before the end.) She’d have been great if there were any ‘there’ there, but of course there wasn’t from either side, so it all turned out plenty stupid. Both sides were in the Big Muddy and each flagrantly abusing my time, as each had a fine time picking on the other in righteous indignation — who cares about substance?
The crumb of truth was that presidents don’t get to be kings, though why T would want to be such on this flimsy question is hard to see. I pricked my ears up when they started throwing a ‘drugs’ argument back and forth, but apparently that was meant to be metaphorical. And of course to the sensible argument (I thought) that you should hear all the evidence even at the Senate stage (okay how about murder?) the ‘let’s table that’ got passed ‘cos the Repubs have more senators nyah, nyah,nyah.
Just a lovely semantic dosidoh on how many senators can dance on the head of a pin — if you enjoy that sort of thing.
ah, juliania; as i’d said to wayne hall, mine eyes and brain are too burned out by now to even read straight, much less think straight. tomorrow online should be easier, although not so much in ‘real life’.
hope you got some of this wonder slow rain and light snow; seems like a miracle here!
But thanks for bringing Putin’s ‘State of the state’ address, wendye, now there’s something I can sink my teeth into! I loved it. I think he combined what used to be good about US Constitutional matters with what is currently good about the Chinese system. You have this group of seasoned (thanks to the Chicago boys) government ministers, and the one that really gets approval is the one who’s managed to stay afloat in the financial spot. So, it is a meritocracy he’s pushing.
I loved it though that he starts the speech with the needs of the people, gives straightforward policy incentives for families, elderly, etc. You can see the wheels at work – they’ve had to improvise with the US throwing in their lowballs, with war issues as well, so, like FDR they’ve been throwing things against their wall and seeing what sticks. And he wants to change the system in flexible ways so everyone (and they all had resigned so there’s no opposition – how great is that – harmony?) gets the position they’ve shown themselves to be good at.
I loved that bit about the oligarchs because it’s true. Like the grinch, it’s possible to become a greathearted patriotic oligarch – no oligarch clans though, not like the US! We didn’t used to have oligarch clans, but boy we’ve got ’em now! Too big for their boots they be. Let the House and Senate prance around — who cares? We’ve got ’em where we want ’em, they say and they are right!
But I’m sure that’s more than enough adulation from me. That’s how you do a state of the union message, though. I already know what ours will be, and … no comment needed.
exquisite, save for i dunno about this: ‘thanks to the chicago boys’, as they’re milton friedman & friends.
as to DT’s state of the onion, i just read that the Rs are limiting witnesses so he can be found not guilty before that heady day comes, when all eyes will be glued to MAGA!
Bit of an escalation.
Border Patrol Will Deploy Elite Tactical Agents to Sanctuary Cities
Agents from a special tactical team that normally confronts smugglers on the border are being sent to sanctuary cities across the country.
New York Times, By Caitlin Dickerson and Zolan Kanno-Youngs, February 14
The Trump administration is deploying law enforcement tactical units from the southern border as part of a supercharged arrest operation in sanctuary cities across the country, an escalation in the president’s battle against localities that refuse to participate in immigration enforcement.
The specially trained officers are being sent to cities including Chicago and New York to boost the enforcement power of local Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, according to two officials who are familiar with the secret operation. Additional agents are expected to be sent to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Boston, New Orleans, Detroit and Newark, N.J.
The move reflects President Trump’s persistence in cracking down on so-called sanctuary cities, localities that have refused to cooperate in handing over immigrants targeted for deportation to federal authorities. It comes soon after the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security announced a series of measures that will affect both American citizens and immigrants living in those places.
[…]
In sanctuary cities, the BORTAC agents will be asked to support interior officers in run-of-the-mill immigration arrests, the officials said. Their presence could spark new fear in immigrant communities that have been on high alert under the stepped-up deportation and detention policies adopted after Mr. Trump took office.
[…]
But Gil Kerlikowske, the former commissioner of C.B.P., which oversees tactical units along the border, said sending the officers to conduct immigration enforcement within cities, where they are not trained to work, could escalate situations that are already volatile. He called the move a “significant mistake.”
thanks for adding the content; i was trying to get into the times on an errand today, and couldn’t even get past a new free (limited) account no matter what.
gawd’s blood, of course it will ‘escalate already volatile conditions; will gil ‘get fired’ now?
hope you’re well; g’ night.
Yes, thanks, I’m fine.
I was just listening to the radio, and this story came on.
CBP’s New Secrecy Protections
On The Media, February 14
Among the norms straining to govern our top law enforcement agencies are the basic presumptions of openness safeguarded by measures like the Freedom of Information Act. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), for instance, was required to disclose its operations, salaries, and staffing — much like any local police department. But under the Trump Administration, it has aspired to greater secrecy. The Daily Beast’s Betsy Swan has reported on efforts by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and CBP to join the “intelligence community,” which is made up of agencies that use wide-ranging powers to surveil, detain, and inquire, without the risk of the public finding out. (Usually.)
The CBP was rebuffed in its effort to join the “intel community,” but it has nonetheless acquired new secrecy protections. Earlier this month, Ken Klippenstein, DC correspondent for The Nation, reported on a leaked memo, signed by CBP’s acting director, that indicated that the agency had been re-designated as a “security agency,” bumping itself up to a whole new echelon, with privileges regarding transparency. In this segment, Brooke and Klippenstein discuss how that decision came to pass, and what it means for the reporters attempting to cover immigration policy and enforcement in the Trump era.
Klippenstein’s article at The Nation: Exclusive: Customs and Border Protection Gains an Extra Layer of Secrecy
On Friday, the Trump administration quietly designated the entire Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency, which polices US borders, as a “Security Agency,” according to an internal memo obtained by The Nation. This follows repeated attempts by federal immigration authorities to dramatically expand their reach in recent years.
[…]
The [leaked] memo states: “I am pleased to announce CBP has been designated as a Security Agency under Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) official Data Release Policy, effective immediately. Previously, only frontline law enforcement, investigative, or intelligence positions held this designation. This policy change now protects all CBP employee names from subsequent responses to Freedom of Information Act requests or other public disclosures for CGP employee data.”
another wendy; welcome to the café!
Interested in a human interest angle?
The Undocumented Agent
The Atlantic, By Jeremy Raff, February 2020
One afternoon in April 2018, Raul Rodriguez was working on his computer at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office in Los Indios, Texas, when two managers entered the building. Somebody must be in trouble, he thought. The managers usually arrived in pairs when they needed a witness.
For nearly two decades, Rodriguez had searched for people and drugs hidden in cargo waiting to get into the United States. He was proud of his work as a Customs and Border Protection officer; it gave him stability and a sense of purpose. Even in the spring of 2018, when public scrutiny of CBP began to intensify—the agency had officially started separating children from their parents—Rodriguez remained committed to his job. Though he wasn’t separating any families at the border, he’d canceled the visas and initiated the deportations of thousands of people in his years of service.
“Hey, Raulito,” one of the managers said, calling him over. Rodriguez walked past agents who were trying to look busy on their computers. Just two years from being eligible to retire, Rodriguez says he had an unblemished record. He couldn’t imagine what the managers wanted.
and the title was actually:
‘The Undocumented Agent; After spending nearly two decades facilitating deportations as a Customs and Border Protection officer, Raul Rodriguez discovered that he was not a U.S. citizen. Now he’s at risk of deportation himself.’
good gawd all-friday. a hyperlink within to some title like ‘trump ends obama’s border protection’; as if! i have photos somewhere of his caged children on the border, too.
This American Life has a piece on this guy, too, airing today: Nowhere Man.
nothing there for me, no button, no nuttin’, but it does say ’28 minutes’! that’s okay, i don’t have the time, but how poignant: ‘nowhere man’. but a good chance to cue this up:
wsws coverage: ‘White House orders militarized border patrol unit to carry out raids in “sanctuary cities”’, Andre Damon. 15 February 2020
“The specialized border unit was described by the New York Times as follows: “With additional gear such as stun grenades and enhanced Special Forces-type training, including sniper certification, the officers typically conduct high-risk operations targeting individuals who are known to be violent, many of them with extensive criminal records.”
These hardened police thugs will be deployed to immigrant working class neighborhoods where ICE agents are concerned about popular resistance to their attempts to snatch and grab fathers, mothers or entire families.
……………………………….
The ICE announcement came the day after the Pentagon officially reported to Congress that the White House would take $3.8 billion in funds appropriated by Congress for the military and use the money to build the wall along the US southern border.
This misappropriation of funds, which is a violation of both constitutional and civil law, has been met with silence on the part of the Democrats and the media. It did not make the evening news on either Thursday or Friday.”
Immunity for Killings by Immigration Police
CounterPunch, by Jacob Hornberger, February 28
The American immigration police state continues to grow more tyrannical with each passing day. The latest example involves the U.S. Supreme Court, which has just issued a ruling in a case that effectively gives the Border Patrol a license to kill Mexican citizens. And guess which two magic words the Court used to justify its decision: “national security,” the two buzz words that the federal judiciary has used to justify every single dark-side, sordid, unconstitutional power exercised by the U.S. national-security establishment, such as state-sponsored assassinations, torture, indefinite detention, kangaroo military tribunals, and other totalitarian-like powers.
[…]
The Hernandez family filed suit for damages for the wrongful death of the boy, relying on the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which expressly prohibits U.S. officials from denying any person of life without due process of law. The plaintiffs were specifically relying on the 1971 Supreme Court case of Bivens v. Six Unknown Fed. Narcotics Agents, which held that people could recover damages when U.S. officers engage in unconstitutional conduct.
The Court in the Hernandez case, however, held that shooting a person in a foreign country doesn’t count. To recover under Bivens, the Court said, the killing has to take place on U.S. soil.
Does that distinction make any sense whatsoever?
Luckily the circumstances under which this case is applicable are few.
…and where does the author get the idea that the US immigration system is socialist?
no criminal charges possible, so a civil suit? i hate to say blood money, because sometimes civil awards are important, too, and the burrden of proof is far less.
but i agree: wtf is this about?
“There is but one solution to this sordid, dark-side, socialist, deadly, brutal, and tyrannical system: the dismantling of America’s socialist immigration system and the immigration police state that it has brought into existence. That means liberty and free markets — i.e., the free and open movements of goods, services, and people across the international border—free trade and open immigration.
Open borders is also the only system that is consistent with religious, moral, economic, free-market, and freedom principles. It is also the only system that would bring an end to the massive death, suffering, crises, chaos, and destruction of liberty that characterizes America’s socialist system of the border.”
i’m a fan of open borders myself, but his framing is weird as all giddy-up, isn’t it?
Yes, quite screwball.
and Counterpunch has offloaded any comments section they might have had to *Facebook*!
I scrolled down quite some way there without coming to any post related to this story, so I have no new news to relate regarding the socialism slurs of the author.