{"id":26771,"date":"2017-03-17T05:51:50","date_gmt":"2017-03-17T12:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=26771"},"modified":"2017-04-13T15:11:05","modified_gmt":"2017-04-13T22:11:05","slug":"squatchs-open-thread-16-march-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2017\/03\/17\/squatchs-open-thread-16-march-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Squatch’s Open Thread 16 March 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

Happy St Paddy's Day<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Well tomorrow is St Paddy's Day and the green beer and blarney will be overflowing.  You certainly should be familiar with blarney after listening to Drumpfenfarten and his minions.  So dust off your dancing shoes because tomorrow it is time for an Irish jig!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jig Zone Puzzle — <\/strong><\/font>It took me 4:43 (average 7:27).  To do it, <\/font>click here<\/span><\/a><\/strong>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

I enjoy doing these puzzles so much that I thought I'd throw one in from time to time.  I will be choosing a puzzle that we haven't, to the best of my memory, had before.<\/font><\/p>\n

Short Takes<\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n

The New Yorker <\/strong><\/span><\/a>— Notching the first major achievement of his Presidency, Donald Trump has broken the world record for unconstitutional travel bans, the White House confirmed on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

In an official statement announcing the new world record, the White House called Trump’s second unconstitutional ban “especially impressive” because it came only thirty-eight days after his first.<\/p>\n

\"\"PHOTOGRAPH BY OLIVIER DOULIERY \/ BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY<\/span><\/p>\n

“In addition to the world record for unconstitutional travel bans, President Trump has also smashed the speed record for signing them,” the statement read.<\/p>\n

Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, touted the new world record in a press briefing that sometimes resembled a victory lap.<\/p>\n

“After the first unconstitutional travel ban, a lot of people questioned whether the President could follow it up with another unconstitutional one so quickly,” a gloating Spicer said. “I think he silenced a lot of doubters today.”<\/p>\n

Does Drumpf do anything that is not unconstitutional!  This smells a lot like straight reporting Andy!<\/span><\/p>\n

OtherWords.org<\/strong><\/span><\/a> —<\/p>\n

Cartoon removed pending clarification.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Khalil Bendib\/ OtherWords.org<\/p>\n

Having only recently discovered Khalil Bendib's work, I find it quite good and as JD remarked on the last one, worth more than a thousand words.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Common Dreams<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a> — Just as his unverified wiretapping claims were seemingly dispelled<\/font><\/a>, President Donald Trump stuck his foot further in the mire and is now facing accusations he may have let slip highly classified information during a televised interview Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n

When asked<\/font><\/a> by Fox News <\/em>host Tucker Carlson why he hasn't gone to the agencies he is "in charge of," to "gather evidence" to support his claim<\/font><\/a> that President Barack Obama tapped Trump Tower, Trump said: "Because I don't want to do anything that's going to violate any strength of an agency. You know we have enough problems. And, by the way, the CIA—I just want people to know—the CIA was hacked and a lot of things taken. That was during the Obama years. That was not during us."<\/p>\n

That information, it appears, was not for the public.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, which has asked<\/font><\/a> the administration to provide evidence of the alleged tap, accused Trump of "leaking" classified information.<\/p>\n

Click through for the rest of the read.  Drumpfenfarten would argue red is green, and green is red.  He hasn't a clue what he is talking about.  Evidence?  I doubt there is any that is credible, and the ravings of a twitterhead should not be considered credible.  Even members of his own party are calling him out.<\/span><\/p>\n

Huffington Post<\/strong><\/span><\/a> — A presidential budget isn’t so much a policy proposal as a statement of an administration’s moral vision for the country. The budget presented by President Donald Trump on Thursday is <\/span>a document<\/font><\/span><\/a> fundamentally unconcerned with the government’s role in improving the plight of its most vulnerable citizens. <\/span><\/p>\n

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That message is clear in the budget’s topline proposals and its deeper details. Trump calls for a $54 billion boost in defense spending and immigration enforcement. More border patrol agents, more Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, more fighter jets that <\/span>don’t<\/font><\/span><\/a> work<\/font><\/span><\/a>, and a border wall with Mexico. To offset those fresh expenses, he wants to take an ax to a host of anti-poverty programs \u2015 everything from public housing to food programs helping elderly people with disabilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This was an ideological choice. When explaining why it would eliminate a $35 million affordable housing program, the administration declared the endeavor simply wasn’t the government’s business<\/font><\/a>: “This program is duplicative of efforts funded by philanthropy and other more flexible private sector investments.”  …<\/span><\/p>\n

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That Trump’s budget is devoid of even modest nods to social welfare is not something that the administration is trying to hide. Instead, they’ve turned the argument on its head. At a press briefing Thursday afternoon, Budget Director Mick Mulvaney was asked how he could justify cutting programs for the elderly and the poor while ramping up spending in other areas. In response, he insisted that, on the contrary, taking food from the mouths of hungry children should be seen as an act of “compassion." <\/span><\/p>\n

“I think it’s one of the most compassionate things we can do,” Mulvaney said, referring to reducing anti-poverty spending. The government, he declared, has an urgent moral priority to ensure that “the single mom of two in Detroit” doesn’t pay for programs that don’t serve “a proper function.”<\/span><\/p>\n

For a so called moral document, this budget is very immoral!  <\/span>Since when does taking food from hungry children constitute compassion?  And Meals on Wheels benefits the elderly and those with disabilities who cannot get out. It is also a social lifeline and contributes to better health outcomes.  This administration is morally bankrupt and the budget proposal proves it.  I wonder if the Republican Congress will  rubber stampthe proposal.  There are indications that not all are onboard the Drumpfenfarten train.<\/span><\/p>\n

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My Universe —<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n