Sorry. Nothing funny today. There IS nothing funny today.
It is utterly incomprehensible to me that anyone, regardless of political leanings, could support this truly despicable practice of separating children from families. At what point does compassion and simple human decency supersede politics?
These are not terrorists. These are CHILDREN. My God!
Seriously, if in fact you do condone this barbaric practice that goes against everything America and DECENT human beings stand for, please go away. I mean it. Please stop reading this blog. If you’re a friend on Facebook please unfriend me. Stop following me on Twitter. If you comment in support of caging innocent children I’ll delete your comment and ban you for life. (I also don't want you guys turning on each other, so no name calling. Thanks.)
You just can’t believe how furious I am. And heartbroken.
What has this fucking world come to? I would never have believed something like this could ever happen in the United States. And furthermore, I can’t fathom why everybody, 100% of the population isn’t outraged by this, isn’t completely up in arms. This isn’t a debate about school vouchers or how much of the budget should go to defense – this is the most shameful detestable policy this country has ever had.
And FUCK YOU FOX NEWS for trying to sell this atrocity to gullible idiots. Yeah, your family is going to be so much safer when toddlers are rounded up. May all the FOX NEWS commentators who spoke out in support of it rot in hell for eternity and beyond.
Here’s something you probably thought you’d never see in this blog – God bless Seth MacFarlane. He was the first showrunner to speak out against FOX. Also kudos to Steve Levitan.
People, it’s time to take our country back. Step one is being a caring loving human being. And if you’re not, please go away – forever.
108 comments :
Ditto.
Standing, clapping, whistling, cheering. Or as Charles Blow put it in yesterday's New York Times: "Melania Trump clearly thought that it was too traumatic to move the couple’s young son to Washington during the school year, so she stayed with him in New York, costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars for security."
Amen!
The contempt I have for Steven Miller, Kirstjen Nielsen, holier-than-thou Jeff Sessions, and Congress-must-fix-it Blowhard... I'm a pacifist, but they are sorely tempting my resolve.
Hell yeah, man. Let me shake your hand and buy you a drink.
Um... you did realize that Trump signed a bill to prevent this from happening yesterday... no?
Trump's executive order puts a 20 day delay on the process. It doesn't end it. And we're to applaud him for stopping something inhumane he started in the first place? He's the one who should be in a fucking cage.
When good people speak up, things change. Thank you for adding your voice to this movement. While no one person may be able to influence a bad man to change his mindset, knowing that he will be held accountable sends a powerful message. Again, thank you for your integrity and moral leadership.
The GOP has been openly courting white supremacists since Nixon. The shocking part is it took them this long to start living their dream.
Read it. It does nothing about the thousands of kids already in custody. Also read the laws. Separating children from their families is strictly 100% pure evil Trump administration policy. He signed a piece of paper undoing what he unilaterally did. That he and his cabinet thought this was a good idea in the first place is just plain vicious. He can take his executive orders and jam them up his ass.
Amen, brother.
And if anyone wants to use the excuse that it's the parents' fault for breaking the law, this is happening to families who have entered the country legally seeking asylum.
It's completely detestable, and every single Trump apologist who tried to misdirect and deflect the real blame will rot in a hell of their own making. I will make it my life's work to be sure that their words and actions are never forgotten. I want their GREAT GRANDCHILDREN to know about it, to learn in school what their ancestors did. I want this engraved on our national cultural memory forever. DO NOT LET THIS BE SWEPT UNDER THE RUG AND BE FORGOTTEN.
Seriously folks, this is right up there with slavery in terms of despicable things you can do to other human beings. And if you think, oh this isn't something that touches me, you don't know NOTHING about history. Because tomorrow it will be somebody else they don't like, it will be your co-worker, your neighbor, and someday it will be your own family. Yes, folks, that could be your kid stuck in a cage, and you going crazy with worry because, you know, the photos only show the little boys. So where are the little girls? Be afraid, be very afraid.
In the words of Friedrich Martin Niemöller, "First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out-because I was not a Socialist. ... Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Niem%C3%B6ller
Vote in your local elections if you want someone to care about local jobs and your community. Change begins at the local level. If you keep voting for the same people, you will continue to have the same problems. And you'll have nobody to blame but yourself. Ask your governor, your county council, your mayor ... ask them what they are doing and why aren't they doing more? You want change? Stop voting for people who pay lip service but never do anything.
What happened to "Truth, Justice, and the American way"?
I am anonymous
A common refrain- that the evil folks will be sorry
because they will be remembered poorly by history-
is based on the false assumptions
a.) that evil-doers care about bad historical reviews, or
b.) that bad folks won't be the ultimate victors, and thus in charge of the history books
c.) that the corporate broadcasters will ever abandon their "nice folks on both sides" approach.
I have to keep hoping that Trump and his ilk serve a purpose that will result in good--they are such grotesque manifestations of the thought processes that are wrong in this country, they will cause a massive swing of the pendulum back to the left that will exemplify all that is right with the country within four years that will reach across most, if not all, states. The bad part is, he's got two years, and I don't think he's revealed the depth of his depravity.
Television, radio, print, internet journalism can still make a difference.
At this moment, television, radio, print, internet journalism HAS made a difference.
This situation, and many others far from over, television, radio, print, internet journalism - and voters - will CONTINUE to make a difference.
Weird that it wasn't a problem until a republican became president.
What really baffles me is how much people have been trying to say that the Democrats are to blame because they started this policy. First of all, no they didn't. Second of all, EVEN IF THEY DID, THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT NOT WRONG. It is a logical red herring; trying to shift the blame won't solve anything.
I could say so much about this and other atrocities being committed by our current administration. Suffice it to say, however, that these individuals, as well as the thousands of Americans who continue to support and defend them, prove over and over again that they have no conscience. May God grant the REST of us the patience to endure them all.
WE THE PEOPLE rose up and Paper Tiger Trump backed down. That's what's important and that's why the system works when we assert ourselves as the ones in charge.
Trump was a ignorant old dotard as was described by his new best pal, Kim. Now he has moved in to a dangerous phase of bat shit crazy as described by Bill Maher. This is what happens when you make your drunk, racist uncle president.
https://www.npr.org/2018/06/21/622128554/firm-prepares-to-mine-land-previously-protected-as-a-national-monument
Because it's not bad enough that Trump takes away National Parks that are there for all Americans and puts that land in the hands of mining interests. He lies and lies. Those parks belonged to the people - that's why national parks exist; now they belong to some corporate entity who will use it up and throw it away while getting richer.
I was hoping you would use your blog to speak on this subject. Thank you.
I agree wholeheartedly with every word of this post, and with every reader who commented. When people who 'aren't like us' are 'othered' and treated or referred to as if they were not quite human you end up with African-American men being shot or choked to death for crimes like selling loose cigarettes (a death penalty offense?) or running away WITH THEIR BACKS TO THE LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL SHOOTING THEM, and you end up with young children literally wrested from the arms of family members and placed in cages and then some idiot like Laura Ingraham compares it to 'sending them to summer camp.'
Three years ago we adopted a senior dog from a highly recommended facility in our area. We were impressed by every aspect of how it was run, including the spotlessly clean, roomy kennels with outdoor play access. Now I'm upset thinking that these migrant children - who, even if they are non-white, are indeed innocent - are given far worse accommodations than our cocker spaniel!
BTW, does the 'zero-tolerance' policy apply to anyone found living here illegally? Does it apply to European and Asian immigrants who overstay their visas or use other stratagems to continue to live in America? Are their children put in cages?
I stand with Ken.
Thank you.....
Sue, in our dark, dystopian society, "truth, justice, etc." are sadly as dead as George Reeves.
Nice blog Ken.
Also I expected a word about Peter Fonda's tweet.
sg
Thank you Ken, well said.
I hate this so much (not your blog post, but everything that's going on in our country and the anger and the division and the vitriol that is going along with it).
I can't believe I long for 2008, a year that brought us the grotesque financial meltdown and a time we were still heavily involved in two unjust wars. But at least that year promised us change and gave us hope. I miss feeling those things.
Thank you, Ken. First time I've read your blog and been immediately moved to tears. Yes, these are human beings. And as an American, these human beings are more than welcome to share my country with me.
Hi all. I completely agree that what is happening with the people and children seeking asylum is detestable and against every principal I was raised with while growing up. As a family therapist, this type of treatment can cause long-lasting (even lifetime) trauma for the children being separated which can impact them and their families for decades to come. I believe that anyone who understands how attachment and trauma happens would see the potential for terrible long-term emotional damage to these children.
With that said, I think there's an important point to be made for not telling people who don't believe these things to go away and not follow your blog, Ken. One of the hallmarks of the Trump presidency has been to divide people and vilify those who don't agree with them. While some Trump supporters are beyond hope in terms of grasping the horrors being done, I don't believe all of the tens of millions of people who have supported Trump until now are unreachable in terms of their common human decency.
By vilifying them, we are essentially cutting off our access to try and get them to reconsider, or to change their minds about what is happening. It's important that they are not just continuing to have Fox News or other propaganda news outlets to fill them with whatever the government wants them to hear. It's important that they have access to other ways of thinking.
One of the problems I have with MSNBC, or Bill Maher's show, is that sometimes it feels like they're just "preaching to the converted." As a result, they get high ratings from the very people who already have their point of view -- that already agree with them. As a result, it continues to polarize the country instead of opening up a real discussion.
I wish there were a way to open up real dialogue with people, because (and perhaps I'm just being optimistic), I think there are lots of people who rely on Fox News, thinking it's actual unbiased reporting, who might have their eyes opened if they stopped feeling as if people who disagree with them think they are heinous people who don't deserve to be heard.
Again, I say this not because I agree with their views, but because you can't change any minds if they don't have the information they need to change them.
I obviously agree with everything said. What keeps boggling my mind though is this sense of "how is this possible" - how is it possible that there is an administration in charge hell-bent on doing absolutely everything "evil" there is? This isn't even about reaching "new lows" anymore, which happens at least about once per week anyway. This is a matter of whatever purely blisteringly immoral, ethically bad, nasty and downright evil thing one could think of, they go and do it? National parks? Screw them. Protecting the environment? Fuck that. UNESCO? Meh. Human rights? Who needs that shit anyway. Putting your billionaire friends in charge of wasting taxpayer money on luxury goods while making all the other billionaire friends even richer, and then bragging about it? Hell yeah! Lying, cheating, collusion, corruption? Right on! Dismantling the pillars of a free and democratic society? Let's roll! Getting cozy with Nazis, autocrats and dictators? and ... so ... on ... and ... so ... forth ... day ... after ... day ...
The blue wave in the midterms will be rather sweet, and then Congress can set about impeaching Trump.
In the meantime, maybe it's not such a bad idea for Trump to keep eating cheeseburgers every day. At his age and weight, it's only a matter of time before the inevitable happens.
"I would never have believed something like this could ever happen in the United States."
Well, we did have slavery...
Thanks, Ken. I know you don't often comment on politics, but taking babies and toddlers away from their parents is beyond mere politics, as you said. Thank goodness for the photographers and reporters who showed us what was happening, and for the citizens who took to the streets, and to the phones to call their representatives. Most elected Republicans were still silent, though, if not blaming everyone but Trump for this. Can hardly wait for November to see how many of them get the boot. Now hope that the children and parents can be reunited as quickly as possible.
Sue in Seattle
I agree with every word of this post. And I feel nothing but disgust for those who say this doesn't affect them.
Yeah, like it's weird that traffic in the streets wasn't a problem until somebody invented the motor car.
The offence is a "zero tolerance" policy that mandated that all adults be prosecuted, causing the separation of all families at the border, with no real idea how they're ever going to be reunited. Not that sometimes some children get separated temporarily.
The case that the unhinged right are making is equivalent to saying that it's okay to require the immediate incarceration of everybody who has a telephone number ending in '7' because, you know, look at all these people whose phone numbers end in '7' who have been incarcerated in the past, and where was the uproar over that anyway?
Ken, you're a hero. We've reached the point where everybody with any sort of platform whatsoever needs to engage.
Maybe it was allowed when Clinton and Obama were in office, maybe not. The important thing is THEY DIDN'T DO IT. And Isis or whatever terrorist group will be around when these kids grow up, just got a new recruiting class.
Pam, St. Louis
I'm so sad and surprised we could go from a nation, yes, with problems, but trying to confidently trying to confront them when we had Barack Obama as president to this disaster in so short a time.
I want President Obama back, please!
Hey, there, Patrick Wahl -- It's not weird at all that it wasn't a problem until a Republican president...because it's a problem CAUSED by a Republican president. The myth that Obama did the same thing is just that: A myth. Here's the link to Sessions' April memo directing prosecutors to adopt the zero-tolerance policy that "shall supersede any existing policies."
https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1049751/download?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
Barry
Our government is following the totalitarian playbook. I wonder how much of the living American population now wishes they'd paid more attention in history class.
These traumatized kids -- fleeing violence and terror, unable to speak English and now torn from their parents -- are already spread all over the country, from Michigan to New York City (where the mayor's wife is trying to find out about them, so far unsuccessfully), and there are NO plans to reunite them. There is speculation that they will enter the foster-care system, already stretched to its limit, or even be put up for adoption as if their parents were dead. Remember when Boko Haram kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls, and the world demanded their return? This is worse. We're supposed to be better than terrorists, remember?
Thanks for letting me vent, Ken. I feel like my head is about to explode. That evil piece of shit Lewandowski mocking a girl with Down Syndrome pushed me over the top.
For the love of god, VOTE.
I read the following comment on Facebook: “Who on earth believes the words, ‘That's unthinkable, even for Trump’ at this stage of the game?” Indeed. Julie, Burlington, Iowa
David Schwartz,
I agree that it's generally not helpful to invite division, and obviously I like to have as many readers or listeners to the podcast as possible. But this issue is a line in the sand. Condone this practice -- I want nothing to do with you. You're beyond help.
Get the sense I'm a little worked up over this issue??? :)
It was rather enjoyable to see footage of Kirstjen Nielsen having her dinner in a Mexican restaurant disrupted by protesters chanting: "If kids don't eat in peace, you don't eat in peace."
Regarding the Peter Fonda tweet that sg mentions, I think he clearly went too far. For those who don't know, he said Baron Trump should be taken and put in a cage with paedophiles until Trump stops the policy. That hardly does the fight against Trump any good. Baron Trump didn't choose who his father is. He's a child and should not be brought into discussions about what Trump does. Comments like that just give Trump supporters ammunition to say his critics are awful people.
That said, it of course speaks volumes that Republicans are upset over the Fonda tweet but not over kids being taken from their families and stuck in cages.
@Sue Dunham "What happened to 'Truth, Justice, and the American way'?" I think it started dying around the time Christopher Reeve did.
We are ruled by morons and maggots, and history will not be kind.
Despicable? Outrageous? Yes and yes. Trump's base just got stronger. Let that sink in.
Can't believe how far your country has fallen. Applause to those who are trying to lift it up again. The rest of the world is with you!
An observation: Everything today is presented as a 5 Alarm, Defcon 1 emergency-crisis where now you can't get away from any of it, no matter where you try and shelter in place.
It's simply exhausting.
PREACH!!!! His whole game is to do something absolutely crazy/evil, such as get into a Twitter war with North Korea that could lead to a nuclear war, only to step in at the last second and "end" that crazy thing pretending to be a savior. Then, he expects (and receives) praises from all sides. Also, it allows him to do a slightly lesser crazy/evil version of the same thing and get away with it because then it looks like he compromised. It's worked up to this point.
It is beyond depressing that as the vile, narcissistic, self-promoting savant "trumps" basic human decency, most of his supporters reserve their outrage for the likes of Peter Fonda?
They have had plenty of time to wake up. There are plenty of sources online, in print, and in their own families that have tried to respectfully engage to "open their eyes." Not sure how many times you've tried to do this but after quite a few tries myself you realize THEY DO NOT CARE. Their eyes are open. They choose to put white supremacy above all. There is no nice way to slice it. I've seen people equating Peter Fonda's comments with Roseanne's racist ones. I've also seen people criticize Peter's comments as if they were worst than the actual act Peter was discussing. Samantha Bee has to apologize while Trump says it's "locker room talk." Obama was criticized for even being open to talk to North Korea and Trump is praised for PRAISING Kim. It's not that they don't understand. They choose to not care because it doesn't fit their priorities or narrative. That's the bottom line.
Okay, so this is an email I sent to a friend a week ago. And that’s the truth.
This President Cheeto thing (apologies to Cheetos) is depressing and beyond comprehension. Sessions and Rudy Giuliani are beyond comprehension. How has our society, our tolerance, our ignorance come to this? Listening to people argue in support of our country separating children from their parents as a shining beacon - a warning to the world to stay away from the US - is the sickest behavior I’ve ever witnessed. Slavery would be number one, but this has gotta be number two. I get immigration is complicated, but the cruelty of ripping kids away from their parents is pure torture. Sessions and Trump should be in jail for doing irrevocable damage to the psyche of thousands of children. Their actions are creating the future criminals they’re so afraid of.
--JM
"What has this fucking world come to?"
It's not the world.
It's the USA.
Signed,
The Rest of The World (you know, the USA's former allies that are now hated for being democracies)
Well. The gold digger wore a jacket that says "I really don't care. Do U?" to her visit to the immigration facility. I had thought that perhaps she was kinder than Trump. What on earth have we come to? We had Jackie Kennedy. Jack Kennedy. Yes, damn this to hell. Julie, Burlington, Iowa
C-span did a poll. 46% were for the separation of the children. 46%! That many people are so convinced that immigrant=evil they don't care that children, that FAMILIES are being harmed. It's so depressing.
Peter, above, suggested that a November blue wave will result in impeachment. Well, technically, it might result in impeachment, but there is no way it can result in the conviction needed to remove Trump from office.
Y'see, technically, the House impeaches someone. The Senate then conducts a trial to convict or acquit the impeached. And while it's certainly possible the House could go Dem this fall, there's a much lesser chance the Senate will, and since a conviction takes a 2/3rd (67) vote, it's literally impossible for there to be that many Senate Dems post-election.
With Franken's resignation, there are 26 Dem and caucus with Dem seats up for election and only 9 Repub seats. So even if the Dems manage to win all 35 seats, they'd only have 58. So more than 20% of the remaining Repub Senators would have to vote to convict. And the odds of that happening are slim; the only two Repub seats in anything resembling a swing state are Arizona and Nevada. While a lot of Dem seats are in states where Trump won by a significant margin.
The Dems need to pick up two seats to get a majority in the Senate (they need 51, since Pense breaks ties). Hopefully they can pull that off, but Trump is *not* going to be impeached and convicted by Congress unless a significant number of Republicans are willing to do it.
I love these blogs of yours Ken, where you keep telling anyone who doesn't agree with you to get lost like you told David Schwartz above.
It's time people understood that this is YOUR blog. You provide free content and if people hate it, then they can get lost.
Rspect.
Only reason I can think that Trump would be doing this is because somewhere under that rug he calls "hair", the number "666" is engraved on his scalp.
Baron is. Ivanka is not a child. She works in this White House and is completely complicit.
I do want to highlight a couple of brave Republicans who have had the mettle to speak out against this inhuman policy.
One was former first lady Laura Bush, who published an editorial in the Washington Post, rightly comparing the current policy to the inhuman internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
The other was Steve Schmidt, for 30 years a member of the Republican Party and chief strategist for John McCain and George W. Bush.
Mr. Schmidt has long been a critic of the current president. However,he found the current immigration policy to be so inhuman and disqualifying that on Twitter, Mr Schmidt renounced his party membership and would actively work to elect Democrats.
It is not, he said, because he suddenly embraces progressive policies, but because he says Democrats are the only party to represent fealty to rule of law and social norms.
Wish more would follow these two.
The terrific writer/director James Gunn tweeted the following:
"I was just about to complain about how little sleep I got last night and remembered how many three year olds are alone and crying and completely confused, after being taken by the U.S. government from their moms and dads.
I know so many of you are with me on this issue. Normally I like to pepper my twitter page with jokes & photos & facts from my movies in-between protesting the corruption currently infecting our White House. But right now I just can't get this shit out of my head. Love to you all".
@Jeff Maxwell, That's just it, immigration doesn't need to be complicated. And if any good can come from the evil of the past few weeks, it is that it can have a clarifying effect.
Stop talking about immigrants from countries with black and brown populations as those who would "infest' our country. Stop talking about those nations as "shithole countries".
In other words, drop the racism. Good Republicans and conservatives understand this.
Ronald Reagan signed immigration reform. George W. Bush wanted immigration reform generous to Latino populations...he understood that the future of the GOP depended on it.
Immigration in our country should come down to a simple rule: keep out real terrorists (ie 9/11) but let in anyone else who wants a shot at the American Dream. That is the promise inscribed on the Statue of Liberty.
@YEKIMI, nothing so elaborate. Trump is just the racist uncle we all have who shows up on Thanksgiving. It's just in his case he got himself elected president and in a position to put his racism into action, sadly.
“It's time people understood that this is YOUR blog. You provide free content and if people hate it, then they can get lost.”
“ Cspan did a poll. 46% of the population were for the separation of children. 46%”
46% wouldn't be so shocking a number when you come into contact with people who disagree with your ( generic your) viewpoint. THAT is the reason to not tell people to get lost: to prevent your neighbors from becoming aliens.
When people hear one point of view there is a tendency for someone in the in-group to prove their bona fides, to prove they are the truest of the true blue, by offering an opinion that is in line with the dominant viewpoint, but only more so. “Chocolate ice cream is good. Yeah, but chocolate fudge is better.” Because the proponent is already a team member and because the new statement is close enough to dominant viewpoint, he and it escape criticism. Soon, “chocolate fudge” is thought to be closer to a moderate position, while all you old softees are still talking about boring old chocolate.
But then, someone comes along extolling the virtues of vanilla. For, say 46% of people, vanilla is a fine alternative. But these people now seem like martians because the conversation has always been about the virtues of chocolate and chocolate fudge.
Culture shock happens when you don't expose yourself to contrary viewpoints and let viewpoint homogeneity thicken your bubble. You, yourself, slowly drift to extremism.
People need the tug and pull. It's what helps keeps them closer to center.
So how did this happen?
I told you all how it happened back in January of '17.
"The March Of Dames" post, the final comment that I was able to put up, tail-end of the post.
Donald Trump got the Presidency because of the illogical, outmoded system that we call the Electoral College.
The system that permits a candidate with nearly three million fewer votes from the citizens to claim victory because of where his own voters are located.
A dissenting commenter told me that using the Pop vote instead of the Electoral College was like deciding a football game by the yardage instead of the points.
He had it backwards then - and nothing has changed.
There's a site called 270 To Win, which is a history of how the Electoral has functioned from election to election.
One feature on this site is a page called Gaming The Electoral College.
It's interactive; you can use it to determine how the EVotes would have gone in each state if different modes of allocation were used (four choices are available, all of which have been seriously proposed at different times and states).
You can alter the outcomes of the last two Presidential elections - '12 and '16 - without any change made in the Popular vote totals (both of which were clear Democratic pluralities).
Here's my suggestion:
- Set up the 2016 map - Obama vs. Romney.
- Note that 48 of the 50 states, plus DC, use Winner-Take-All, while two states, Maine and Nebraska, divide their allotments between Congressional districts (one each) and another two for the state's overall total (this is how Maine's vote in '16 came to be split).
- Back to '12: using the interactive feature, just go around the map, from state to state, and change the WTA states to the Maine-Nebraska system.
You'll be starting out with 332 EVs for Obama and 206 for Romney.
Start on the East coast, work your way south and west, finish with the Pacific Coast - this works best if California is the final state that you change.
- As you go, remember that Obama's 5,000,000+ popular vote margin over Romney will be unchanged.
- Take note, from state to state, of how the EVotes fluctuate between the candidates; this being caused by the closeness of the PVotes in the "battleground" states.
- When you complete the 2012 map -
well, as the lawyers say, res ipsa loquitor - "the thing speaks for itself".
I invite all of you to try this for yourselves - that's why I haven't given the result here.
Then, after you've seen an actual possible outcome for the 2012 vote, someone among you can tell me why the Electoral College is still a workable idea.
Once again, 270ToWin.com, Gaming The Electoral College.
As to the actual subject of Ken's post:
Once again, the only name I've called Donald Trump has been his own.
Any other added vulgarities would be redundant.
Sessions' own congregation wants to take him to task for support of this inhuman disgusting policy:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/06/20/members-of-jeff-sessions-own-denomination-accuse-him-of-immorality-discrimination-and-child-abuse/?utm_term=.4738dc303833
@Myles Warden, a Facebook friend thinks Trump is playing a win-win game here. By signing the executive order, he's giving the appearance that he's doing something about the problem, while proving to his base that he's tough on border crossings. Unfortunately, I think my Facebook friend is right. This issue has emboldened his base, and although the majority of people in this country are sickened by the child separations, Trump knows he can win an election without the majority of people (thanks, Electoral College).
This horrible, inhuman policy--and the period of President Voldemort in general--makes me impatient for us to reach the time of STAR TREK.
No, I'm not talking about the zap guns, talking computers or spaceships.
I'm talking about what series creator Gene Roddenberry saw what was most important. Humanity moving to a point where we all treat each other with dignity and respect as a matter of course regardless of race, ethnicity or background. Also, we have ceased to chase financial wealth, we want for nothing but live for the betterment of our society in our own way, whether that's in Starfleet, or as a writer, or owner of a vinyard in France.
That day can't come too soon.
As a conman and a demagogue, Trump has succeeded in putting out the concept that he represents the Common Man (the demagogue part) and the conservatives/Republicans. He needs the latter especially to put himself on one half of the political spectrum so he can divide the country further, irreparably. In reality, he should be reviled by the left, right, and center. But he so played to the conservatives' worst qualities that he's turned most of them as fascist as he is. He isn't the enemy of liberalism (per se), he's an enemy of the United States.
I've been very cautious in my (unpublished) editorial cartoons with the idea of making Hitler comparisons. As evil as Trump is, I never would've thought him even capable of genocide. His reactions to Syrian atrocities against children seem to support that. But after seeing what he's done in this latest, worst atrocity HE's committed, I'm not so sure even of THAT anymore.
More and more I feel as if I have just woke up in an episode of the Twilight Zone. I feel like the character who runs screaming down the street telling people this isn't real. Would Trump and all his nonsense happen in the real world? None of this is real. No real President could speak and act like this if this all wasn't just a nightmare. Cue Rod Serling's voice over.....
@Liggie, actually, no, although President Voldemort is very high with his base that doesn't guarantee him re-election.
This is because last time he faced an opponent approximately as unpopular among the American people as he was.
That meant there were a number of independent voters--so-called Trump triers--who voted for the guy thinking he might work out.
Now that Voldemort has revealed just how bad he is, he is unlikely to get those Trump triers to come back.
Unless the Dems nominate another unpopular candidate, they should have an advantage.
Peter Fonda's comment was bizarre. Maybe he was taking Ambien.
Photoshopped photos and crisis actors, and joke boy here falls for it. Pathetic.
I share the anger. This is inhumane and incomprehensible. And what makes it even more infuriating is hearing the assholes out there who are mocking-MOCKING-these children, even going so far as to claim this is all staged by liberals. We're at the point now where supposed adults think it's perfectly acceptable to mock children who survived school shootings and children who are being ripped away from their parents, and also think it's perfectly okay to push conspiracy theories that the hell they went through and are going through didn't actually happen, or was "staged". I truly cannot fathom that level of stupidity and evil, and I don't get how people who say such things aren't automatically sent back to whatever hole they crawled out under. This is why I refuse to reach out to Trump supporters. I have to respect people I debate with, and it's impossible for me to respect people so cruel.
We warned Trump supporters he would be bad before the election. We told you so. He's proven every one of our warnings right so far. When history looks back on this administration, Trump supporters and the Republican Party are not going to be looked upon fondly. They all will have a hell of a lot they'll need to answer for, and they owe this entire country a big apology for their part in creating the shitty mess we're in now.
Agree with you completely.
Agree with everything you have to say. But I think you have to go back aways and study the history going back at least to the Clinton administration. No doubt it is probably worse under Trump. This is probably a result of not having a good policy to begin with. I was reading. Thought this was a great article. It is mentioned that for 300 years people could just get off the boat for 300 years. I think her amount of years is wrong. But except for the Chinese Exclusionary Law in 1869, it seems that there was not much of immigration policy at least until 1920.
I'm in full agreement. And that order our fuhrer signed yesterday was bullshit to try to divert the rage. It only delays ripping kids from their parents for 20 days. and it does NOTHING! about the thousands of kids already in Trump's Child Concentration Camps.
Yes, we shouldn't have voted for Hillary because she used the wrong email accounts (As trump does), so now we have CONCENTRATION CAMPS FOR KIDS!!!
On November 9th, 2016 I posted "We are now Germany in 1933." Well, now we're up to being Germany, 1938. I have banished from my life anyone and everyone I knew who supports Trump, as I would shun ANY Nazi.
Ken, the executive order doesn't put a 20 day delay on the process. 20 days is the amount of time they are allowed to do family detention under existing court ruling. They are seeking to extend this to an indefinite time with family detention centers.
What's strange is the court ruling was based on an earlier settlement agreement that dealt with unaccompanied children.
Ken: I'm not crazy and I'm not gonna defend this policy. But, where was your outrage when this kind of stuff was going on under previous administrations of every stripe? Don't take National Review's, Fox News's, or my word for it. Here's The Nation:
https://www.thenation.com/article/the-deportation-machine-obama-built-for-president-trump/
Here's The Intercept, Glenn Greenwald's news/opinion blog:å
https://theintercept.com/2018/06/20/family-separation-immigration-history-slavery-mass-incarceration/
And here's my personally favorite guy, Ruben Navarette, who has proven in the past he is NO Trump fan:
https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2018/06/ruben_navarrette_jr_liberals_g.html
The American immigration system was horribly broken long, LONG before Trump, or Obama, or W, or Clinton, ever got here.
PS: Kudos to Peter and others here calling out Peter Fonda. Partisan hate ain't gonna solve this problem (or any other).
Very well said. I agree with every word. I have no tolerance for anyone that tries to defend this policy, including family and (former?) friends.
> If you comment in support of caging innocent children I’ll delete your comment and ban you for life.
You are banning President Obama from your blog? Really?
Is George W Bush allowed, or do we have to go all the way back to the 90s for a President you will allow(and with MeToo mabye none)?
[i]Dave said...
I love these blogs of yours Ken, where you keep telling anyone who doesn't agree with you to get lost like you told David Schwartz above.
It's time people understood that this is YOUR blog. You provide free content and if people hate it, then they can get lost.
Rspect.[/i]
"Dave,"
Ken never told David Schwartz to get lost, nor did he use the words "get lost." He was referring to the people to whom David Schwartz was referring, not David himself. Ken was making it clear that his decision was completely clear and there was no room for discussion, because this was a tipping point.
It took courage to challenge Ken's decision and Ken did not condemn David for doing it. It must have been difficult for David to read that reply from Ken. It was cruel of you to interpret Ken's response as a rejection from Ken. It impresses no one, least likely Ken.
I didn't know how much Obama was aware of what was happening on his watch:
https://twitter.com/ImmCivilRights/status/1008902662828511232
Yep! Sadly everything, including little kids lives, are just part of a crazy game that for some reason (minus Mueller) he can't lose. Also, WHY IS THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE SO WORTHLESS! Smh.
Anonymous said: Ken never told David Schwartz to get lost, nor did he use the words "get lost." He was referring to the people to whom David Schwartz was referring, not David himself. Ken was making it clear that his decision was completely clear and there was no room for discussion, because this was a tipping point. It took courage to challenge Ken's decision and Ken did not condemn David for doing it. It must have been difficult for David to read that reply from Ken. It was cruel of you to interpret Ken's response as a rejection from Ken. It impresses no one, least likely Ken.
David Schwartz said:
Thank you to "anonymous" for your post. I was taken aback by "Dave's" post as I felt I was clear that I found Trump's actions just as heinous and inhumane as Ken did. I didn't mean to challenge Ken, just add my two cents to the discussion. Usually I'm for inclusiveness and finding ways to bridge the gap of our differences. Yet today I'm just not even sure how I feel about it. I was re-reading my post and thinking I may be too optimistic in thinking there's any reasonableness left to tap into.
It's a very difficult situation and I don't know what the answer is. I just know that I've never seen the country so divided and if the divisiveness continues, I don't know how it's ever going to heal.
I'm really appreciative of Ken's blog and I'm fed up, too. I am watching the dismantling of everything I thought were the ideals of this country. I just hope we're able to survive this onslaught and get through this with the constitution intact.
Have to love the talking heads who assert it's terrible that these kids are getting more food, shelter, and health care than some native-born kids. These are often the same types who oppose food, shelter, and health care for native-born kids who are foolish enough to be born poor.
I am so sickened, disgusted and angry about this that is very hard to put it in words. It would seem that some of these kids will never get back to their parents. And where are the little girls being sent is what I would like to know. Being sold to pedophiles?
Thank you Ken. I too am horrified to see America going from great to small. Generosity has become a joke in this administration's greedy hands.
Hi Ken,
I'm afraid this is off-topic but I'm not sure what else to do. As Princess Leia said, "Your my only hope."
Your friend Earl Pomerantz, as you know, has his terrific blog Just Thinking... and it seems as though something is wrong with his comments section. I would just assume he turned them off and that's OK but Earl has said in his recent post that he is no longer getting comments so I know he misses them. I've tried a number of ways to make a comment but I keep getting the message, "Your comment has been saved and will appear when the blog owner approves them." But I don't think Earl is getting them in his email. They must be saved somewhere deep in the Blogger architecture where he won't be able to see them. Also, there is no "I'm not a robot" item just above the Publish button. Maybe that's the problem.
Would you mind contacting Earl to let him know about this? We loyal readers worry about him.
Jim Dodd (JED)
For some reason Ken didn't let my comment through yesterday. I apologize, Ken, if I offended. I hope that you'll allow this comment. I'm just trying to give a different perspective.
I know people who work to free children from sexual slavery rings in this country. I live in Ohio. It is a below-the-radar crisis here. Many of those children came through the southern border with Mexico. Some of the perpetrators claimed to be the children's parents.
Separating a child from a parent surely seems cruel. But I think it must be remembered, some of those parents aren't really parents. And some of the actual parents are not acting in the child's best interests, to say the least. In some cases, children are used as drug mules. In some cases, the child is being kidnapped (the child on the Time magazine cover, for example, although the father doesn't seem angry about it).
There are people on both sides of the border who exploit children. And there are times where separating a child from his or her parent, or pseudo-parent, is actually the humane thing to do. And the government is not omniscient - they don't know who these people are when they show up at the border.
The issue is far more complicated than it's portrayed in the media. And all the mass hysteria is not helping. If you care about children, you have to think this through on a level that's not pure emotion.
Blogger Myles Warden said...
They have had plenty of time to wake up. There are plenty of sources online, in print, and in their own families that have tried to respectfully engage to "open their eyes." Not sure how many times you've tried to do this but after quite a few tries myself you realize THEY DO NOT CARE
True. I had a discussion with someone a few years ago about why people lie. My friend said, "Nobody likes being lied to." I said, "That's not true." Because people do like being lied to. They often prefer lies, and when confronted with the truth, they don't get angry with the person who lied, they get angry with the person who spoke truth. Why? Because they really liked the lie so much that they made a deliberate decision not to examine it for flaws.
When all is said and done, it takes at least two people to make a lie: one to tell it, and one to believe it. And liars know this. They know their targets. Not the gullible so much as the people who willingly and deliberately embrace lies.
That's Trump's demographic.
And its the same way Hitler rose to power.
Which is why reasoning is pointless.
Gee, you think the administration would display some of the drugs they've discovered being carried on these thousands of kids in detention, so we'd understand how they're looking out for these children. Seems like they're drugging more of them instead.
Andrew - if that was the rationale for separating children from parents, you'd have a point. But the excuse both Trump and Sessions have used is that it's supposed to function as a deterrent/penalty.
And with at least 2,500 kids being warehoused, as in shipped off all over the country, it's pretty much a slam dunk that some of their keepers aren't going to be Ozzie and Harriett Nelson. Please don't insult us by pretending this was for the good of the children. They've simply been separated from one set of adults and put into the hands of another set of adults. Adults, moreover, who are more likely to believe those kids they are holding captive are the bad guys. It's naïve to think there isn't abuse going on above and beyond ripping them away from their families in the first place. But you won't be able to blame that on illegal immigrants. Because evil isn't just on the other side of the border. They haven't solved a problem; they've just given us a new shame to live with.
Please supply the facts from a credible source to back up your dismissal. The same sources that claimed Obama had no birth certificate?
President Voldemort's reasons for this heinous policy, including falsely blaming it on the Democrats, was all politics. Look strong to his base while trying to wield this as a cudgel to try to force Dems to cave and give him his Wall (you know, the ones the Mexicans we're supposed to pay for before, before they wised up and told him to blow it out his ear).
If I can take a slightly left field position on refugees, not a place I am accustomed to I admit. I invite your readers to speculate where we would be if we Brits had run away from war in 1939, instead of staying to defend our country from attack,sending our children away from their parents where they were unlikely to be bombed, fathers fighting and mothers working in factories. The analogy is more apt when applied to Syrian and Somalian refugees, the majority of Mediterranean boat people, but equally well applies to hispanic refugees fleeing drug wars. Stay and fix your country.
We're all the abused wife or girlfriend. When I read what Melania's spokespersons were saying about her "I don't care" Jacket, it was all, It's just a jacket! It reminded me of my abusive ex, who would do something so humiliating or vicious, designed to make me lose it, and then I *would* lose it, it was all "See how crazy you are! Wow you are *losing* it." Or he would try to make out my normal reactions to something as being extreme. And one of the things he did to scare me when I was trying (dangerous in itself) to get away from him, was to call me in the middle of something very important and threaten to have my children taken away from me. Julie, Burlington, Iowa
And holy crap. This makes me angry, sad and scared all at the same time. The company that made the jacket is extremely anti-semitic. http://fortune.com/2014/08/27/zara-anti-semitism/ Julie, Burlington, Iowa
Here is a quote from Mark Shea that I agree with: "... Their base is in their 60s and 70s and dying off after eating their young. Their young supporters are oily creeps like Stephen Miller, who give you the chills just looking at them and who will never be able to reproduce with any normal woman--or even have friends https://theoutline.com/…/…/does-stephen-miller-have-friends…. So that's consoling. Master Races are consistently populated by people who just aren't all that masterly when it comes to the Darwinianism they worship. It's why they need to use force and brutality to win their short-term victories, because they know that if they *really* let nature take its course no member of the opposite sex would touch them with a barge pole." Julie, Burlington, Iowa
I don't understand how young people can become attracted to fascism and racism given they (up until now) have been living in a very free and racially diverse nation.
I was particularly shocked when a photo of a young Asian woman identified as Tila Tequila was at an alt right gathering at an Italian restaurant just prior to Voldemort's inauguration. She was firing off a Nazi salute.
This stuff is not a game .... It's not a joke and it's not funny.
Primo Levi, an Auschwitz survivor, often commented on the rise of historical revisionism and Nazi apologists in the 1970s. He saw it as a cynical ploy flavored with racial scapegoating "on which to unload the aggression and vindictiveness of the people" in times of instability and political difficulty. Some people can be easily convinced to strike down at those with less power rather than recognize they're actually losing ground by those egging on their prejudices. Little morality or logic at stake for them.
It's pretty cheap stuff in general. The whole fascist cosplay routine always reminds me of guys who tried to freak me out by declaring themselves devil worshippers. Ooh, they were going to sic Satan on me if I didn't take them seriously. All you can do is avoid the temptation to get pulled into their games. You can only go in circles in arguments begun with patently false premises.
Yes. Yes. And yes.
I have a feeling you'll never share, but I'd be curious how much negative feedback you got for this. How many wrote to tell you to that children should be locked in cages.
JED (and Ken): Earl's problem appears to be that he's turned on content moderation, but doesn't know how to publish comments (and they're not sent to him). The disappearance of the spam captcha I think is significant only in the sense that it suggests someone changed the settings on his blog. Earl is very definitely not technical enough to have done it himself, so I'm guessing someone either changed the settings without consulting him or changed them without realizing (or explaining) the effect it would have.
The commentariat on Earl's blog is small, and didn't have the kinds of problems Ken had here before he turned on comment moderation. Someone needs to go in and review the settings for him.
I miss the comments! So, seconding Jed's request: Ken, can you help Earl?
wg
Listen, I don't support putting children in cages, but chill out people. We as adults can't have worthwhile conversations when we base them on extreme negative emotions--and that goes for either side.
Loosehead: There is a difference. The British government and the British people were on the same side. The people fleeing their countries now are more in the position of the Jews across Europe who were living in countries where those in power wanted to exterminate them.
wg
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