Octopus Overlords

The president’s decision to officially declare an emergency — to pretend to build an unbuildable border wall — is not only an act of constitutional vandalism. It is also an act of cowardice, a way to avoid the wrath of Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and the rest of the far-right commentariat.

It is an end run around Congress and, as such, constitutes a violation of his oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States” — which gives Congress, not the president, the authority to decide how public money is spent. It does not give Trump the right to fund projects that Congress will not approve. Authoritarian leaders do that sort of thing. The puffed-up wannabe strongman now living in the White House is giving it a try.
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Trump had two years in which Republicans controlled both the House and the Senate — and could not persuade Congress to give him funding for a wall. He decided to make it an issue only after Democrats won the power to say no. The president’s negotiating strategy — pitching tantrums, walking away from the table, venting on Twitter, provoking the longest partial government shutdown in history — was never going to work. You might think he would have learned something about how Washington works by now, but you would be wrong.

Because there obviously is no legitimate emergency, Trump’s declaration — and the shifting of resources from duly authorized projects to the wall — will surely be challenged in court. It is possible, if not likely, that any actual construction will be held up indefinitely.

Indeed, legal briefs arguing against Trump’s action practically write themselves. An emergency, by definition, is urgent. The 9/11 terrorist attacks, for example, clearly qualified as a national emergency. But Trump has been talking about issuing an emergency declaration to build the wall for a couple of months. If such action wasn’t necessary in December, some judge will surely ask, then why now?

Money for the wall will have to be taken from other projects, all of which have constituencies in Congress and among the public. Ranchers and others whose land would have to be taken by eminent domain for the wall will be up in arms.

Politically, Trump carelessly put Republican senators in a tough spot. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) may have the House pass a resolution of disapproval, which the Senate would be compelled to take up. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his caucus would have to decide whether to support a presidential power grab they know is unwise — or oppose Trump and risk the ire of the GOP base.

hepcat wrote: ↑Thu Feb 14, 2019 10:53 pm The reasonable members of the GOP dread this. It WILL come back and bite them in the ass when a dem president arrives.

hepcat wrote: ↑Thu Feb 14, 2019 10:53 pm The reasonable members of the GOP dread this. It WILL come back and bite them in the ass when a dem president arrives.

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Fri Feb 15, 2019 10:06 am Wonder how states rights and 2A adherents feel about Trump's total disregard for the Constitution. He'll come for them eventually.

Trump made the comments on Fox News' "Fox and Friends" in November 2014 when asked about executive actions by then-President Barack Obama that would halt deportations for the undocumented parents of children born in the United States.

"Now he has to use executive action and this is a very, very dangerous thing that should be overwritten easily by the Supreme Court," Trump said.

"So we're looking now at a situation, it should absolutely not pass muster in terms of constitutionality, but it depends on what these justices do," he added.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Fri Feb 15, 2019 11:51 am And there's the official announcement.

Holman wrote: ↑Fri Feb 15, 2019 12:07 pm

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Fri Feb 15, 2019 11:51 am And there's the official announcement.

OMG. This presser is the national emergency, right?

He's flying without a teleprompter, and it is absolutely WTF nuts.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Fri Feb 15, 2019 12:11 pm His statement on the wall: "I don't have to do this right now, but I want to do it fast."

I'm sure that won't come up again.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Fri Feb 15, 2019 11:39 am They say they plan to sieze the border lands through eminent domain. I'm sure that will go over smoothly and not result in any news stories that make the Republican party look bad.

wonderpug wrote: ↑Fri Feb 15, 2019 12:39 pm But what about the caravans?! So many caravans!

I live in a state that borders Mexico, and let me tell you. Caravans.

TRUMP: Thank you very much, everybody.

Before we begin, I'd like to just say that we have a large team of very talented people in China.

TRUMP: We've had a negotiation going on for about two days. It's going extremely well. Who knows what that means, because it only matters if we get it done. But we're very much working very closely with China and President Xi, who I respect a lot. Very good relationship that we have.

Alefroth wrote: ↑Fri Feb 15, 2019 3:44 pm What is Trump talking about in his confrontation with Acosta when he mentions 26 people killed on the border in a gun fight? I Googled 26 killed on border and all I got was the Sutherland Springs church massacre by a white Texan.

U.S. President Donald Trump, on a trip in Asia, told reporters in Tokyo the preliminary reports indicated the shooter was "deranged."

"This isn't a guns situation, I mean we could go into it, but it's a little bit soon to go into it," Trump said. "But fortunately somebody else had a gun that was shooting in the opposite direction, otherwise ... it would have been much worse. But this is a mental health problem at the highest level."

You can’t take human traffic -- women and girls -- you can’t take them through ports of entry. You can’t have them tied up in the backseat of a car or a truck or a van. They open the door. They look. They can’t see three women with tape on their mouth or three women whose hands are tied.

Yes. Jim Acosta.

Q Thank you, Mr. President. I wonder if you could comment on this disconnect that we seem to have in this country, where you are presenting information about what’s happening at the border -- calling it an “invasion,” talking about women with duct tape over their mouths, and so on -- and yet there’s a lot of reporting out there, there’s a lot of crime data out there, there’s a lot of Department of Homeland Security data out there that shows border crossings at a near-record low --

Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday that California is planning to sue the Trump administration over its declaration of a national emergency on the southern border with Mexico, delivering on a promise state Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra made last week "to reject this foolish proposal in court the moment it touches the ground."

Newsom and Becerra announced they are developing plans for the legal action at a Capitol news conference just hours after President Trump declared a national emergency in an attempt to divert up to $6.6 billion from other projects, including military construction jobs, to build or reinforce as many as 234 miles of border barriers.

wonderpug wrote: ↑Fri Feb 15, 2019 12:39 pm But what about the caravans?! So many caravans!

I live in a state that borders Mexico, and let me tell you. Caravans.

GreenGoo wrote: ↑Fri Feb 15, 2019 5:47 pm

wonderpug wrote: ↑Fri Feb 15, 2019 12:39 pm But what about the caravans?! So many caravans!

I live in a state that borders Mexico, and let me tell you. Caravans.

The UK loves them some caravans.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Fri Feb 15, 2019 6:00 pm Needs more Periwinkle Blue