| Author | Message | ||
     Fb1 |
I'm still trying to come to grips with the root reason as to "why," but the task of orally presenting the DOJ's side of the case last night landed in August Flentje's lap at the very last second. (In fact, several times he touched on how quickly things had happened - for which the judges duly excoriated him; he wasn't referring to the overall case, he was referring to HIM being thrust into this position.) He was involved in preparing the legal challenge to the TRO, certainly, but he was NOT expecting to be (nor had he prepared to be) the actual mouthpiece for the DOJ last night. The Acting Solicitor General and Acting Assistant Attorney General "opted out" of this deal at the last moment, "...out of an abundance of caution, in light of a last-minute filing of an amicus brief by their former law firm." (See page 12 here: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3455440-DO J-reply-in-support-of-lifting-stay-on-travel-ban.h tml#document/p2) Yes, Flentje sounded nervous at times, and there's no question he was facing at least one, and more likely two, leftist/activist judges last night. Michelle Friedman, in particular, was outright hostile and combative; her bias was plain to see (hear). As I understand it, the merits (or lack thereof) of the DOJ's request for a stay of the TRO will be based on the "Reply In Support Of Emergency Motion For Stay Pending Appeal" - you can read the entire document at the link I provided above. It is, of course, well-presented and documented, citing many precedents found in case law. I'm no law scholar, but I've read it several times and it sure appears to be bulletproof. The oral arguments last night were, as I understand it, a chance for counsel for both sides to "augment" their respective cases before the judges deliberate. Again, Mr. Flentje was thrust into his position last night at the last second; there's plenty of speculation floating around on the 'net of "foul play" regarding this, but nothing I can point to with confidence that this was a pre-planned, deliberate ploy. In spite of Mr. Flentje's performance (which, BTW, improved considerably as the hearing went on, particularly when the judges gave him additional time to speak at the end), the judges are SUPPOSED to consider each sides' merits based on the law, and NOT simply on the oral presentations last night from Mr. Flentje and Mr. Purcell. All that said, I can't agree more with the sentiments posted by others: That a federal judge can, with the most marginal level of pretzel logic to make his case, usurp the President's clearly-enumerated, nearly unlimited powers regarding immigration, even temporarily, is breathtaking. | ||
| Aesquire |
Little "coup" in the DOJ? It was packed by Barry. We pretty obviously need serious purging of Barry loyalists in govt. Gitmo for domestic terrorists? Plenty of room there for Soros. Follow the Barry & Bill pattern of secret arrests? Turn Soros over to Russia for interrogation? ( I hear they've already promised to execute Soros ) Trump has been declared Satan & Hitler. Be a bit of a shock if he acted like the Progressives. Not a suggestion. Just an observation. | ||
| Aesquire |
https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-0 2-08/prominent-republicans-begin-push-to-tax-carbo n-cut-regulations Call this the "rich bribed us act based on lies to screw the middle class act of 2017 " | ||
| Fb1 |
Little "coup" in the DOJ? Perhaps. | ||
| Fb1 |
See pic at https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C4JxWpzWIAIin-j.jpg Source: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/8293499 43613734912/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw (Message edited by blake on February 10, 2017) | ||
| Fb1 |
Photo: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C4KauscUYAIvZQi.jpg ^ Source: https://twitter.com/JenniferJJacobs/status/8293955 06476568583/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZzFUmROFLY At 3:54 a reporter asks Mr. Krzanich, "And how long have you been planning this investment?" Brian Krzanich: "We've been working on this factory for several years. We've held off, actually, doing this investment until now." Reporter: "Was there something that President Trump did or said that made you want to announce this here and now?" Krzanich: "It's really in support of the tax and regulatory policies that we see the Administration pushing forward that really make it advantageous to do manufacturing in the US." BOOM! Thank you, Mr. President. (Message edited by blake on February 10, 2017) | ||
| Crusty |
Yes, Thank You, Mr. President. | ||
| Fb1 |
Source, more: https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2017/02/08/sh ock-poll-collapses-media-narrative-overwhelming-eu -support-for-a-muslim-ban/ | ||
| Fb1 |
Source, more: https://www.chathamhouse.org/expert/comment/what-d o-europeans-think-about-muslim-immigration# | ||
| Fb1 |
Source, more: https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2017/02/08/se nate-confirms-attorney-general-jeff-sessions/ Thank you Senator Manchin. MAGA  | ||
| Fb1 |
 Source: https://twitter.com/DanScavino/status/829476256559 276032/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw | ||
| Fb1 |
Dang, this is such good news: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DoP02aowMs | ||
| Njloco |
Don't worry fb1, dip sh.t from down under will still disagree with you above mentioned statistics. | ||
| Fb1 |
TOO MUCH WINNING! 
^ Source, more: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-02-08/
^ Source, more: http://truepundit.com/video-mlks-niece-accuses-eli zabeth-warren-of-playing-the-race-card-in-senate-f loor-charade/ edited to shrink image for improved page readability (Message edited by Blake on February 10, 2017) | ||
| Njloco |
O.k, so now CNN interviews Senator Richard Blumenthal on a Judge Gorsuch statement, made behind closed doors. At a ceremony honoring veterans and senior citizens who sent presents to soldiers overseas, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut rose and spoke of an earlier time in his life. Multimedia Interactive Feature Assessing Blumenthal's Military Service Records The Times's Raymond Hernandez on The Takeaway Related Campaign in Damage Control Over ‘a Few Misplaced Words’ (May 19, 2010) Times Topic: Richard Blumenthal Room for Debate: Politicians and Their Fake War Stories (May 19, 2010) Résumés Made for Fibbing (May 23, 2010) Enlarge This Image John Olson/Time & Life Pictures — Getty Images AN ASSISTANT IN THE NIXON WHITE HOUSE In 1969, Richard Blumenthal was hired by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, presidential urban affairs adviser. Enlarge This Image An official log of Mr. Blumenthal's Selective Service record. He received a series of educational and occupational deferments from 1965 to 1970. Enlarge This Image Chang W. Lee/The New York Times A CANDIDATE FOR THE SENATE Mr. Blumenthal at an April forum in Monroe. He is running for the seat Christopher J. Dodd is vacating. Enlarge This Image He served in the Marine Reserve. Readers’ Comments Readers shared their thoughts on this article. Read All Comments (1465) » “We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam,” Mr. Blumenthal said to the group gathered in Norwalk in March 2008. “And you exemplify it. Whatever we think about the war, whatever we call it — Afghanistan or Iraq — we owe our military men and women unconditional support.” There was one problem: Mr. Blumenthal, a Democrat now running for the United States Senate, never served in Vietnam. He obtained at least five military deferments from 1965 to 1970 and took repeated steps that enabled him to avoid going to war, according to records. The deferments allowed Mr. Blumenthal to complete his studies at Harvard; pursue a graduate fellowship in England; serve as a special assistant to The Washington Post’s publisher, Katharine Graham; and ultimately take a job in the Nixon White House. In 1970, with his last deferment in jeopardy, he landed a coveted spot in the Marine Reserve, which virtually guaranteed that he would not be sent to Vietnam. He joined a unit in Washington that conducted drills and other exercises and focused on local projects, like fixing a campground and organizing a Toys for Tots drive. Many politicians have faced questions over their decisions during the Vietnam War, and Mr. Blumenthal, who is seeking the seat being vacated by Senator Christopher J. Dodd, is not alone in staying out of the war. But what is striking about Mr. Blumenthal’s record is the contrast between the many steps he took that allowed him to avoid Vietnam, and the misleading way he often speaks about that period of his life now, especially when he is speaking at veterans’ ceremonies or other patriotic events. Sometimes his remarks have been plainly untrue, as in his speech to the group in Norwalk. At other times, he has used more ambiguous language, but the impression left on audiences can be similar. In an interview on Monday, the attorney general said that he had misspoken about his service during the Norwalk event and might have misspoken on other occasions. “My intention has always been to be completely clear and accurate and straightforward, out of respect to the veterans who served in Vietnam,” he said. But an examination of his remarks at the ceremonies shows that he does not volunteer that his service never took him overseas. And he describes the hostile reaction directed at veterans coming back from Vietnam, intimating that he was among them. In 2003, he addressed a rally in Bridgeport, where about 100 military families gathered to express support for American troops overseas. “When we returned, we saw nothing like this,” Mr. Blumenthal said. “Let us do better by this generation of men and women.” At a 2008 ceremony in front of the Veterans War Memorial Building in Shelton, he praised the audience for paying tribute to troops fighting abroad, noting that America had not always done so. “I served during the Vietnam era,” he said. “I remember the taunts, the insults, sometimes even physical abuse.” Mr. Blumenthal, 64, is known as a brilliant lawyer who likes to argue cases in court and uses language with power and precision. He is also savvy about the news media and attentive to how he is portrayed in the press. But the way he speaks about his military service has led to confusion and frequent mischaracterizations of his biography in his home state newspapers. In at least eight newspaper articles published in Connecticut from 2003 to 2009, he is described as having served in Vietnam. The New Haven Register on July 20, 2006, described him as “a veteran of the Vietnam War,” and on April 6, 2007, said that the attorney general had “served in the Marines in Vietnam.” On May 26, 2009, The Connecticut Post, a Bridgeport newspaper that is the state’s third-largest daily, described Mr. Blumenthal as “a Vietnam veteran.” The Shelton Weekly reported on May 23, 2008, that Mr. Blumenthal “was met with applause when he spoke about his experience as a Marine sergeant in Vietnam.” And the idea that he served in Vietnam has become such an accepted part of his public biography that when a national outlet, Slate magazine, produced a profile of Mr. Blumenthal in 2000, it said he had “enlisted in the Marines rather than duck the Vietnam draft.” It does not appear that Mr. Blumenthal ever sought to correct those mistakes. In the interview, he said he was not certain whether he had seen the stories or whether any steps had been taken to point out the inaccuracies. “I don’t know if we tried to do so or not,” he said. He added that he “can’t possibly know what is reported in all” the articles that are written about him, given the large number of appearances he makes at military-style events. He said he had tried to stick to a consistent way of describing his military experience: that he served as a member of the United State Marine Corps Reserve during the Vietnam era. Asked about the Bridgeport rally, when he told the crowd, “When we returned, we saw nothing like this,” Mr. Blumenthal said he did not recall the event. An aide pointed out that in a different appearance this year, Mr. Blumenthal was forthright about not having gone to war. In a Senate debate in March, he responded to a question about Iran and the use of military force by saying, “Although I did not serve in Vietnam, I have seen firsthand the effects of military action, and no one wants it to be the first resort, nor do we want to mortgage the country’s future with a deficit that is ballooning out of control.” On a less serious matter, another flattering but untrue description of Mr. Blumenthal’s history has appeared in profiles about him. In two largely favorable profiles, the Slate article and a magazine article in The Hartford Courant in 2004 with which he cooperated, Mr. Blumenthal is described prominently as having served as captain of the swim team at Harvard. Records at the college show that he was never on the team. Mr. Blumenthal said he did not provide the information to reporters, was unsure how it got into circulation and was “astonished” when he saw it in print. Mr. Blumenthal has made veterans’ issues a centerpiece of his public life and his Senate campaign, but even those who have worked closely with him have gotten the misimpression that he served in Vietnam. In an interview, Jean Risley, the chairwoman of the Connecticut Vietnam Veterans Memorial Inc., recalled listening to an emotional Mr. Blumenthal offering remarks at the dedication of the memorial. She remembered him describing the indignities that he and other veterans faced when they returned from Vietnam. “It was a sad moment,” she recalled. “He said, ‘When we came back, we were spat on; we couldn’t wear our uniforms.’ It looked like he was sad to me when he said it.” Ms. Risley later telephoned the reporter to say she had checked into Mr. Blumenthal’s military background and learned that he had not, in fact, served in Vietnam. The Vietnam chapter in Mr. Blumenthal’s biography has received little attention despite his nearly three decades in Connecticut politics. But now, after repeatedly shunning opportunities for higher office, Mr. Blumenthal is the man Democrats nationally are depending on to retain the seat they controlled for 30 years under Mr. Dodd, and he is likely to face more intense scrutiny. After obtaining Mr. Blumenthal’s Selective Service records through a Freedom of Information Act request, The New York Times asked David Curry, a professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and an expert on the Vietnam draft, to examine them. Mr. Curry said the records showed that Mr. Blumenthal had received at least five deferments. Mr. Blumenthal did not dispute that but said he did not know how many deferments he had received. Mr. Blumenthal grew up in New York City, the son of a successful businessman who ran an import-export company. As a young man, he attended Riverdale Country School in the Bronx and showed great promise, along with an ability to ingratiate himself with powerful people. In 1963, he entered Harvard College, where he met Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who served on the faculty there and guided Mr. Blumenthal’s senior thesis on the failure of government poverty programs. He received two student deferments during his undergraduate years there, the records show. After graduating from Harvard in 1967, military records show, Mr. Blumenthal obtained another educational deferment and headed to Britain, where he filed stories for The Washington Post and attended Trinity College, Cambridge, on a graduate fellowship. But in early 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson, under pressure over criticism that wealthier young men were avoiding the draft through graduate school, abolished nearly all graduate deferments and sharply increased the number of troops sent to Southeast Asia. That summer, Mr. Blumenthal’s draft classification changed from 2-S, an educational deferment, to 2-A, an occupational deferment — a rare exemption from military service for men who contended that it was in the “national health, safety and interest” for them to remain in their civilian jobs. At the time, he was working as a special assistant to Ms. Graham, whose son Donald he had befriended at Harvard. Half a year later, after the election of President Richard M. Nixon, Mr. Blumenthal went to work in the White House as a senior staff assistant to Mr. Moynihan, who was Nixon’s urban affairs adviser. But at the end of that year, he became eligible for induction after he drew a low number in a draft lottery held on Dec. 1, 1969. His number was 152, and people with numbers as high as 195 could be drafted, according to the Selective Service. Two months after the lottery, in February 1970, Mr. Blumenthal obtained a second occupational deferment, according to the records. The status of people with occupational deferments, however, was growing shakier, with the war raging and the Nixon administration increasingly uncomfortable with them. In April 1970, Mr. Blumenthal secured a spot in the Marine Corps Reserve, which was regarded as a safe harbor for those who did not want to go to war. “The Reserves were not being activated for Vietnam and were seen as a shelter for young privileged men,” Mr. Curry said. But Mr. Blumenthal’s campaign manager, Mindy Myers, said Monday that any suggestion that he was ducking the war was unfounded, saying he was engaged in important work. When he worked for Ms. Graham, for example, he helped teach children in a public school in the Anacostia section of Washington, for a project she had started there. “It’s flat wrong to imply that Richard Blumenthal’s decisions to take a Fiske Fellowship, teach inner-city schoolchildren and work in the White House for Daniel Patrick Moynihan were decisions to avoid service when in fact, while still eligible for a deferment, he chose to enlist in the Marine Corps Reserves and completed six months of service at Parris Island, S.C., and then six years of service in the Reserves.” Mr. Blumenthal landed in the Fourth Civil Affairs Group in Washington, whose members included the well-connected in Washington. At the time, the unit was not associated with the kind of hardship of traditional fighting units, according to Marine reports from the period and interviews with about a half-dozen men who served in the unit during the Vietnam years. In the 1970s, the unit’s members were dispatched to undertake projects like refurbishing tent decks and showers at a campground for underprivileged Washington children, as well as collecting and distributing toys and games as part of regular Toys for Tots drives. Robert Cole, a retired lieutenant colonel who did active duty overseas in the 1950s and later joined the unit as a reservist, recalled the young men who joined the unit in the late 1960s and early 1970s. “These kids we were getting in — a lot of them were worried about the draft,” he said. After entering Yale Law School in the fall of 1970, Mr. Blumenthal transferred to a Marine Reserve unit in New Haven, Company C of the Sixth Motor Transport Battalion, Fourth Marine Division, which conducted occasional military drills, as well as participating in Christmas toy drives for children and recycling programs in neighboring communities, according to the unit’s command reports from the time. In 1974, Mr. Blumenthal took a position as a law clerk for Justice Harry C. Blackmun of the United States Supreme Court and transferred back to a Washington unit, where he completed his service And we're supposed to believe this guy ! How in hell did he ever get elected to public office ? | ||
| Sifo |
A little off topic, but... The Left Hates You. Act Accordingly. | ||
| Sifo |
| ||
| Fb1 |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ClWsJP3vbc | ||
| Fb1 |
Interesting tweet yesterday afternoon from P45; this is in reference to the Chatham House poll I posted here last night:
Source: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump BTW, when P45 sends out a tweet, it instantly reaches approximately 25,000,000 followers... | ||
| Fb1 |
Photo: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C4L257pWYAE6PK2.jpg ^ Source: https://twitter.com/NationalSheriff/status/8294967 60137560065/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
^ Source: http://sheriffs.org/Sheriffs-Applaud-Confirmation- of-Senator-Sessions (Message edited by blake on February 10, 2017) | ||
| Sifo |
I was just watching Fox Business News as a group of Airline and Airport executives exited a meeting with Trump about infrastructure building. They all had very positive things to say about the meeting. Right after that, back in the FBN studio, the question was raised if Trump has spent his political capital too quickly. The immediate answer, which pointed to the meeting that just let out, was that Trump was building political capital by meet with, and listening too the key people in business that are needed to make things happen. In a word... Leadership! It's something that our country has been sorely lacking the past 8 years. I'm still skeptical of many things in Trumps agenda, but I do respect a true leader. He is making amazing progress, despite the obstructionist Democrats doing all they can to stall progress. Ferris, Thanks for all the effort you have put into this thread. No doubt, I'm far better informed on many things due to your efforts. I don't think I'm alone in that. Thanks to all who have contributed! | ||
| Fb1 |
Thank you, and you're welcome. ----------------------------- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZQWgSHoYsE | ||
| Fb1 |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB-pbmQ-ZTY | ||
| Court |
I suspect Kelly Anne will be leaving us soon . . . I kind of see her as the incarnation of the Peter Principle. Being a great and successful campaign manager does not make, by extension, a person qualified to be a Senior Presidential Advisor. Frankly . . . when she said this:
The next words out of the President's mouth . . should have been . . . YOU'RE FIRED. | ||
| Fb1 |
I suspect the following video will open some eyes. I'll post it up, and then offer some comments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU7QM_P2DS8 Now that you've (hopefully) watched the vid, go back to 4:44 and hit pause. Did you catch it? What Tommy Robinson is addressing, and what the screen grab at 4:44 partially documents, is called "consanguinity." I bet most people have never heard of the word, and have no idea what it means. If you don't know, look it up; you'll be shocked. I guarantee it. And.........you're then likely to have an "Aha!" moment. This practice, which is not only accepted among certain cultures but is actually encouraged (generation, after generation, after generation, after generation, after generation...), might explain some things. I imagine Mr. Robinson's words will disturb some folks. That's OK; we're at war (although many of us don't know it or won't acknowledge it yet) and we SHOULD be disturbed. Consanguinity, coming soon to a neighborhood near you? | ||
| Torquehd |
So the appeals court has ruled against Trump. Who are these ass clowns, and how do we deport them to Syria? And how do we institute civil disobedience against this small band of individuals who think they know more than Trump (BTW- GOOGLE HIS IQ! HE'S A FREAKING GENIOUS AND I MEAN THAT) and follow the intentions of both our president and the majority of US citizens? I'm sick of this ass clownery that is designed to breed terrorism, kill US citizens, and destroy everything that makes the US a safe, secure, constitutional republic, and that is why I voted for Trump. (Message edited by torquehd on February 09, 2017) | ||
| Fb1 |
Source: https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2017/02/09/sy rias-president-bashar-assad-admits-terrorist-embed s-within-syrian-refugee-population/ | ||
| Blake |
FB, I edited out the wide pics, turned them into hyperlinks. They were making the font so small, and making the page difficult to read. Thanks | ||
| Aesquire |
Send the judges to Syria? No way. Syria is a sovereign nation, puppet of the Russian Empire or not. They wouldn't take them. No desire to take communists in what is in reality a monarchy. Gitmo. Plenty of room now that Barry released so many of his spiritual brothers. ( & no sisters, note ) But that's silly talk. Not going to happen. Impeachment is unlikely. Probably deserved. I'm still holding out a forlorn hope that we can avoid violent revolution in the U.S. Doesn't mean I don't think the AG & Governor of California maybe should be executed for treason.  I'm not positive that's desirable. I mean, I'd get satisfaction from it but it's perhaps not ideal. I'm willing to bet Donald will do something that I vehemently disagree with. I prefer not to be outlawed for my opinion. Bad enough Barry told his followers to beat folk like me. Open violence against citizens is the tactic of evil men. Like Robert Reich or Hillary. | ||
| Aesquire |
http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/feb/9/refug ees-entering-us-doubled-rate-ruling-trump-tra/ State dept employees otoh who are in conflict with the new guy, them you can send to Syria. What's the ISIS held city? There, send them in a convoy to discuss women's rights. Make sure to notify Putin of the timing & course of the convoy. leak to CNN that Trump picked all Jews for the new envoys. ( ISIS watches CNN ) State has needed a major purge since FDR. It's gotten worse the last seventy years. Drastic measures are needed. |
