US Politics

Yeah it's bizarre.

to be fair, i wouldn't take a lecture from that overindulged chinless arsehole either.

I would think that anti-Trump demonstrations are nailed on for his visit.

So apparently, the court order ruling that suspends Trump's Muslim ban is being ignored.

That's pretty much a dictatorship, when officials ignore the judiciary in favour of the leader.

"President Trump's Executive Orders remain in place— prohibited travel will remain prohibited, and the U.S. government retains its right to revoke visas at any time if required for national security or public safety," according to the DHS statement.

Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to the White House, said that nothing in the judge's order "in anyway impedes or prevents the implementation of the president's executive order which remains in full, complete and total effect." (Stephen Miller is an actual Nazi.)

Another thing that stands out is that, as the ban includes Green Card holders from those countries, there are US citizens effectively requiring asylum/refuge from the USA.

Oh, and May's response to the Muslim ban is a fucking disgrace from a world leader. She's like the Richard Hammond of international politics.

Be prepared ...

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Interesting talk on how to target voters with the intention of influencing elections.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8Dd5aVXLCc

It was used to give a boost to Cruz, and also to Trump.

Seems prescient

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/11/donald-trumps-dystopias/506975/

Wouldn't fancy being an ISIS recruiter who just fancies a quiet week at work.

Now would be a perfect time for an Islamic State attack in the USA.

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what a fucking moron.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-donald-trump-war-us-military-official-practical-reality-president-latest-a7550601.html

China expecting a war....

Ten days on the throne and this, it's amazing...

presumably chinese families are next on the round-up list?

i better get the spare room made up.

Further to the above re. Muslim ban:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-travel-bans-department-of-homeland-security-vows-enforce-court-order-a7551601.html

"The 19 terrorists in the Sept. 11 attacks were from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates, Myre points out. They are among the Muslim-majority countries not affected by Trump's immigration freeze, but where Trump does business."

http://www.npr.org/2017/01/28/511996783/how-does-trumps-immigration-freeze-square-with-his-business-interests?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social

I have never been to a protest before, but if he comes over here I might feel I have no choice.

When I studied political science as an undergraduate I recall learning about the empirically unstable history of presidential systems. If I'm not mistaken, barring the US, the system failed in every country it was exported to (memory may have exaggerated this). This obviously bolstered ideas of American exceptionalism, but also highlighted the precarious position of its democracy. It's therefore interesting, but meaningful, that a publication like FP is publishing something like this: https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/01/18/we-are-the-last-defense-against-trump-institutions/

What makes America vulnerable to being blindsided by such a threat is our unwavering — and outdated — belief in the famed strength of our institutions. Of course, the United States has much better institutional foundations and a unique brand of checks and balances, which were entirely absent in Venezuela, Russia, and Turkey. But many of these still won’t be much help against the present threat. Not only are America’s institutions particularly ill-equipped, in this moment, to stand up against Trump; in some cases they may actually enable him.

I think we'd see the breakup of the republic before the centralization of power in Trump. Then we really can call him "Mr. Brexit."

USexit?

If I must.

Not that anyone pays attention
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/171928

On the problems of the presidential system: http://scholar.harvard.edu/levitsky/files/1.1linz.pdf

By contrast, the only presidential democracy with a long history of constitutional continuity is the United States. The constitutions of Finland and France are hybrids rather than true presidential systems, and in the case of the French Fifth Republic, the jury is still out. Aside from the United States, only Chile has managed a century and a half of relatively undisturbed constitutional continuity under presidential government-but Chilean democracy broke down in the 1970s.

...

Perhaps the most important consequences of the direct relationship that exists between a president and the electorate are the sense the president may have of being the only elected representative of the whole people and the accompanying risk that he will tend to conflate his supporters with "the people" as a whole. The plebiscitarian component implicit in the president's authority is likely to make the obstacles and opposition he encounters seem particularly annoying. In his frustration he may be tempted to define his policies as reflections of the popular will and those of his opponents as the selfish designs of narrow interests. This identification of leader with people fosters a certain populism that may be a source of strength. It may also, however, bring on a refusal to acknowledge the limits of the mandate that even a majority-to say nothing of a mere plurality~an claim as democratic justification for the enactment of its agenda. The doleful potential for displays of cold indifference, disrespect, or even downright hostility toward the opposition is not to be scanted.