The Trump Presidency | Biden Inaugurated

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Signal received: White nationalists ecstatic over Trump’s proposed policy change on terrorism
Neo-Nazis, Klansmen and other hate groups always suspected Trump was their guy, and now they're sure of it

President Donald Trump no longer has any need for “dog-whistle racism” or subtlety. He now acts with boldness and clarituy. Last week, Donald Trump’s administration indicated that the Countering Violent Extremism program would no longer track white supremacist organizations. This shift of federal resources is but one more sign that Trump’s administration does not view protecting the civil rights of African-Americans and other people of color as an important mission.

Trump’s base of white supremacists and white nationalists, on the other hand, is rejoicing. A signal has been sent, and such individuals have heard it loud and clear.

Think Progress has reported:

News of Trump’s plan to reverse that symbolic recognition of right-wing threats prompted a wave of celebration in white nationalist circles.

“Donald Trump wants to remove us from undue federal scrutiny by removing ‘white supremacists’ from the definition of ‘extremism,’” the founder and editor of the neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer (which takes its name from a Nazi propaganda publication) wrote in a post on the site. “Yes, this is real life. Our memes are all real life. Donald Trump is setting us free.”

And Think Progress further noted:

But in Trump’s move to take even some measure of scrutiny off of far-right extremism, The Daily Stormer sees a direct parroting of their own writing and a reward for the far-right’s role in getting Trump elected.

“It’s fair to say that if the Trump team is not listening to us directly (I assume they are), they are thinking along very similar lines. We helped get Trump get [sic] elected, and the fact of the matter is, without Alt-Right meme magick, it simply wouldn’t have happened,” the post continues. “This is absolutely a signal of favor to us.”

Another neo-Nazi site that associates itself with the so-called “alt-right,” Infostormer, celebrated the news and took it as a sign of support. “We may truly have underestimated President Trump’s covert support of our Cause (at least in some form), but after this proposal, I am fully ready to offer myself in service of this glorious regime” the post reads.

This policy change cannot be viewed in isolation. It is part of a larger pattern.

Two of Donald Trump’s senior advisers, Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller, have long histories of association with white nationalists and white supremacists. ...

http://www.salon.com/2017/02/06/sig...r-trumps-proposed-policy-change-on-terrorism/
 
LuisNaniencia said:
Because I'm an idiot with US politics, what is the department of justice? Are they made up of Trump cronies or are they entirely seperate from the white house?
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Unlike the UK, there is no permanent civil service in the US, which means the executive (Trump) gets to staff his departments, at least at the higher levels.
 
berbatrick said:
Unlike the UK, there is no permanent civil service in the US, which means the executive (Trump) gets to staff his departments, at least at the higher levels.
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Not true. My dad was a career diplomat in the State Department. But, yes incoming administrations appoint people at the very top and there is turnover there.
 
Raoul said:
There are career civil servants all over the US government.
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Neutral said:
Not true. My dad was a career diplomat in the State Department.
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Oops. I had no idea. How does it work? I'm pretty sure there isn't a centralised exam for it.

I do know that there are some diplomats kept on by all admins, but is their position actually permanent?
 
berbatrick said:
Oops. I had no idea. How does it work? I'm pretty sure there isn't a centralised exam for it.

I do know that there are some diplomats kept on by all admins, but is their position actually permanent?
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I'm also not familiar with the details, but from wiki:
The majority of civil service positions are classified as competitive service, meaning employees are selected based on merit after a competitive hiring process for positions that are open to all applicants. The Senior Executive Service (SES) is the classification for non-competitive, senior leadership positions filled by career employees or political appointments (e.g., Cabinet members, ambassadors, etc.). Excepted service positions (also known as unclassified service) are non-competitive jobs in certain federal agencies with security and intelligence functions (e.g., the CIA, FBI, State Department, etc.) that are authorized to create their own hiring policies and are not subject to most appointment, pay, and classification laws.
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So not exams.
 
berbatrick said:
Oops. I had no idea. How does it work? I'm pretty sure there isn't a centralised exam for it.

I do know that there are some diplomats kept on by all admins, but is their position actually permanent?
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The State Department has an exam for foreign service officers (Diplomats) but they also have standard civil servant positions. Same with other agencies. There's no exam for a vast majority of them. You can get hired based on past experience in other fields.
 
Raoul said:
Bernie Sanders v Lyin' Ted Cruz

Sanders_vs_Cruz_Debate.jpg


http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-bl...ers-will-win-his-cnn-obamacare-debate-vs-cruz
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WWE really needs to stop pushing these old dudes for that dose of nostalgia. Sad.
 
Raoul said:
The State Department has an exam for foreign service officers (Diplomats) but they also have standard civil servant positions. Same with other agencies. There's no exam for a vast majority of them. You can get hired based on past experience in other fields.
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MTF said:
I'm also not familiar with the details, but from wiki:


So not exams.
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TIL :)
 
langster said:
WOAH!!!!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...do-james-matthis-qassim-al-rimi-a7566861.html



Nah, nothing to worry about here, let's just wait until he does something................ :wenger:
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I bet it doesn't get one minute on the Hill while Benghazi got hundreds of hours and millions of dollars. This raid should be front and center. Trump was Commander in Chief and a marine died, woman and children slaughtered, loss of millions of dollars of military equipment, no intelligence that mattered recovered and the main target escapes only to take the piss out of trump a few days later.
On top of that we hear that he made the decision over dinner with people in the room who are not authorized to be near this operation, he wasn't even in the situation room during the operation as he was busy lying about the NYT on Twitter and now it's reported that he only did it to get one up on Obama.
This fecker should be tarred and feathered and marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in shame.
Forget waiting for impeachment for the next few years, this bad hombre could be prosecuted before that for some very bad shit yet to come, or people in possession of direct Russian involvement with this sham president could grow some balls and come forward.
 
2cents said:
You don't seem to distinguish between the anti-Soviet mujahidin, the Taliban, and al Qaeda.

The mujahidin - armed and trained during the 1980s directly by Pakistan with full support of the US, Saudi Arabia, and others. Included an obscure fighter called Muhammad Omar who would go on to found the Taliban in 1993/94, five years after the Soviet withdrawal and subsequent loss of US interest in Afghanistan. Also included guys like Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Jalaludin Haqqani (famously described by Charlie Wilson as "goodness personified") who would go on to loosely ally themselves to the Taliban after 9/11. But most mujahidin factions, while certainly Islamist in orientation, fought against the Taliban when they emerged in 1994.

The Taliban - founded by Mullah Omar in the midst of the civil war of the 90s, supported by the ISI as a reliably Pakhtun, anti-Indian force for 'stability', and largely drawn from Deobandi-run, Saudi-funded madrasas along the Af-Pak frontier. Initially the US believed they might be a force for stability in the country, but the US had little interest in them until bin Ladin turned up again nd declared war on them in 1996. For his part, bin Ladin is said to have known nothing about the Taliban when he first returned to Afghanistan, but suspected they might be communists.

Al Qaeda - founded at the tail-end of the anti-Soviet war as a conglomeration of Arab and other foreign volunteers. Never had any significant impact on the conflict but used the space provided by the instability to train for coming wars against their own governments. People like Michael Moore have claimed that the US "created" bin Ladin, but the main studies of al Qaeda by Steve Coll, Jason Burke and Lawrence Wright conclude that bin Ladin worked independently of the US in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
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Thank you, I'm so tired of seeing these terms being used interchangeably, especially in the wrong contexts.
 
Crossie said:
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See, this is the trouble. People think most of the USA is like this and most people are happy about what is going on. This perception will be used to advance agendas and to play the victim and act the martyr all over the world now. Trump's actions over a two and a half week period have made the entire country a laughing stock around the world, it's also got lots of people very frightened. Just look at what I posted a minute ago, if it's true, it's probably the biggest story to come out of the White House in years. Trump ordering strikes or military action because his advisors are saying Obama didn't have the balls to do it. That is ridiculous and petrifying. His staff aren't stupid, HE IS! VERY! He's an ignoramus and his staff are getting things they want done by playing to his weaknesses and manipulating his desire to be perceived as the greatest leader in the world.

MannyB said:
There was probably a reason he would never do it :lol:
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Yeah, there was, and that is part of my point, Obama went to briefings daily, sometimes multiple times in a day, he prided himself on making sure he knew what he was getting himself in to. In a way, learning from his predecessors mistakes, also he prided himself on building bridges with countries around the world, the complete opposite to what Trump has done in two weeks. I've been reading newspapers from around the world and the opinion of Trump worldwide isn't good at all. He's seen anywhere from being a clown and a joke to being the biggest danger to world peace anyone has ever known. I hate to keep on saying it but something MUST be done to stop this madness.
 
berbatrick said:
Oops. I had no idea. How does it work? I'm pretty sure there isn't a centralised exam for it.

I do know that there are some diplomats kept on by all admins, but is their position actually permanent?
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Raoul already answered the question. My dad had to take the FSOT (Foreign Service Officer Test) to qualify - including written and oral tests. When he got in - it was a pretty plum job (it still is - the acceptance rate is around 5% of all applicants). The money was decent - not great...but - it wasn't about the money...it was about the travel and duty free stuff :lol:
 
I am not big fan of Trump or the US policies in the past 20 years or so. However how can Iran seriously criticise the US or any country for its matter? The man in the dressing gown should be asking why their country is still stuck to the middle ages

and before anyone criticise me for what I said, I am a catholic and I find priests wearing costumes from the middle ages equally silly. It would be similar if I start going to work in knight's armour or with a Roman toga
 
langster said:
Yeah, there was, and that is part of my point, Obama went to briefings daily, sometimes multiple times in a day, he prided himself on making sure he knew what he was getting himself in to. In a way, learning from his predecessors mistakes, also he prided himself on building bridges with countries around the world, the complete opposite to what Trump has done in two weeks. I've been reading newspapers from around the world and the opinion of Trump worldwide isn't good at all. He's seen anywhere from being a clown and a joke to being the biggest danger to world peace anyone has ever known. I hate to keep on saying it but something MUST be done to stop this madness.
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Oh I agree. There was also a small matter of Trump ego looking for quick wins and wanting to be seen as stronger and more proactive than Obama.
 
onemanarmy said:
And so it begins...
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It does, sadly. It'll be interesting to see how Russia will position themselves in this conflict.

langster said:
See, this is the trouble. People think most of the USA is like this and most people are happy about what is going on. This perception will be used to advance agendas and to play the victim and act the martyr all over the world now. Trump's actions over a two and a half week period have made the entire country a laughing stock around the world, it's also got lots of people very frightened. Just look at what I posted a minute ago, if it's true, it's probably the biggest story to come out of the White House in years. Trump ordering strikes or military action because his advisors are saying Obama didn't have the balls to do it. That is ridiculous and petrifying. His staff aren't stupid, HE IS! VERY! He's an ignoramus and his staff are getting things they want done by playing to his weaknesses and manipulating his desire to be perceived as the greatest leader in the world.



Yeah, there was, and that is part of my point, Obama went to briefings daily, sometimes multiple times in a day, he prided himself on making sure he knew what he was getting himself in to. In a way, learning from his predecessors mistakes, also he prided himself on building bridges with countries around the world, the complete opposite to what Trump has done in two weeks. I've been reading newspapers from around the world and the opinion of Trump worldwide isn't good at all. He's seen anywhere from being a clown and a joke to being the biggest danger to world peace anyone has ever known. I hate to keep on saying it but something MUST be done to stop this madness.
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I actually don't know whether I should ROFL or scream how easily Trump can be manipulated. He's so predictable. He does have the mental status of a toddler, is outright stupid and is a malign narcissist of unknown degree. I realized that I begin to feel nothing but contempt for not just him and his cronies but in particular for all these spineless Republicans who promote or enable his agenda of greed, hypocrisy, hate and division.
 
devilish said:
I am not big fan of Trump or the US policies in the past 20 years or so. However how can Iran seriously criticise the US or any country for its matter? The man in the dressing gown should be asking why their country is still stuck to the middle ages

and before anyone criticise me for what I said, I am a catholic and I find priests wearing costumes from the middle ages equally silly. It would be similar if I start going to work in knight's armour or with a Roman toga
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Why not. America's always condemned Iran for being the rogue state. Now that Trump is making America look stupid and undermining all the years of at least putting a firm but fair face of their opposition to Iran, he's practically handing them the moral high ground through his complete lack of tact. It isn't to say who's actually right and wrong - it's a look at the propaganda each uses and to what effect.
 
devilish said:
I am not big fan of Trump or the US policies in the past 20 years or so. However how can Iran seriously criticise the US or any country for its matter? The man in the dressing gown should be asking why their country is still stuck to the middle ages
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Actually Iran is in a unique position to criticise US foreign policy, given that their history was radically altered away from democracy by the US itself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d'état
 
Crossie said:
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Love the translation :lol:

Anyway, Iran..we already know your true face (i.e. how you like to jail and murder citizens of other countries who for sentimental reasons stupidly retained their Iranian passport) so I suppose it's do not pass go, do not collect $200 in a foreign policy sense.
 
devilish said:
I am not big fan of Trump or the US policies in the past 20 years or so. However how can Iran seriously criticise the US or any country for its matter? The man in the dressing gown should be asking why their country is still stuck to the middle ages

and before anyone criticise me for what I said, I am a catholic and I find priests wearing costumes from the middle ages equally silly. It would be similar if I start going to work in knight's armour or with a Roman toga
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Of all the things to criticize Iran for...you pick the robes? They actually look quite comfortable.
 
Dwazza said:
Love the translation :lol:

Anyway, Iran..we already know your true face (i.e. how you like to jail and murder citizens of other countries who for sentimental reasons stupidly retained their Iranian passport) so I suppose it's do not pass go, do not collect $200 in a foreign policy sense.
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isn't it de-facto impossible to revoke Iranian citizenship anyway?
 
Organic Potatoes said:
Of all the things to criticize Iran for...you pick the robes? They actually look quite comfortable.
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Even better, no fitting troubles. If Trump were to wear such table cloth rather than squeezing his fat, chubby body in ill-fitting, style-wise outdated suits, the world would be aesthetically a more pleasing place. Sean Spicer would agree.
 
Crossie said:
Even better, no fitting troubles. If Trump were to wear such table cloth rather than squeezing his fat, chubby body in ill-fitting, style-wise outdated suits, the world would be aesthetically a more pleasing place. Sean Spicer would agree.
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His second chin (goiter?) would still spill out unceremoniously over the collar though.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
JESUS CHRIST. THEY'RE SO FECKING CHILDISH!!'

It's absolutely horrifying to think that these petty little man-childs have so much power. What have you done, America? :(
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That's not a childish sentiment - it's scary Basically saying if you attack the president, we'll call you fake news. Going by this criteria, these are the only legitimate news organization

- Fox News
- Info Wars
- Breitbart

Oh and Pence pushes DeVos through :lol:
 
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