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As we awaken on another Saturday we’ve almost made it through another week under the steady albeit chaotic “leadership” of our Acting President. Damn, he sure does a remarkable job of acting doesn’t he?
Anyhoo, some interesting articles to start the weekend.
Trump, citing no evidence, accuses Obama of ‘Nixon/Watergate’ plot to wiretap Trump Tower
Trump to Undo Vehicle Rules That Curb Global Warming
Scientists say Trump’s border wall would devastate wildlife habitat
President Trump is back to playing Twitter in Chief. As his administration is coming under increasing scrutiny for contact with the Russian Government, and, Attorney General Sessions failure to disclose his contact with Russian official(s) during confirmation hearings, Trump has went into full attack mode. His modus operandi of course is to deflect attention from his administration by claiming democrats are hypocrites, having done the same themselves. He apparently fails to recognize his comparisons are ones of apples to oranges.
President Donald Trump, his administration under siege for contacts with Russian officials, is calling for “an immediate investigation” into Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer’s own ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump’s evidence? A 14-year-old photo of Schumer and Putin holding coffee and doughnuts in a New York City gas station.
The president on Friday tweeted a photo of the two men, calling for a probe into Schumer’s “ties to Russia and Putin” and called the New York senator “A total hypocrite!” Trump did not say where the photo came from, but Schumer quickly pointed out that it was taken in 2003 when Putin ventured to New York to celebrate the opening of a Russian-owned Lukoil gas station on Manhattan’s west side.
Several news organizations covered that event, which drew far more political star power than the average gas station opening.
Schumer, in his own tweet, said he would “happily talk” under oath about his meeting with Putin, which took place “in full view of press and public.”
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Trump’s tweet came just hours after the conservative website Drudge Report made the photo its lead image. And that was a day after the photo was unearthed by the pro-Trump blog Gateway Pundit, which ran it with the headline “Where’s the outrage?”
Trump targeted congressional Democrats for their encounters with Russians over the years even though the party’s criticism of Attorney General Jeff Sessions centered on his failure to acknowledge his meetings when questioned at his Senate confirmation hearing and in written responses to the Judiciary Committee.
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Trump also tweeted Friday about House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who was among the first to call for Sessions to resign.
In his tweet, Trump linked to a 2010 photo in which Pelosi and other lawmakers, including Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, now the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, are shown meeting with Russian officials, including then-President Dmitry Medvedev and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
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Pelosi then needled Trump by saying he didn’t “know the difference” between an official meeting photographed by the press and a “secret” meeting that Sessions “lied about under oath.”
It is not improper for elected officials to meet with foreign diplomats’.
See full article FOLBELOW THE FOLD.
Another Trump administration lame idea on immigration. Separate innocent children from their mothers. Children who don’t understand what is happening or why they are being separated from their mothers are possibly going t be used as pawns in a political game.
We have grown to expect nothing less from Trump.
Women and children crossing together illegally into the United States could be separated by U.S. authorities under a proposal being considered by the Department of Homeland Security, according to three government officials.
Part of the reason for the proposal is to deter mothers from migrating to the United States with their children, said the officials, who have been briefed on the proposal.
The policy shift would allow the government to keep parents in custody while they contest deportation or wait for asylum hearings. Children would be put into protective custody with the Department of Health and Human Services, in the “least restrictive setting” until they can be taken into the care of a U.S. relative or state-sponsored guardian.
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About 54,000 children and their guardians were apprehended between Oct. 1, 2016, and Jan. 31, 2017, more than double the number caught over the same time period a year earlier.
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Immigrant rights advocates have argued that Central America’s violent and impoverished conditions force mothers to immigrate to the United States and that they should be given asylum status. (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/2m4aPAs)
LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS
Implementing the new policy proposal “could create lifelong psychological trauma,” said Marielena Hincapie, executive director at the National Immigration Law Center. “Especially for children that have just completed a perilous journey from Central America.”
Hincapie said the U.S. government is likely to face legal challenges based on immigration and family law if they decide to implement the policy.
Read complete story BELOW THE FOLD.
THE BIG STORY: “Repeal and replace” gave way to “recuse and resign.” “Witch hunt” declared President Trump – a sentiment quickly echoed by, yes, the Russians. The halting, contradictory, often inexplicable handling of Russia revelations by the Trump White House is either making the story more than it needs to be, or elevating it to exactly where it belongs. In either scenario, it won’t disappear with Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ recusal announcement – a recusal from an investigation the White House has declared either non-existent or already concluded. The latest drips come just days after the president established what could have been a new tone for this phase. He’s back on Twitter now, calling Democrats “so pathetic” just this morning. This will be the week remembered for Donald Trump finding his presidential footing – only to lose it pretty quickly again.
Where there is smoke there is usually fire. When an administration and its head reacts like this one is reacting the chances are very good they have a lot to cover up. If they were indeed innocent of allegations they should be welcoming an investigation to prove there was no wrongdoing.
But this the Donald J, Trump administration and as we know anything and everything can happen. And it likely will.
Read the full article BELOW THE FOLD
The Daily Mail has reported that planners want to shift much of the US president’s trip – originally pencilled in for the first week in June – to the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, Aberdeenshire, in a bid to deter protesters.
The president could spend as little as one day in London before heading to Scotland.
A senior Whitehall source told the paper: “The Americans have asked to push it back.
“They don’t want what will be one of his first big foreign trips to be overshadowed.
”Mr Trump’s mother, Mary, was born in Stornoway on the isle of Lewis.
There is also speculation that Mr Trump may wish to visit the area during his stay.
He has substantial business interests in Scotland, including the Trump International Golf Course in Aberdeenshire.
However, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was among those calling for his state visit to be cancelled in retaliation for his “deeply wrong” travel ban.
The reported delay also means that Parliament will be in recess, making it impossible for MPs to “snub” the President by refusing him the honour of making an address.
Officials believe the delay could also allow tempers to cool over Mr Trump’s controversial policies, and that the autumn weather may make mass protests less likely.
It is unlikely , given the character damage President Trump has brought upon himself, that a delay will change the desire to protest Trump’s visit to he UK and Scotland. Foreigners are able to see Presdent Trump for who and what he really is.
It is clear that the Trump administration will be running damage control operations everywhere he visits. He simpy is not well like by anyone or any nation. Except maybe Russia.