Washington Post: Say, How Much Damage Could A President Trump Do?

By William Teach October 7, 2016 – 6:56 am

I’m continuing to see a pattern here from the Washington Post Editorial Board. It’s another day, another crazy editorial from the WP editorial Board. Previously, we’ve learned that a Pres Trump could deport freely (hooray!), that he’d end the era of US global leadership (not much left to lose after 8 years of Obama) or something, that he could wreck progress on ‘climate change’, and that he could destroy the world economy.  Now we see that the WPEB should write disaster books

How much damage could a President Trump do? We can only begin to imagine.

A PRESIDENT TRUMP could alter the face of this country and its role in the world, in many cases with Congress and the courts having little power to check him. In a series of editorials over the past several days, we have described the vast reach of executive power in areas where Mr. Trump has made his intentions clear. He could, in fact, unilaterally order mass deportations, resume torturing detainees, undo the preservation of natural treasures and tear up long-standing trade agreements.

But we should be clear: The scope of the damage a President Trump could do cannot be fully predicted or imagined. His candidacy forces us to confront the extent to which democracy depends on leaders adhering to a set of norms and traditions — civic virtues, to be old-fashioned about it. Mr. Trump has made clear his contempt for those virtues, norms and traditions: He despises the press, threatens his enemies, bullies the judiciary, disparages entire religions and nations, makes no distinction between his personal interest and the public good, hides information that should be revealed and routinely trades in falsehoods. Handed the immense powers of the presidency, what could such a man do? The honest answer: No one can be sure.

That’s interesting, because it explicitly describes the Obama presidency, which the WPEB lauds. Actually, Obama does more than just threaten enemies: he acts on it. Hillary does the same. Both disparage large swaths of American citizenry. She certainly makes no distinction between her personal interests and the public good….well, really, she has appeared to use the public sector to enrich her and her family through mixing with her foundation.

She’s hidden vast amounts of information, just like Obama, and routinely lies to the extreme. Falsehoods is such a mild word.

In one of the more thoughtful examinations of the danger, the Brookings Institution’s Benjamin Wittes explained why checks and balances cannot be counted on to protect the nation from an elected leader with contempt for democracy. “Ultimately, the entire executive branch is corruptible by one person because constitutionally, the executive branch is one person,” Mr. Wittes wrote on the Lawfare blog. “Everyone else is just his arms, hands, and fingers. That means that over time, the executive branch under Donald Trump becomes Donald Trump.”

The irony of this all is amazing, after watching what has happened with Obama in office, and the heavy politicization of agencies such as the FBI, DOJ, EPA, and so many others. Reading that paragraph and thinking about the Executive Branch becoming Hillary Clinton is enough to make me want to vote against her and check the box for Trump. Hilariously, the editorial alludes to the problems that could occur within the National Security Council and federal law enforcement under Trump in exactly the way we’ve seen happen under Obama, without acknowledging the problems, before moving on to

If Mr. Trump wanted to wield the IRS against that Chicago family; if he tried to use U.S. diplomats to help his hotel business in Russia or Azerbaijan; if he barred disfavored reporters from the White House; if he ignored a judge who told him, say, that immigrants had to be given hearings before being deported — what recourse would Americans have?

Obama has wielded the IRS against numerous people and groups that oppose him. Hillary used US diplomats to help her Foundation, increasing her personal bank account. Obama has barred reporters from the White House and his campaign, and has even had them locked in sheds during events. Hillary has also barred reporters from her campaign, and even corrals them like they are cattle. Obama has ignored judicial rulings numerous times.

We have faith, ultimately, in the integrity of the federal workforce, the resilience of the U.S. system and the essential fairness of the American people. But all three could be tested as never before by a Trump presidency. The nation should not subject itself to such a risk.

Just imagine that this was written about Obama in 2008. Or2012. It could be written about Hillary quite easily.

Again, do not take this as an endorsement of Trump. I’m simply amused by the incoherence, apoplexy, and fear-mongering of the WPEB, which never seems to question Hillary Clinton and her ideas in the least. Or Obama.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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Warmists Now Using Aliens To Promote ‘Climate Change’ Awareness

By William Teach October 6, 2016 – 3:23 pm

Which aliens were you leaning toward?

(WTNH)  New Haven Healthy City Healthy Climate Challenge is using dozens of alien signs carrying “NO Alien Planet!!” signs in an effort to start up new climate change discussions in the New Haven area.  30 3 to 5 foot aliens will be placed at College and Elm Streets from 10 a.n to 3 p.m. on Thursday to promote the challenge.

The “Let’s talk about climate change” project is the result of studies that show most people are afraid to talk about global warming because they think others also don’t want to talk about it but the study shows people are actually willing to discuss it.  The project is designed to provide constructive opportunities for such discussions to help overcome the lack of climate conversations and help people better respond to global warming.

Here’s a quick peak at what people are doing instead of having an Adult Job

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Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming | 8 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach October 6, 2016 – 1:00 pm

…is carbon pollution created snow, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Jammie Wearing Fools, with a post on the number of Afghan troops who have disappeared in the US.

Read: If All You See… »

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Hurricane Matthew Is A Harbinger Of Future Climate Doom Or Something

By William Teach October 6, 2016 – 10:12 am

One would think that the Cult of Climatrology would be a bit reticent about throwing out hurricane predictions, considering how wrong they’ve already been. First we were told that the big 2005 season would be the new normal. Then, when landfalling hurricanes dropped off quickly, we were told that there wouldn’t be as many, but they would be stronger. When they didn’t happen, this was blamed on ‘climate change.’ But, we were still told that the future would be all sorts of doomy. Now that we have a potential major hurricane which could make landfall in the U.S., the first in almost 11 years, the longest stretch since well before the Civil War, we get (this originally came from the UK Guardian, republished at Newsweek)

HURRICANE MATTHEW SIGNALS THE CLIMATE CHANGE DEVASTATION THAT LIES AHEAD AS THE PLANET WARMS

Major storms such as Hurricane Matthew, which has slammed into Haiti and is now headed towards the U.S., will grow in menace as the world warms and sea levels rise, scientists have warned. (snip)

While the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s prediction of a “near-normal” Atlantic hurricane season is still on track, scientists have pointed to Hurricane Matthew as the sort of fierce lashing that will become more common due to climate change.

There was previously far more certainty among climate scientists over the increase of temperatures than trends in hurricanes, but government officials are now confident enough to say there has been a “substantial increase” in Atlantic hurricane activity since the 1980s, with the destruction set to ratchet up further as the world warms.

“We expect to see more high-intensity events, category 4 and 5 events, that are around 13 percent of total hurricanes but do a disproportionate amount of damage,” said Kerry Emanuel, a climate scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “The theory is robust and there are hints that we are already beginning to see it in nature.”

Let’s not forget that they also predicted that Superstorm Sandy would be the “new normal.” Have we seen one since? This is just more doomsaying. Which continues elsewhere, with

There are plenty more out there, not too mention all the climahysteria on Twitter. It’s like the Warmists are trying to make up for almost 11 years of relatively quiet hurricane seasons. And it’s all your fault, for driving a fossil fueled vehicle, using air conditioning, and refusing to give up your liberty to government.

In reality, this tends to track more with the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, which, interestingly, tends to see increased tropical system formation during pauses and cooling periods, with lower storm formation during warming.

Nature will do what nature will do. And Warmists will do what they do best: become deranged prophets of doom.

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DOJ Report: Criminal Background Checks, Immigration Status Are Barriers To Law Enforcement Diversity

By William Teach October 6, 2016 – 8:37 am

This is, um, well, just bat guano insane. The DOJ is utterly sincere in their, let’s call it “wackadoodle”, beliefs

(CNS News) The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a comprehensive report Wednesday examining hiring, recruitment, and retention policies with the aim of increasing diversity in law enforcement.

The report highlighted barriers to diversity within police departments, such as “the use of criminal background checks” which the researchers found “is likely to disproportionately impact racial minority applicants.”

The report also found that U.S. citizenship requirements “may prevent a considerable number of racial and ethnic minorities – many of whom have valuable foreign language skills – from being hired by law enforcement agencies.”

Well, of course they are barriers. Does it really need to be stated that they should be barriers? Should a non-citizen really be in charge of law enforcement? Should a convicted felon really be in charge of law enforcement? One would think that the Department Of Justice, that nations top law enforcement office, would be interested in law and order, but, they’re morphing into the Department of Social Justice.

The report opened with an analysis of EEOC labor force data, which “found that African-American, Latino, and Asian-American police officers were underrepresented relative to the local area population in a significant number of the departments analyzed. Using a statistical test of underrepresentation, the researchers found that within their sample, African Americans were underrepresented in 60 percent of the departments, Latinos were underrepresented in 41 percent, and Asian Americans were underrepresented in 31 percent.”

So what? Women are underrepresented in the NFL and STEM fields. Men are underrepresented in education and health sciences. Whites are underrepresented in rap music and the NBA, Blacks in heavy metal and the NHL. Go to a car dealership: how many women work there in sales? It all comes down to choice and capability. There’s nothing wrong with attempting to diversify a work force. Many police forces have been thrilled to be able to have more female officers, who can often deescalate situations, but, guess what? They still have to pass a background check. And they have to want to become police officers.

What if Blacks, Latinos, and Asians do not care about becoming officers in amounts large enough to be “represented”? Are we to force them? What if part of it is that they cannot pass a citizenship or background check? Sadly, it needs to be said “of course not.”

The use of criminal background checks, the report noted, “is likely to disproportionately impact racial minority applicants since, for a variety of reasons, individuals from those communities are more likely to have contact with the criminal justice system.”

It added that “law enforcement agencies are undeniably justified in carefully vetting and investigating potential hires,” but “excluding applicants regardless of the nature of the underlying offense, or how much time has passed since an offense occurred, or without any consideration of whether the candidate has changed in the intervening period, can be a significant – and unwarranted – barrier.”

So, if someone is essentially committing crimes as a teenager and young adult, that should be thrown out or something. There wouldn’t be a lot of time passing between those time periods in a person’s life and when they would try to join law enforcement.

One has to wonder: while the DOSJ is whining about local, county, and state police forces, are they forcing the FBI and DOJ to hire people with serious criminal offenses in their backgrounds, or who are illegal aliens?

On the hiring of women in law enforcement, according to the report, “research has shown that physical tests may have a significant and unnecessary impact on female applicants when they lack a corresponding benefit or job-related need.

So now the DOSJ wants to add “physically unable to do the job” as a barrier to getting a job.

I’ll leave it up to you to read the rest of the article, which doesn’t get any better when it comes to facepalming from what the DOSJ is stating.

 

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Washington Post: A President Trump Could Destroy The World Economy Or Something

By William Teach October 6, 2016 – 7:51 am

I’m starting to see a pattern here from the Washington Post Editorial Board. It’s another day, another crazy editorial from the WP editorial Board. Previously, we’ve learned that a Pres Trump could deport freely (hooray!), that he’d end the era of US global leadership (not much left to lose after 8 years of Obama) or something, and that he could wreck progress on ‘climate change’.  Now we see

A President Trump could destroy world economy

THE DECADES since the end of the Cold War have seen strong and widely shared economic growth, on a global scale. The portion of the world’s population living on $1.25 per day or less fell from 44 percent to 23 percent. Some 200 million Chinese, 90 million Indians and 30 million people each in Indonesia, Egypt and Brazil moved into the global middle class. This progress had many causes, but a major one was the United States’ hard work, under presidents of both major parties, to promote the free flow of goods and capital, within a robust legal framework, among nations.

Except, of course, the past 7+ years, where leftist economic policies have kept most of the 1st World in economic doldrums, where people, at least in the U.S., still think the country hasn’t recovered from the recession, and many still think we’re in one.

These policies benefited the American people, too — though by no means all of them, a fact that has caused understandable concern, especially in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Seizing on this backlash, and dissenting radically from the long-standing bipartisan consensus, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks of “bringing back” American jobs by repudiating international trade agreements and resorting instead to pressure tactics, such as threatening tariffs against China and other trading partners.

Because attempting to bring back jobs, businesses, increasing wages, and thinking of American citizens first is a Bad Idea in Liberal World. Which is an interesting idea, considering how many of the Democratic Party base are stuck working low wage, often part time, jobs. If they can get one after building up $50,000+ in student loans debt.

The United States needs to ensure that more of its own middle class shares in the benefits of globalization. Mr. Trump’s policies, however, could trigger a trade war, or wars, thus threatening the achievements of the past three decades without helping Americans who need it most.

So, doom.

Anyhow, a few more paragraphs of Doooooooooom, ending with

U.S. leadership of the global trading system has helped stabilize an area of international life that had bred conflict, even war, for centuries. To abdicate in favor of Mr. Trump’s zero-sum mind-set not only would undo the work of generations and lower the United States’ standing among the nations; it also would license other nations to conduct themselves just as selfishly. The disruption to market confidence could breed economic damage in excess of any transitory benefits. His approach would be a historic error, which, as president, he would be free to commit.

Here’s the question not discussed by the WPEB: what if his policies work? In reality, Mr. Trump would not implement policies that would damage American prosperity: he may be rather bombastic and wacky, but, he’s no dummy when it comes to business. He’s certainly smarter than our current president, who has never seen a year with 3%+ GDP growth since Herbert Hoover.

Many of the Trumpites say this election is about the Globalists vs. the Nationalists. Certainly, I have some serious reservations and concerns over pitching nationalism, but, while globalism has certainly afforded Americans cheaper goods, we’re seeing companies and jobs constantly bolt overseas. We see foreign workers brought in to take the jobs of American citizens for lower wages. We see countries dump their products in the US at a cost that is below typical value, damaging American workers and companies. Perhaps it is time to re-evaluate the global business models, and do what we can to put Americans first.

Again, do not take this as an endorsement of Trump. I’m simply amused by the incoherence, apoplexy, and fear-mongering of the WPEB, which never seems to question Hillary Clinton and her ideas in the least.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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Good News From Washington Post: A President Trump Could Wreck Progress On Hotcoldwetdry

By William Teach October 5, 2016 – 6:25 pm

Another day, another crazy editorial from the WP editorial Board. Previously, we’ve learned that a Pres Trump could deport freely (hooray!) and that he’d end the era of US global leadership (not much left to lose after 8 years of Obama) or something. Now we get

A President Trump could wreck progress on global warming

IT TOOK global negotiators a quarter-century to strike the Paris climate agreement, an international accord aimed at slowing global warming. The agreement represents the best hope for a world in which no one country acting alone can do enough to fight this global threat. Donald Trump could destroy the agreement with a stroke of a pen, and with it any hope that the world will keep the planet’s temperature within the boundaries scientists say are safe.

Hooray! I still think his rationale for skepticism is silly (that it’s a scheme by China), but, hey, if he’ll kill off this silliness, good for him. I still don’t trust him on most things, but, hey, cheers!

The rest of the editorial is what you’d expect, ending with utter doom

Moreover, neither the judicial check nor a subsequent president who tried to pick up the pieces could compensate for the loss of time and focus as climate change accelerated . U.S. foot-dragging on warming would give other nations a pretext to avoid hard actions, too. The planet would warm more; the oceans would become more acidic; corals would bleach; sea levels would rise; deadly temperature extremes would get more frequent; species would die off; landscapes would change; shipyards would swamp; climate refugees would seek shelter. Some of these things are already bound to happen, to some extent. Mr. Trump is promising to exacerbate the problem, and he could do so by executive fiat.

Dogs and cats, living in sin!

Anyhow, it’s weird that suddenly the WPEB isn’t thrilled with ruling by executive fiat. Go figure.

Read: Good News From Washington Post: A President Trump Could Wreck Progress On Hotcoldwetdry »

Posted in AGW Scaremongering, Donald Trump, Global Warming | 9 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach October 5, 2016 – 1:00 pm

…is horrible heat created snow, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Strata-Sphere, with a post on what kind of genius loses $9 trillion.

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Who’s Up For The Rap Guide To Climate Change, Featuring Bill Nye?

By William Teach October 5, 2016 – 11:00 am

Just in case you’re wondering, I don’t hate you for exposing you to this bit of ear destruction. Chris White calls this the worst 5 minutes of music ever. It’s bad. Really bad.

(Daily Caller) Comedian and former TV show host Bill Nye “The Science Guy” collaborated on a new global warming-themed hip-hop song lecturing listeners about the evils of climate change skepticism.

Nye is featured in a new song by Canadian rapper Baba Brinkman that drones on for more than 5 minutes about why millennials, among others, should paint scarlet letters on so-called man made global warming skeptics.

The song, titled “The Beef,” hashes out a laundry list of grievances environmentalists and politicians level against people who strike skeptical positions against scientists who claim global warming is real and man-made.

It’s lyrics are a hodge-podge of words and spliced together sentences bemoaning how the skeptics’ views on global warming still get media attention despite politicians and celebrities best efforts to drown them out.

And here it is. Again, I do not hate you

I made it through the first 30 seconds. How’d you do?

The song itself (with it’s original title, considering how many others have used “What’s beef?”) is part of an album (snicker) entitled The Rap Guide to Climate Chaos, with “Twenty-four original tracks diving deep into the science and politics of climate change. A great gift for activists and climate deniers alike (effects may vary).” Hey, it’s only $15! Or, you can snag it with a torrent….oh, wait, no one has cared enough to bother.

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Charlotte PD Release Full Videos Of Keith Scott Shooting

By William Teach October 5, 2016 – 8:44 am

For the most part, the videos solve nothing, except showing that the officers were not cold hearted racists who just love shooting Black people (despite the officer who took the shot being Black): the spent a lot of time providing medical aid

(Charlotte Observer) Police body camera footage released on Tuesday shows in graphic detail the final minutes of Keith Lamont Scott’s life after he was shot on Sept. 20 by a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer.

The video shows police officers handcuffing Scott and then trying to save his life in the parking lot of his University City apartment complex. Officers in the video said they found three bullet wounds on Scott– on his wrist, abdomen, and on the back of his shoulder.

While a gun is not seen in the footage, one officer is heard telling another to “come watch this gun.”

The body camera video, which lasts 16 minutes and 29 seconds, begins after Scott was shot. Much of it shows officers assessing and then tending to Scott’s wounds, securing the scene and talking to Scott as they knelt beside him.

“Stay with us, bro, stay with us now,” one officer says to Scott.

Weirdly, the article barely mentions the second video, which is the full dash cam. Neither solves the question of the gun. What has been proposed is that the officer in the red shirt was initially standing over the weapon. Then you see him putting on medical gloves to render aid, and another officer goes and stands in the exact same spot.

You can also download the videos from Charlotte governmental website, or watch them at WTVD, which also offers

Keith Lamont Scott was a different person after suffering a traumatic brain injury in a motorcycle accident last year. Friends say his medications made him zone out, slurring his words and forgetting what he was saying in the middle of a conversation.

“You could look at him and tell something was wrong,” said Dana Chapman, a former neighbor. “You could walk up to him, you didn’t have to speak. You could look at him and tell there was a problem.”

Doesn’t matter. Officers do not know this. When they are giving commands to a subject carrying a firearm, and they are not complying, then the results are on the subject, not the officers.

The events surrounding Scott’s death are more important than anything in his past, said Justin Bamberg, the family’s attorney. “In the end, it was his life to live until law enforcement determined they should take it from him.”

In other words, we are to ignore his long history of criminality and violence, all the threats and restraining orders. If he wanted to live his life, then he shouldn’t have been sitting around at the bus stop waiting for his child with marijuana and a handgun. If he had so many problems, perhaps someone should have been watching him.

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