Best Of
Re: I say YES. YOU say NO....Numero Tre! Enjoy!
Made a great start and we need to keep it up.
Re: I say YES. YOU say NO....Numero Tre! Enjoy!
BREAKING: MAGA Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem makes a chilling change to the rules for members of Congress visiting ICE facilities after a series of scandals — demands that they give 72 hours advance notice before arriving.
This should be setting off every alarm bell for students of history...
“Kristi Noem’s new policy to block congressional oversight of ICE facilities is not only unprecedented, it is an affront to the Constitution and Federal law," stated Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson.
"Noem is now not only attempting to restrict when Members can visit, but completely blocking access to ICE Field Offices – even if Members schedule visits in advance. No matter how much she and Trump want to force us to live under their authoritarian rule, ICE is not above oversight and the Department must follow the law," he continued.
The new guidance issued by DHS demands that lawmakers give 72 hours advance notice before visiting any detention center. In practice, that would mean that these brutal facilities have three whole days to clean up their act and cover up any ongoing abuses. There is simply no benign explanation for such a change.
Legally, lawmakers are permitted to enter any DHS facility "used to detain or otherwise house aliens" to inspect them under the aegis of Congressional oversight. The annual appropriations act specifically states that they are not required to "provide prior notice of the intent to enter a facility."
The new DHS guidance memo also tries to insist that "ICE Field Offices are not detention facilities" and thus cannot be visited without notice under the appropriations act. Of course, if people are being detained at these offices they are, by definition, detention facilities.
"This unlawful policy is a smokescreen to deny Member visits to ICE offices across the country, which are holding migrants – and sometimes even U.S. citizens – for days at a time," Congressman Thompson continued. "They are therefore detention facilities and are subject to oversight and inspection at any time. DHS pretending otherwise is simply their latest lie."
"There is no valid or legal reason for denying Member access to ICE facilities and DHS’s ever-changing justifications prove this. To be clear, there is no agency or department that is ‘too busy’ for oversight. If ICE has nothing to hide, DHS must make its facilities available," he concluded.
The memo claims that DHS officials "will make every effort" to obey the law that permits Congress to visit facilities for oversight, but claims that circumstances like "operational conditions, security posture, etc," could affect the timing of such visits. Theoretically, this means that DHS officials could make up a slew of fake excuses to hold members of Congress at bay while they scramble to cover up whatever it is they want to cover up.
The changes come after a series of high-profile incidents in which Democratic lawmakers were accosted and arrested while trying to visit ICE facilities. At the same time, masked ICE enforcers are carrying out raids, detaining people, and denying them due process. We are charging headlong into a fascist dystopia and if we don't pull the brakes on this administration, our democracy could be lost forever.
Fortunately this was put in because I was wondering how to explain this horrid turn of events. With the Loon and his cohorts there is something totally gob smacking on a daily basis.
Re: I say YES. YOU say NO....Numero Tre! Enjoy!
Kakistocracy - having the least suitable people for a job. Including a so-called president.
Re: I say YES. YOU say NO....Numero Tre! Enjoy!
OKAY —HERE IT IS AND I DON'T HAVE TO TRY AND X-OUT UNWANTED THINGS WHILE TRYING TO KEEP THE OTHER THINGS HERE.
BREAKING: Donald Trump kicks off Juneteenth with a hysterical meltdown over "Crooked FoxNews Polls" after they expose the fact that his approval rating has cratered on his signature political issue.
It doesn't get any more pathetic than this...
"The Crooked FoxNews Polls got the Election WRONG, I won by much more than they said I would, and have been biased against me for years," Trump whined on Truth Social. "They are always wrong and negative. It’s why MAGA HATES FoxNews, even though their anchors are GREAT."
Many MAGA supporters do, in fact, hate Fox News because they've become so untethered from reality that the network's right-wing propaganda is no longer deranged enough for them. Like an addict who needs stronger and stronger drugs to get high, Trumpers have turned to truly deranged conspiracy outlets like NewsMax to tell them exactly what they want to hear.
"This has gone on for years, but they never change the incompetent polling company that does their work," Trump continued. "Now a new FoxNews poll comes out this morning giving me a little more than 50% at the Border, and yet the Border is miraculously perfect, NOBODY WAS ABLE TO COME IN LAST MONTH."
The Fox News poll in question found that 53% of Americans approve of Trump's handling of the border. 46% disapprove. Only 46% approve of his handling of immigration more broadly, with 56% disapproving.
A recent Quinnipiac University found a similar drop for Trump. Only 43% of respondents approve of his performance on immigration. 54% disapprove. Clearly, Americans are turning on Trump as they watch his brutal ICE crackdowns unfold. People aren't taking kindly to the images of families being torn apart by masked paramilitary forces reminiscent of fascist dictatorships.
Furthermore, Trump's claim that "NOBODY" was able to enter the country last month is a bald-faced lie. That he would even attempt to claim such a thing demonstrates how little he thinks of his supporters' intelligence.
Statistics from Border Patrol reveal that federal agents encountered a little less than 10,000 undocumented migrants attempting to cross the border in April. Since that only counts those that they encountered, the number of total entries is unknown. The idea that nobody was able to successfully cross is absurd.
"60,000 people came in with Sleepy Joe in the same month last year. I hate FAKE pollsters, one of the Worst, but Fox will never change their discredited pollster!" Trump added.
As usual, the only way that Trump can defend his utterly failed administration is to shift blame back onto President Biden. He is pathologically incapable of taking responsibility for anything he does, which is why he has to insist that the poll numbers are fake. Admitting that they're accurate would mean he has to make changes to his disastrous policies.
Re: I say YES. YOU say NO....Numero Tre! Enjoy!
Just a reminder of how the Loon got elected. Still, I do not want Cuomo back.
Re: Breast cancer treatment and living alone
I live alone and went through all of the initial diagnosis and treatment by myself. I had the diagnosis, then chemo, then surgery, and then radiation all on my own. A friend did drive and escort me for the mastectomy. Later, I went from stage 3 to stage 4 and at one point I was in the ER. One of the social workers there told me to always take someone with me to my appointments, etc., as it just made a world of difference, so I asked that same old friend who had driven me for my mastectomy if she would come to the appointments with me and she agreed to do it especially for the "hard core" times of biopsies, routine scans, follow-ups with the oncologist to discuss possible progression and need for treatment plan changes, etc. That social worker in the ER was right - it has made a huge difference. My friend serves as moral support and another pair of eyes and ears. I have at times called her to ask for clarification about something one of the medical people said at an appointment, i.e. "Do you remember him saying anything about …." and that's a big help in itself. She also offers occasional suggestions and a bit of a different perspective. Most of all, she is an old friend from childhood, so when we are sitting in the waiting room, etc. we can chat about all our old family and friends and the neighborhood we grew up in, etc. and it is a HUGE stress and anxiety reducer for me. Sometimes we go to lunch afterward and then I have someone to rehash the appointment with and more - even more anxiety quelling with that. When I would go to appointments by myself for chemo and those follow-ups I would often find myself just getting super stressed and overwhelmed in the waiting areas and would have to do all I could to stop myself from crying. I would be bored and lonely while I got my chemo infusions, and would just feel more "down and out". Just being able to talk to my friend now about life, current events, and old family and friends just really tamps down the stress of sitting there waiting all by myself. If I didn't have my friend, I might even pay a home health person or look for a volunteer of some kind to go with me now - just to have some company and someone to talk to; even if they aren't close personally. I would strongly recommend finding someone you can talk to and who might be able to go to at least some of the appointments with you if you can; it's the best thing I've ever done regarding all of this. I'm so sorry that you find yourself here and wish you all the best.
Re: I say YES. YOU say NO....Numero Tre! Enjoy!
I think I already dropped this in. At that — it is so worth repeating. I'm so thrilled she is my Senator. Durbin is actually for the Chicago area, but I do often write to him and get good answers. Both have made excellent Senators.
Re: I say YES. YOU say NO....Numero Tre! Enjoy!
I've never prayed for lighting to strike anything or anyone. I'm now totally re-thinking that sentiment.
