Friday Morning Musings
There are two ways for families seeking asylum in the U.S. to do so. One is to enter illegally and then claim asylum. The other is to arrive at a border and make a claim of asylum. One is a violation of U.S. law. The other is not. So why are the children of the people who do NOT enter illegally being separated from their parents?
Back in February, the ACLU sued the federal government over the separation of a woman from her child. This woman was determined to by an asylum officer to have a "significant possibility" of being granted asylum. ICE has a policy directive that says asylum seekers entering in this way are to be paroled while their case is processed. The San Diego office of ICE is unilaterally violating that policy. Because of this, a mother has been separated from her 7 year old daughter for over four months now.
Let's be clear. It is a crime under current law to enter the US illegally. Do the de facto policies that were followed in the US before Donald Trump took office, make enforcement of that law improper? Not in a court of law. But they do in the court of public opinion.
What's changed is that the federal government is prosecuting every single individual who enters the country illegally. That requires the accused to be held in jail. You can't put kids with their parents in a jail cell. But there is no need to clog the court system with these cases. Let those who have a legitimate claim of asylum be paroled, under the old rules.
* * *
You can watch the video of Donald Trump saying the following here:
Referring to Kim Jong-un Trump said "He's the head of a country. And I mean, he is the strong head. Don't let anyone think anything different. He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same."
Some are trying to spin this that he's referring only to those people who work directly for him. I don't buy that crap. He needs to understand that the American people are not "his." He is not king. He is not emperor (some would say Trumperor).
* * *
I haven't had a moment (I'll need several) to read the FBI Inspector General's report on the FBI investigation of the 2016 election. It is 568 pages long.
But I'm struck by the content of the texts between FBI agent Peter Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page. They exchanged some 50,000 texts during the campaign and afterward. One exchange of texts took place on August 8, 2016.
Page: [Trump's] not ever going to become president, right? Right?!
Strzok: No. No he's not. We'll stop it."
The way that the Air Force promulgates its rules and regulations has changed since I left the service in 1987. But I remember a number of those regulations very well. One of them was Air Force Regulation 30-30 which governed among other things, conflicts of interest.
It contained language that made it clear that it was critical to not just avoid a conflict, but even the appearance of a conflict of interest.
FBI agents cannot let their biases influence how they perform their duties. It sounds impossible, but it can be done. An investigator needs to divorce their personal feelings from the mission.
You can read the "explanations" offered by Page and Strzok here.
* * *
This tweet was very-well received by most Hillary supporters. I know that I've made it clear my vote for Hillary wasn't so much in support of her as it was a vote against Donald Trump. She was, in my mind, simply the lesser of two evils.
This comparison is one of the reasons why. It is wrong for any government official to use personal email for government business. But there is a big difference between what Clinton did in setting up a private email server and using a GMail account.
Then there's this. The fact that she told those working under her at the Department of State to not conduct official business on personal email accounts makes her own actions unforgivable.
* * *
Quick. Someone is stealing your car. You step in front of them, pull out your concealed weapon and order them to halt. They try to pull away. Do you shoot?
I hope that most would say no. But in Chicago, a fire department lieutenant with a concealed weapon carry permit did shoot. The 17-year old would-be thief died.
Was the life of the fireman at risk? The legal system says yes, because he was cleared of charges.
You can replace a car. You can't replace a life.
What was unclear from the story in the Chicago Tribune was if the car was headed directly at the shooter. Even then, it's kind of dumb to jump in front of a car with the engine running.
* * *
At last night's trivia competition there was a question related to MTV's The Real World, identifying it as one of the first reality TV shows.
A lot of what happens on "reality" TV is scripted. Since that's the case, scripted reality TV has been around for a long time. This came out 7 years before The Real World:
And this goes back yet another decade.
I can tell you that the match in this old 8mm footage from the mid-1970s was held at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. That's "Classy" Freddie Blassie versus John "The Golden Greek" Tolos. Yes sports fans, I once paid money to watch wrestling (and roller derby as well) as the Olympic. Now I watch the WWE on occasion. Still scripted. Still entertaining.
Back in February, the ACLU sued the federal government over the separation of a woman from her child. This woman was determined to by an asylum officer to have a "significant possibility" of being granted asylum. ICE has a policy directive that says asylum seekers entering in this way are to be paroled while their case is processed. The San Diego office of ICE is unilaterally violating that policy. Because of this, a mother has been separated from her 7 year old daughter for over four months now.
Let's be clear. It is a crime under current law to enter the US illegally. Do the de facto policies that were followed in the US before Donald Trump took office, make enforcement of that law improper? Not in a court of law. But they do in the court of public opinion.
What's changed is that the federal government is prosecuting every single individual who enters the country illegally. That requires the accused to be held in jail. You can't put kids with their parents in a jail cell. But there is no need to clog the court system with these cases. Let those who have a legitimate claim of asylum be paroled, under the old rules.
* * *
You can watch the video of Donald Trump saying the following here:
Referring to Kim Jong-un Trump said "He's the head of a country. And I mean, he is the strong head. Don't let anyone think anything different. He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same."
Some are trying to spin this that he's referring only to those people who work directly for him. I don't buy that crap. He needs to understand that the American people are not "his." He is not king. He is not emperor (some would say Trumperor).
* * *
I haven't had a moment (I'll need several) to read the FBI Inspector General's report on the FBI investigation of the 2016 election. It is 568 pages long.
But I'm struck by the content of the texts between FBI agent Peter Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page. They exchanged some 50,000 texts during the campaign and afterward. One exchange of texts took place on August 8, 2016.
Page: [Trump's] not ever going to become president, right? Right?!
Strzok: No. No he's not. We'll stop it."
The way that the Air Force promulgates its rules and regulations has changed since I left the service in 1987. But I remember a number of those regulations very well. One of them was Air Force Regulation 30-30 which governed among other things, conflicts of interest.
It contained language that made it clear that it was critical to not just avoid a conflict, but even the appearance of a conflict of interest.
FBI agents cannot let their biases influence how they perform their duties. It sounds impossible, but it can be done. An investigator needs to divorce their personal feelings from the mission.
You can read the "explanations" offered by Page and Strzok here.
* * *
But my emails. https://t.co/G7TIWDEG0p— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 14, 2018
This tweet was very-well received by most Hillary supporters. I know that I've made it clear my vote for Hillary wasn't so much in support of her as it was a vote against Donald Trump. She was, in my mind, simply the lesser of two evils.
This comparison is one of the reasons why. It is wrong for any government official to use personal email for government business. But there is a big difference between what Clinton did in setting up a private email server and using a GMail account.
Then there's this. The fact that she told those working under her at the Department of State to not conduct official business on personal email accounts makes her own actions unforgivable.
* * *
Quick. Someone is stealing your car. You step in front of them, pull out your concealed weapon and order them to halt. They try to pull away. Do you shoot?
I hope that most would say no. But in Chicago, a fire department lieutenant with a concealed weapon carry permit did shoot. The 17-year old would-be thief died.
Was the life of the fireman at risk? The legal system says yes, because he was cleared of charges.
You can replace a car. You can't replace a life.
What was unclear from the story in the Chicago Tribune was if the car was headed directly at the shooter. Even then, it's kind of dumb to jump in front of a car with the engine running.
* * *
At last night's trivia competition there was a question related to MTV's The Real World, identifying it as one of the first reality TV shows.
A lot of what happens on "reality" TV is scripted. Since that's the case, scripted reality TV has been around for a long time. This came out 7 years before The Real World:
And this goes back yet another decade.
I can tell you that the match in this old 8mm footage from the mid-1970s was held at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. That's "Classy" Freddie Blassie versus John "The Golden Greek" Tolos. Yes sports fans, I once paid money to watch wrestling (and roller derby as well) as the Olympic. Now I watch the WWE on occasion. Still scripted. Still entertaining.
posted by me at 9:14 AM
<< Home