How Donald Trump Lost His War on Terrorists

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Wednesday February 01, 2017 · 5:53 AM PST

2017/02/01 · 05:53

To begin, we must assume that Donald Trump believes what he says and tweets. He has said that he is “smarter than the generals”, and that he is “one of the smartest people”. Finally, he recently tweeted this:

If the ban were announced with a one week notice, the "bad" would rush into our country during that week. A lot of bad "dudes" out there!
Ã¢ÂÂ Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017

This tweet is how we know that he lost his war.

Look at the conclusion of his if/then statement:

“the ‘bad’ would rush into our country during that week”

Let us assume that this conclusion is correct. If a travel ban were to be announced, that “bad dudes” would rush to enter the country. Why then would you not take advantage of their movement? They would then be out in the open.

If it is true that they would “rush into our country”, I would have announced this policy with some lead time, say 4 to 6 weeks, noting that we need to make sure that it is written appropriately, and our security people are well versed in what they will need to do. However, prior to the announcement of the policy, I would be looking very closely at the purchases of travel tickets into the U.S. Those that seem suspicious, I would then place a tail on at their point of entry, and begin a massive surveillance operation to identify not only terrorists that have entered, but their support system here in the U.S. Then, at some later date, round up all of the “bad dudes” at once. You might even be able to back track their travel, and identify their bases of operation around the world, and hit those at the same time as well. And in one fell swoop, you decapitate the terrorist threat to the U.S.

Now, I am not a security type, but if I can come up with this idea to end the threat (if I believe what Mr. Trump believes), why can’t the self-described “smartest” guy around?

A Crossroads for Pro-Gun supporters

newtonsthird

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Sunday July 17, 2016 · 6:29 PM PDT

2016/07/17 · 18:29

The recent, horrific, detestable shootings of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge will have the gun community in a crisis of their own making. To be clear, I am not in anyway apologizing, rationalizing, or in any way supporting those who would visit harm on others. As I understand from many conversations with people who believe in their right to own/carry firearms, the rationale breaks down into several different arguments.

First, the argument of self protection in the face of dangers from some would be assailant. This is addressed here, here, here, and likely a host of other sources. But that is not the crossroads that I think is the issue.

I often hear the statement that “We need our guns in case the government goes ‘bad’”. Or “if the government tries to get me, I need to protect myself with the same type of weapons that they have”. This is the crossroads/crisis that the pro-gun side is now facing. The assassins (as that is what I believe they are/were) of Dallas and Baton Rouge could argue that they were defending themselves against a “rouge” government. The exact reason that many who reflexively support anything a law enforcement does gives for their need to own ever expanding arsenals. Those that truly support owning firearms to protect themselves from that “rogue” government, must, if they are to be consistent, accept the possible rationale that those horrific acts were committed by people that felt that the government was corrupted and they needed to act. Again, I condemn those acts, believe that they are completely unjustified, and those that committed them and those that would be inspired by them must be dealt with severely.

This is a natural consequence of the extreme availability of weapons that have no other purpose than to inflict vast amounts of injury in as short as a period as possible. And those that would advocate for their ease of access to them must accept the danger that they are exposing their beloved law enforcement to.

So when you hear someone say that they need some weapon to be used in case “they come for me”, remind them that the same weapon can be used to ambush and assassinate their law enforcement. The same law enforcement that will likely be the ones knocking on their door to “get” them.

The Real Question for Donald Trump

newtonsthird

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Sunday December 20, 2015 · 5:15 PM PST

2015/12/20 · 17:15

There is one question at this point for Donald Trump, and it is one that might have him end his campaign.

“Have you begun the process to divest yourself and your family of your Trump Inc. holdings”?

I would like to see this question asked and answered. Since any ownership by him or his family of his current holdings would certainly be an example of conflict of interest, he would need to let it all go. I am not sure that he has thought that all of the way through. In addition, since his holdings are so diverse, according to him, that it will take some time to set up the divestiture in a manner that is not a fire sale.

It is a simple question, and one that watching his face while answering would tell those watching if he has considered the natural consequences of his campaign. His answer opens up many possible avenues of follow ups. If he has started, the obvious are related to the value that he expects to get for his empire. If he gives bluster, then the obvious route is to ask how serious he is, if he has not begun that process, to get the best deal for his empire.

I can not see him willingly leave his empire for the highest bidder, or to sharks that will chew it up into little bits. Without his empire and brand, he is a middling business man, and his ego can’t let that happen.

50 Shades as Right Wing Pornography

newtonsthird

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Tuesday August 14, 2012 · 10:39 AM PDT

2012/08/14 · 10:39

My wife asked me to read 50 Shades of Grey a while back so that I could give her my take on the book. This I did. I came away with two impressions: One, this is just pornography for women. Two, this is pornography for the Right Wing. Details below.

Spoiler Alert

Poll

113 votes Show Results

Have you read the 50 Shades series?

113 votes Vote Now!

Have you read the 50 Shades series?

Yes

23 votes

90 votes

How I, a Birther, can be convinced (Reposted from July 2009)

newtonsthird

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Wednesday April 27, 2011 · 2:26 PM PDT

2011/04/27 · 14:26

This is a repost from July 2009, when I thought that we had reached peak Birther, but it seems that this is where the Birthers are actually going to go.
I am proud to believe that Barak Obama is not the President of the United States. All of the "evidence" produced so far can be easily forged. I will not go through it all here, but this is what I need to be convinced that Obama is in fact a Natural Born Citizen.
http://www.dailykos.com/...

newtonsthird

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Friday July 24, 2009 · 12:00 PM PDT

2009/07/24 · 12:00

I am proud to believe that Barak Obama is not the President of the United States. All of the "evidence" produced so far can be easily forged. I will not go through it all here, but this is what I need to be convinced that Obama is in fact a Natural Born Citizen.

newtonsthird

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Friday June 19, 2009 · 11:10 AM PDT

2009/06/19 · 11:10

Yesterday, I emailed the WaPo to register my dissatisfaction with their decision to fire Dan Froomkin. I went to the contact us, and used a form for contact. My email, and what I take to be their response is below the fold.

newtonsthird

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Saturday August 23, 2008 · 1:57 PM PDT

2008/08/23 · 13:57

After reading the Fournier hit piece on Biden, I thought about what might Fournier have said about Dick Cheney. Well compare. First today where he states that

The picks say something profound about Obama: For all his self-confidence, the 47-year-old Illinois senator worried that he couldn't beat Republican John McCain without help from a seasoned politician willing to attack. The Biden pick is the next logistical step in an Obama campaign that has become more negative — a strategic decision that may be necessary but threatens to run counter to his image.

Then there is this from amarillo.com

Cheney brings the ticket a wealth of foreign policy experience and political stature - traits that Bush, a two-term Texas governor, lacks himself. He is a bridge between Bush and his father, former President Bush, who put Cheney in his Cabinet and promoted him for his son's ticket

This differnece in tone is striking. The need for some extra experience is the same, but the tone of saying something profoud? What. A. Hack.

newtonsthird

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Friday August 22, 2008 · 8:15 AM PDT

2008/08/22 · 08:15

Now that Sen. McCain has given us the entree into home finances, we have to consider the next questions to keep the ball rolling. My thought: "Sen. McCain, how many cars/motorcycles do you and your wife own? How many airplanes do you and your wife own? Who makes your suits? How much do you spend on home maintenance each year? How often do you purchase new $500 shoes?"
The answers that Sen. McCain gives to these questions is less important than the fact that he now has to answer. It will just reinforce his status as an out of touch rich guy. Further, if he has a large number of vehicles, the next ad out should be: McCain, he needs to have his own oil rig just to get the energy to power his houses and toys.

Poll

3 votes Show Results

How many cars is too many for McCain?

3 votes Vote Now!

How many cars is too many for McCain?

0 votes

He could not drive for five and a half years!

3 votes

A WAG at ending the subprime/housing mess

newtonsthird

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Tuesday January 22, 2008 · 6:08 PM PST

2008/01/22 · 18:08

A nice short idea that to my (economically) untrained mind would seem to put the brakes on the housing mess.
It seems that the main issue with the economic challenges that are confronting us right now can be boiled down to: no one is sure what they own. Be it the homeowner who might be upside down, or the banks that are not sure what type of bond they just bought. Everyone is unsure of what they own, and are therefore being very careful with what they know that they have.
So how do we get out of the rabbit hole? My WAG below.

newtonsthird

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Thursday January 05, 2006 · 10:56 AM PST

2006/01/05 · 10:56

Over at TPMcafe http://www.tpmcafe.com/... , the question came up concerning the return of Abramoff money. My thought is that this is a donation to the Jack Abramoff LEgal Defense Fund, or JAiLED F(you can fill in the rest).
But that got me thinking, what does it say that POTUS is donating money to an admitted felon? What about all of the "law and order" types that are now racing to give Jack money? Where else would it seem as a good PR move to give money to an admitted felon? Can this be seen as trying to bribe the briber to not rat them out?
Maybe we can strike a new meme. That the GOP is the party of giving felons thousands of dollars to not name them to the prosecutors.
The GOP, we not only accept bribes, but we'll bribe you back.

What being liberal is about

newtonsthird

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Friday December 02, 2005 · 11:57 AM PST

2005/12/02 · 11:57

While checking my list of blogs in the past few days, I am amazed by the sudden debate concerning Wal-Mart. See http://www.tpmcafe.com/ for some of the debate. What is so great is that the debate is occuring. I don't see conservatives having a debate of this nature, it would be what is the talking point, and to that we stick.
The dissent and exchange of ideas taking place seems spontaneous, not a carefully chosen topic to use as a wedge. This is a strength, even if it can be used electorally to hurt liberals. These debates are where we gain strength, and improve our ideas. Even if we don't agree with a given author.

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How Donald Trump Lost His War on Terrorists

A Crossroads for Pro-Gun supporters

The Real Question for Donald Trump

50 Shades as Right Wing Pornography

How I, a Birther, can be convinced (Reposted from July 2009)

How I, a birther, can be convinced

My response from WaPo Re: Froomkin

Fournier then and now

The Next Question

A WAG at ending the subprime/housing mess

Why is POTUS giving money to a felon?

What being liberal is about