Leader Lies and The Enforcement Arm’s Willingness to Follow Them

putin-smirkPeople who lived here for years who went back home to visit family with all the proper vetting and clearances were barred from coming back to their families; skilled professionals with important jobs here who had been hired or who had left for a vacation were likewise prohibited; reminders of the days of slavery popped into my mind the way families were unfairly separated, wives left home and husbands overseas, children deprived of their parents or siblings, and other horrible actions that should not happen to anyone in America were brought about by the signing of a pen by one man.

Just by the way the number of Americans killed by terrorist acts on American soil by people from any of those seven countries subject to his order over the last 41 years is zero. A country known for producing terrorists and who has sent terrorist to American soil to murder more than 2,500 people is not on the list.

Did you notice how quickly the Executive Order by Trump barring Muslims from seven countries from the United States was put into effect by his underlings? That to me was the frightening thing. No one on the front lines did other than take the most draconian steps to enforce his rule. One Republican in Congress happened to be caught up in the event because there is a strong contingent of immigrants in his district. After telling how “we must keep America safe” he then told how a Syrian Christian family of five who had undergone years of vetting had arrived in Philadelphia where a home waited for them were put back on another plane and sent back to where they came from. That family suffered because Trump’s Muslim ban had to be hidden to include members of a group that were of no threat to America.

There are lots of stories by many people from these countries who have been frightened and no longer look upon America as the home of the brave and the free; as the one last place on earth that people can come to and live in liberty. The country which has been made into the dynamo of the world is being changed by Trump who wants a partnership with Russia –> have you ever heard of large numbers of people seeking to emigrate into in Russia. Everyone is running from there. Trump wants to start making our country into another Russia where no one wants to come. Soon he will be chasing people out of our country.

Imagine that we invaded Iraq so that the people could have a democratic government. We lost over four thousand young men and women to bring them this freedom. Now we bar them from entering our country. How does that make sense? Did we free them so that they could become our enemies? Did we free them so that we can lump them into the terrorist bag? Did all those Iraqis who helped our troops become our enemies?

I wrote how Trump told the Big Lie. Proof of that came from Rudy Guiliani who said on Fox News that Trump called him and told him he wanted to ban the Muslims. He wanted him to come up with a legal way to do it so he could hide the purpose of his executive order.  Then Trump lied when he enacted it by saying it was not a Muslim ban. Then some argue it is not a Muslim ban because other Muslim nations were not included even though Trump wanted a Muslim ban.

The greatest danger to our freedom: the leader lying and the forces of the executive going along and blindly following the orders. One problem in society is putting a badge on a person who cannot do anything like question the orders for fear of the pressure from his peers or the need to earn a living by following the desires of his superiors. Don’t ever believe the police forces will protect your liberty if ordered to do otherwise. Sure the law enforcement guy is your neighbor and is the best person that you know but when it comes to orders he is trained to follow them.

How secure in your liberty are you in that case? How secure are you when it is reported that Trump’s agents at the airports are reportedly defying the orders of the courts? Is this what you voted for: chaos. Whether you did nor not that is what you have.

32 Comments

  1. If the order banned Libyan Muslims and allowed Libyan Christians, a case could be made for discrimination could be made. I do not see that here.

    There are those ” outside agitators” again–they do get around.

    • Hutch:

      The real problem with the order is that it has no basis in fact. The people for the seven nations banned have not done anything to warrant it. It is good that the courts stepped in. I know the president has extraordinary powers when it comes to who will be admitted to the country but he must have a basis for taking such an act. Blanket bans are always inappropriate since too many innocent people can be hurt. A little baby coming for medical treatment (fortunately given a waiver) and people who have live here for years in productive jobs.

      If Trump is allowed to ban people without any basis for doing that he could get in a dispute with the leader of Ireland and decide that no Irish could come to America for three months. He could wield his power in ways that really are beyond the pale.

  2. as Pink Floyd would say

    ‘welcome to the machine’

    Matt, where have you been?

    in other ugh ssssssss

    seen at ticklethewire

    12,000+ Tweets about Assassinating Trump Create Challenge for Secret Service

    Since Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day, more than 12,000 people have tweeted “assassinate Trump,” causing a headache for the Secret Service.

    Some of the tweets are jokes or hyperbolic, but some are serious, Mashable reports.

    But it’s unclear how serious the Secret Service is taking the tweets.

    There are reports of agents arriving at the homes of social media users, including a Kentucky woman who tweeted, “If someone was cruel enough to assassinate MLK, maybe someone will be kind enough to assassinate Trump.”

    An Ohio man was charged with making threats to Trump following several tweets about killing the Republican on election night.

    “It’s the people who have a true and genuine intent to do harm that

    • MS:

      I’m sure a lot of people feel frustration over Trump and would like to see him out of office. I hope the secret service can tell the difference between a real threat and letting off steam.

  3. Bill C.

    For me the key part of the article is this: “It’s very obvious that it’s a message. It’s discrimination.”

    We have been taking in the best and brightest from all over the World since the 1930’s. The top students in the world want to go to college here and they pay retail. Frequently, like An Wang, they want to stay here and start business here. America should want to make these people feel as welcome as we possibly can.

    Instead, Trump chooses to earn brownie points with his alt-right base at the expense of the overall good of the country. This executive order doesn’t make us safer. It just makes us poorer, culturally and economically.

    And Matt makes an important point. ”

    “Did you notice how quickly the Executive Order by Trump barring Muslims from seven countries from the United States was put into effect by his underlings?” That to me was the frightening thing. No one on the front lines did other than take the most draconian steps to enforce his rule.

    That is one chilling and concerning aspect of this, that no one I have seen has picked up on.

    The hope was that Trump would sign all of these Executive Orders and it would be nothing more than symbolic. The inertia of bureaucracy traditionally plays a pivotal role, as a last line of defense, by stalling against the rash edicts of higher ups and other attempted inroads of tyranny. We see here that this may not be the case. Trump’s will may very well be done.

    • Kerry: The Courts will decide if the EO discriminates, that is whether it is unconstitutional. A Mass. federal judge has expressed doubts that it discriminates. A Seattle judge has expressed contrary doubts, and issued a temporary restraining order; he’ll ponder some more next week.
      I appreciate the Syrian doctor’s plight; but he is not a good arbiter of what is or is not discrimination, lawful or not.
      I see no unconstitutional discrimination. Some judges will decide the issue with some finality in the courts. And however they decide, we can still agree or disagree with them.
      I remember when over a dozen Massachusetts judges (trial, appellate, administrative, and Mass Supreme Judicial Court judges) said some Veterans had discriminated, and then a unanimous Supreme Court said that all the judges were dead wrong. The U.S. Supreme Court wrote that all those Massachusetts judges had acted “without lawful authority”. Imagine judges acting without lawful authority!
      That’s what’s this country is coming to – – – judges acting unlawfully – – -and I see it coming more and more from the Left – – – from judges who’ve politicized the law, who see words as infinitely malleable, as tools to effectuate socio-political outcomes, who in interpreting the Constitution and Statutes write about seeing “emanations” and “penumbras” rising from documents; they see shadows and ghosts and murky clouds hovering above texts; they tell us they want to “deconstruct” the English language; and they’re reducing the law to mumbo-jumbo, or a tower of Babel. A good example is Roe v. Wade where a majority of judges said a human fetus was not “a person”; never! throughout all pregnancy, never!; the Court said the fetus was not really “a human life”, but only “potential human life.” The Court said even though some say it is a human life, we the judges say an individual human life is not a person. The Court wrote that the closer the fetus got to being born, the closer it got to being a really human being. If it were pre-maturely delivered at 6 months, it was “a person”. If it was still in the womb at 9 months, it was not “a person”, the Court ruled.

      So, we’ll wait to see what the Courts say . . . but not with bated breath. Nowadays, half the time, I expect political, not legal, decisions from the Courts.
      The Courts are sort of like the Mass. Legislature that just gave themselves pay raises up to 50% . . . corrupt!

  4. Harvard Business guru and Clinton adviser Robert Reich said that although he couldn’t confirm it, he was there, and from what he saw and heard, the Berkeley rioters were not students but really were right wing agitators paid by Breitbart. Definitely not students he says. So all those student rioters we’ve seen over the last year, assailing conservative speakers . . .? Right wingers!
    2. Kellyanne Conway mentioned “the Bowling Green massacre” and meant to say “the Bowling Green massacre plot.” She was mercilessly raked over the coals. The two Iraqis arrested had purchased Stinger Missiles and other weapons and admitted they planned to massacre American soldiers.
    3. The press says Obama did not ban immigrants from Iraq in 2011. He merely slowed down the processing of applications. He ordered that between 35,000 and 55,000 Iraqi immigrants be re-vetted, which slowed immigration to a trickle. It took 6 months to complete the re-vetting.
    At least, that’s how I read the news of the day.
    4. As for Kerry’s story about the Syrian doctor getting his MPH; I’m sure if he applied for an exception under Trump’s EO, he’d get it. The doctor’s case is why the EO explicitly authorizes case by case exceptions.

    • Bill:

      1. Who knows what the agitators are? They are there to ruin peaceful protests. They could be plain old anarchists who like to destroy thing for fun or people supposedly paid by Soros or paid by Breitbart but it is the practice of dictators to suggest the opposition has been paid. I’m still waiting for the $2,500 from Soros for going out the day after the inauguration.

      2. Kellyanne was rightfully raked over the coals. She is known to, as she said, tell alternate versions of the truth so when someone brags about that and they misspeak they can expect to suffer.

      3. The Trump administration seems to hide behind what Obama did when caught with its hands in the cookie jar. I never got away after being caught doing something I should not have done by suggesting someone else also did it. Obama’s extra vetting cut in half the number – I bliee it went from 12,000 down to 6,000. Trump tried to make it zero. Two different scenarios and that Obama did it then it would seem Trump would not have to re-do it.

      4. Up to 60,000 or even to 100,000 people had their visa’s cancelled. They had already been vetted or were returning back after living here for a while and visiting overseas. We for the first time in our history have put a wall up to keep people here. There are thousands upon thousands of law abiding foreigners who present absolutely no threat to this country who are afraid to leave because they won’t be able to come back to be with their families. You can possibly do a case by case review under those circumstances. The big problem with the order is that it has no basis in fact; none of the targeted parties have caused harm in America.

  5. Donald Trump’s travel ban may send Syrian doctor to Canada
    Blocked from returning to university in Rhode Island, aid worker Dr. Khaled Almilaji looks at alternatives

    A young Syrian doctor who stared down a polio epidemic and has worked tirelessly healing others during his country’s civil war now faces one his biggest challenges: U.S. President Donald Trump’s travel ban.

    Trump’s executive order barred all Syrian refugees from entering the United States indefinitely and temporarily halted entry for citizens of seven mainly Muslim countries, including Syria.

    The order has blocked Dr. Khaled Almilaji from returning to the U.S., where he is enrolled in a master’s program in public health at Brown University in Providence, R.I., and may end up bringing him to Canada

    “It’s very obvious that it’s a message. It’s discrimination,” said Almilaji. “And [Trump] chose the weakest countries so he will not affect his business.”

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-travel-ban-syrian-doctor-stoffel-1.3963066

    • Kerry: All good. Right-on!

      Fight, fight, fight, until, we wreck the right.
      Go Red&Black (RB) street-fighters! Scalp Milo! All praise to the Antifa. All power to the Dialectic.

    • Like all bullies, Trump picks on the weak.

      The Trumsovki are pushing for war with Iran. The Iranians aren’t push-overs. If Glorious Leader, and, Bannon, get their wish, thousands of young Americans will pay the price for White House hubris. Watch what’s happening in Mosul, if you want a preview of the fight in Iran The coalition campaign is failing. Proxy forces just can’t take the city. It will be an all American effort by Spring. Daesh infantry will continue to “hug the belt.” Casualties will be extremely high. All the latest gizmos and gadgetry won’t help. It’s going to be a ground-pounder fight. How many young lives must be lost to satisfy the vainglorious ambitions of Glorious Leader, Strangelove, and, Mad Dog?

      • Khalid:

        There will not be a ground war in Iran. Maybe a few bombings here and there. As for Mosul, you are right we should watch and see what is happening. In those parts that have been taken from ISIS schools are opening for the children again and young boys and girls are not being forced to be suicide bomber. This liberation of that part of Iraq has been accomplished mostly by brave Muslim forces with a substantial help for America. These are not proxy forces. They are Iraquis fighting for their own country against one of the most evil forces ever to exist in the world. Unfortunately the casualties might be high among the fighter be they Iraqi, Kurds, or Americans but somehow there is a moral imperative to stamp out the evil of ISIS. Trump is right when it comes to this. You seem to prefer the enslavement of Muslim people by the evil of ISIS. I don’t quite get it.

        • Matt

          No. The fight isn’t worth it. All the Iraqis fighting for us are mercenaries. We pay them to die, so, our people don’t have to die. Unfortunately, there’s nobody left to hire, and, now it’s down to us. Do you think taking Mosul, and, exterminating DAESH is worth a ten thousand American casualties? Leave emotion out of it. These are the cruel facts.

  6. Compassionate Europe plans to block Immigration through bribery
    The president of the European Commission, a Mr. Trusk, said, “(It is) the only way to gain control over migration in Europe. The goal is within our reach. Europe should and will stand by Italy in sharing responsibility.”
    Italy has already set up a fund of £171 million to help Libya, Tunisia and Nigeria deter migrants from travelling to Europe.
    Italy will pay to block immigration and the EU agrees.

    • Bill:

      I don’t get it; it is all right in your opinion for Trump to ban people but if European countries which have taken in millions try to stem the flow something is wrong.

  7. When I saw the title “Leader Lies and The Enforcement Arm’s Willingness to Follow Them”, I thought that this would be about Massachusetts AG Maura Healey.

  8. Last night, the fascists prevented another speaker from speaking. This time at NYU.
    In a truly Orwellian twist, they call themselves “the Antifa”. The Anti-fascists are the true fascists: attacking speech, burning hats, burning signs . . . and they’ve promised to burn some books: Really. They’ve said they’ll burn Yiannapoulous’s book!!! The irony.
    2. At NYU, as “the Antifa” shouted, screeched, screamed and chanted, drowning out the speaker, a meek “professor/administrator” took to the mike to warn the rioters that if they continued disrupting the meeting, he might be forced to evict them from the hall. They continued disrupting the meeting, and the meek prof. did nothing.
    Thus do the Leftist fascists show their utter contempt for “free speech.”
    “This is our campus” they shouted; which means on “tax-payer funded campuses” the Antifa and other Leftists will not tolerate the expression of dissenting views.

    • Bill:

      You seem to think it is all on one side. You forget the Tea Party shouting down speakers and the people at the Trump rallies being escorted out by the law. There are bad people on both ends of the spectrum.

  9. Similar bans have been put into effect before without the hysterical response. Under previous administrations there were not any crybaby thumb suckers sobbing over the fact that the American people rejected their entitled candidate. Also, convicted felon, George $oro$, was not funding demonstrators for a fawning lügenpresse to exaggerate their numbers and “cause”.

    There is a conscious attempt to undermine confidence in the government of the United States. The hatred oozing out of the pores of the Democrats is too obvious to not boomerang back at them. “Boo hoo hoo, poor me, I lost,” is a really lousy tactic. As the moguls in LaLaLand say, “Self pity is bad box office.”

    There is not going to be a Color Revolution in America. So, again thank you for helping to consolidate Trump’s electoral victory, without your self-immolation it would be a lot harder.

    Addendum. If you are not getting any of those $oro$ dollars you should apply to one of his front organizations. Since you are doing his work, why not take the pay? Others are. And America sees right through them.

    • Tadzio:

      How do you know I am not getting Soros’s money. When I went out to paraded in the march after the inauguration I am told that I got $2500.

      You, and your president, are making a mistake in thinking that Soros or any other person is behind the outcry against Trump. I beg to differ since the outpouring against Trump is a spontaneous reaction to his actions in office. Yes, he won the election but we are still a nation of laws and as was said in the Declaration of Independence “mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

  10. Between 9/11/ and December 2014, in the United States, 380 foreign born individuals were convicted on terrorism related charges. Only 60 were from the 7 hot-spot countries. Nevertheless, it was Obama’s administration that recently named these 7 countries as most likely to harbor terrorists today.
    In Europe, since 9/11, only a handful of terrorist attackers came from these 7 countries. (I’ve read 3 or 4 from Syria, and 2 from Iraq).
    So, the good question is why these 7 countries? And the good answer is: Obama listed them as hot-spots of terrorism.

    • Bill:

      As I noted before Trump keeps rejecting everything Obama did but when he gets caught up in problems of his own making he wants to blame Obama. The botched up raid in Yemen he said was Obama approved; the 7 countries was those of Obama although what Obama did with them (warned about travelling there) was totally different than what he did.

  11. Nosferatu was getting even for being bounced from the car. Glorious Leader is beholden to people who hate Giuliani. Trump’s been keeping 911’s Mayor at arms length for some time. Rudy, finally, figured out he’s getting nothing from GL, but, a ticket to obscurity. His statement regarding the Muslim ban, a masterpiece of dry-snitching, is pay-back for the double-cross.

    John: Are you practicing Orwellian Double-Speak? Keep up your dogged effort. Steep yourself in Breitbart. Only good, can come of it.

    • John King McDonald

      Khalid :

      Never once have visited Breitbart. Communication and constructive dialogue is impossible when the communication channel is choked with glib characterizations like ” double speak ” that leave everyone adrift in a semantic sea. You don’t like someone’s arguments , just name it ” double speak. ” At that point you just double down on your own ” speak.” Nothing results but the demonstration of absolute and unyielding intransigence in one’s views. This is sad. To ” See Guile ” all around you. Some people just speak plainly. I am one of those. You cannot … Speak … Doublespeak … or Quadruple Speak … around the Left’s hypocrisy in pounding their chests about free speech, and then resorting to thuggery when they don’t share the political views of the speaker ; as at U.Cal Berkeley. Calling the speaker a ” Nazi ” when your tactics are disturbingly like those of the children of the Third Reich loses it’s persuasive power very quickly. A truncheon is a truncheon. When Free Speech is bludgeoned , Right or Left, it is a tragedy in a democratic republic. In my,perhaps surprisingly to you, apolitical eye, it is the Left that is committed to the programme of violent suppression of political dissent. Sieg Heil if the jackboot fits.

      • John: Breitbart was only a suggestion. It would put some polish on your usual right-wing racist ranting. You could back up your argument with some alt-facts. Continuous displays of spleen get boring. Google catachresis “impossible mouth”to learn about complex hyperbole.

        • John King McDonald

          Khalid :

          You are out of your league with me. You are a. bright guy, but insecure. Your cut and paste scholarship .. google eyed and giddy …. is shallow stuff. I am not a racist. You explicitly, loudly, and bombastically, are. It is your … revolutionary belle of the racist ball .. self-defined calling card on this blog. You indulge in one racist rant after another. You … with your didactic … maunderings and irrelevant
          snarks …are the classic … pseudo -intellectual. I don’t have time for psychotherapy with intellectuals who don’t really sort things through in a rigorously honest fashion, but just preen and scream from the safety of their one hundred acres in the cow pastures of Cook County. You are completely bourgeois. Your Viva Chavez routine is lame and laughably lazy . You have no skin in the game? Let the brothers know Khalid, you are a white man who converted to the religion of Mohammed and took a Muslim name, Khalid. How exciting for you! Good Luck Pal. You’re being jumped out of My Gang . 🙂

  12. V P Pence said the Saudis were not on that list because they have a functioning state and law enforcement who can identify and vett it’s people. The other countries don’t. Yemen, Syria, Somalia, Libya and Iraq are hot beds of of ISIS and Al Qaeda. Common sense dictates they get greater scrutiny. What is more important the safety of Americans or the convenience of foreigners? 2. Any opinion on the Gorsuch pick? The Dems always claim they are for diversity but that doesn’t apply to their Supreme Court choices. Clinton and Obama made five selections for the Supreme Court. All five were Ivy League. Four were from NY and one from Boston. Four were Jewish and one Puerto Rican. They came from groups that represent less than 3% of the population. A very narrow slice of America. So much for inclusion and diversity. Do the Dems have anything to offer other than obstructionism and petulant behavior? 3. Are Tulsi Gabbard, Kucenich and Rand Paul right that almost all the Syrian rebels are ISIS and Al Nusra? That Regime Change in Syria sponsored by the U S, NATO, Turkey and the Oil Shieks has been a total failure? That we should stop arming our enemies. That the West and her allies are responsible for prolonging that civil war and causing thousands of deaths?

    • NC:

      1. Why not Afghanistan. Did someone ask Pence?
      2. Nonesuch as Gorsuch. Look for opinion Monday. He also is Ivy league.
      3. Tulsi Gabbard was a paid emissary of the Assad regime. Check it out. I agree we should stop arming our enemies so why are we cooperating with Russia. Of course, Russia did not prolong the war. They quickly ended the Aleppo fight by indiscriminately bombing everything targeting hospitals, schools, etc. Strangely you blame the West for causing these deaths. Have you too taken the poison being dished out by Trump that it is the West that is bad and Russia is to be our guiding light?

  13. Matt: Of course, we disagree: I’ll begin with a rhetorical flourish, then get down to the facts:
    The hyperbole is hysterical. Oh, the horror: Families were ripped apart by Trump’s “ban”, just like in the days of slavery.
    Or maybe the ban was an attempt to make sure families WERE NOT RIPPED APART by terrorists who plant bombs blowing women and children to bits (the Boston Marathon) and terrorists who shoot bullets killing defenseless mothers and fathers (San Bernardino)?
    Maybe the “ban” was a “temporary suspension” with “exceptions”.
    Maybe the “ban” targeted countries most likely to harbor and send terrorists now and in the future.
    THE FACTS:
    109 people were detained out of 330,000 who flew from abroad into American airports on the day of the protests.
    The “ban” was a “temporary suspension” for 90 days or (120 days).
    — the temporary suspension provided for explicit “exceptions”:
    – – -Numerous explicit exceptions were stated for visas for foreign nationals: diplomats, NATO workers, UN workers, etc, and their families. (Visas G-1 through G-4)
    —Beyond those explicit exceptions, the EO explicitly stated that exceptions could be granted on a “case by case” basis both for visas and refugees.
    — Admittedly, there was some confusion about green cards, and within a day or two the Administration made clear green card holders were exempt. As Rince Priebus stated Sunday, “Going forward” green-card holders are exempt.

    The Administration considered which countries were more likely to create terrorists, harbor terrorists and send terrorists to America in the “future.” The Obama administration had listed 7 of them.

    Note: it remains to be seen whether the Courts will uphold this EO in whole or in part. So far only temporary restraining orders on enforcement were issued as I understand it. I’m sure the Immigration Officials are trying to decipher the extent to which the various Courts’ temporary restraining orders changed the EO, in whole or in part. The courts’ orders apply to the EO only, in whole or in part, and do not effect existing law. You know how corrupt reporters are: they see people doing their job and they claim they’re violating the Constitution, like probation officers who hired recovering alcoholics, or organizers of the St. Pat’s Parade who cruelly forbade gay-pride signage.

    2. As for Guiliani’s statement, he obviously was referring to Trump’s 9 month-old comment on a “temporary ban”. Trump’s words: “A ban on Muslims until we can figure out what’s going on”; Over the course of 9 months, Trump modified the “Muslim ban” into the concept of “extreme vetting” from hot spots. Of course, it’s easy to twist what people say.

    You were distraught Trump won. You will continue to assail him.
    I will continue to defend his Administration, especially against the wholly corrupt MSM.
    Signed,
    A witness for the Defense and your humble correspondent.

  14. John King McDonald

    * Berkeley

  15. John King McDonald

    ANARCHY IN THE USA ! The old gypsy curse : “May all your wishes come true ” …. Rampaging and burning at U.Cal Berkley …. The bastion of the Free Speech movement in the 60’s now the site of suppressing a Conservative’s Free Speech rights and beating up a man who supported that right. Commies in Germany pulled the same stunt ; the Brownshirts were a result. Political Fascism is Political Fascism. The hypocrisy of the Left is blatant and incurable. Be careful what you wish for! 🙂