Terrorism In New York City (Don't Let Trump Lie About It)

(Photo of New York City terrorist is from CNN.)

Sadly, New York City has been the site of a new terrorist attack. A man (evidently a muslim fundamentalist) rented a pickup and drove down a bike path -- killing 8 people and wounding another 15.

As expected, Trump is already trying to make some political hay out of the tragedy. He tweeted that these terrorists cannot be allowed to come to this country. I assume he was talking about his effort to ban muslims from certain countries from entering the United States. The problem is that his silly (and bigoted) ban would not have prevented anyone entering from this terrorists country of origin. He was from Uzbekistan -- which is NOT on any list that Trump has submitted.

It wouldn't surprise me if Trump also, in the next few days, tried to use this attack as an excuse to get sanctions applied against Iran. He has repeatedly said that Iran is the biggest supporter of terrorism (inferring that they support the terrorists attacking Western countries). That is simply not true.

Iran is a shiite nation. They do support some groups (like Hezbollah, which acts in the Middle East). But they don't support the main terrorist groups attacking Western countries. Those groups are ISIS and al-Queda, and both are sunni fundamentalist groups. Members of either ISIS or al-Queda would not last long in Iran -- and in fact, Iran has troops helping Iraq (another shiite government) fight against ISIS.

Iran is not a friend of the United States (which is understandable since the U.S. overthrew their legal democratic government decades ago and installed a dictator - the Shah). But they are NOT the supporters of terrorism in the West. Most of that support comes from sunni countries -- like Saudi Arabia (which is supposed to be our friend).

Don't let Trump demagogue the issue and lie to you -- about his muslim ban, or about Iran.

Most Say Trump's Travel Ban Won't Make U.S. Safer

The Supreme Court is now allowing a partial enforcement of Donald Trump's executive order banning travel from six muslim countries (while they consider the constitutionality of the ban). Trump has claimed that his tavel ban will make the country safer (even though no refugee from those six countries has ever initiated a terrorist act in the United States).

The American public doesn't buy Trump's excuse for his bigoted travel ban. A substantial majority of 56% say it will not make this country any safer (with 37% saying it will have no effect on safety, and 19% saying it will make us less safe). Only 39% say the travel ban will make us safer (17 points less than those saying the opposite).

The chart above reflects information in a recent Rasmussen Poll -- done on June 2nd and 3rd of a random national sample of 1,000 likely voters, with a 3 point margin of error.

Trump Reversal Of Obama Cuban Policy Mostly Bluster & BS

(Caricature of Donald Trump is by DonkeyHotey.)

"I am canceling the last administration's completely one-sided deal with Cuba." 

Those were the words of Donald Trump on Friday. He made it sound like everything President Obama had done regarding Cuba would be reversed. And I've noticed on social media that many people have accepted that as fact. It is NOT true. The truth is that Trump changed very little -- and most of Obama's accomplishments remain in place.

Trump said he would more strictly enforce the Cuban embargo. That was pure BS. That embargo was passed by Congress, and they are the only ones that can change it in any way. All Trump can do is enforce what Congress passed -- just like every president since John Kennedy has done.

Did Trump close our consulate in Havana, and kicked the Cuban officials out of their consulate in the U.S.? NO! Both consulates remain open and doing business just as they were.

Did Trump make it illegal for people to buy Cuban products and bring them back to the U.S.? NO! People can still buy Cuban cigars, rum, and other products -- just like they did under President Obama.

So, what was changed. Trump did ban people from traveling to Cuba purely for tourism. But even that was not a complete ban. There are 12 exceptions to the Cuban travel ban, and anyone who really wants to go there can surely find a way to fit in one of those exceptions. The exceptions are:

* Educational activities in Cuba for schools, including people-to-people exchanges open to everyone

* Professional research and professional meetings in Cuba

* Public performances, clinics, workshops, athletic and other competitions, and exhibitions in Cuba

* Religious activities in Cuba

* Humanitarian projects in Cuba

* Journalistic activities in Cuba

* Family visits to close relatives in Cuba

* Activities in Cuba by private foundations, or research or educational institutes

* Support for the Cuban people

* Exportation, importation, or transmission of information technologies or materials

* Certain authorized export transactions including agricultural and medical products, and tools, equipment and construction supplies for private use

* Official business of the US government, foreign governments, and certain intergovernmental organizations

He did ban Americans from spending money in Cuba that would go to support the Cuban military. Those coming back from Cuba will be subject to an audit on where they spent money while there. We'll have to see how this is enforced to know whether it will pose an onerous burden on travel to Cuba. How are people to know when they spend money there that that money will eventually wind up with the Cuban military? And what will be the penalties if they knowingly spent such money?

Trump tried to act like he was doing big things to reverse Obama's Cuban policies. That was just bluster and BS. He actually did very little.

Marco Rubio should be feeling very foolish today. He sold out to Trump and defended him in the Senate hearings because Trump had promised him the reversal of Obama's Cuban policies. Now it looks like Rubio's purchase price was very cheap.

A Second Appeals Court Blocks Trump Travel Ban

(Cartoon image about Trump travel ban is by John Darkow in the Columbia Daily Tribune.)

A couple of weeks ago, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to lift the blockage of Trump's travel ban by a lower court. They ruled that Trump's travel ban violated the Constitution's First Amendment by targeting a religious groups (muslims).

Now a second appeals court has done the same thing -- upheld the blockage of Trump's travel ban by a lower court. What's interesting is that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found a different reason to continue blocking the travel ban. They ruled that Trump had exceeded his authority, because his travel ban violated the provisions of the immigration act passed by Congress.

Immigrations law says the president cannot suspend the immigration rules without first justifying the need to do that -- that he must first prove that the people in the nations banned provide a substantial risk to the people of the United States before unilaterally changing the immigration rules. The Court ruled that Trump had not proved that, and therefore could not change the law with an executive order.

The Trump administration will probably appeal this decision to the Supreme Court -- as they did the decision of the Fourth Circuit Court. But because this decision was based on immigration law, and not a First Amendment violation, it will need to be considered separately. A Supreme Court decision overturning one of these decisions would not apply to the other.

This makes it a little harder for the Trump administration to get their bigoted and silly travel ban.

Our Tweeter-In-Chief Tried To Demagogue The London Attack

There was a new attack by terrorists in Great Britain -- this time in London. At least seven people were killed and dozens more wounded. Most responsible world leaders sent their sympathy to the victims and assured Great Britain that they would stand beside them. Our "leader" took a different tack. He tried to demagogue the attack -- use it to scare people into supporting his own xenophobic and bigoted policy. He used the tragedy to tweet that the courts should approve his travel ban.

Trump wants Americans to believe that his silly and unconstitutional travel ban would protect the U.S. from terrorist attacks -- and that those attacks will surely come without that travel ban. It's time to look at some facts that Trump and his bigoted right-wing friends like to ignore.

* Deaths from terrorist attacks are rare in the United States, and our law enforcement agencies are doing a very good job of preventing them. In fact, you have a much better chance of being hit by lightening (or shot by a toddler) than dying in a terrorist attack.

* Of the few terrorist deaths in the United States, more have been from attacks by right-wing home-grown terrorists than by islamic terrorists.

* Refugees from the six countries in Trump's travel ban (Libya, Sudan, Syria, Iran, Yemen, and Somalia) have never engineered a terrorist attack in the United States. The 9/11 attack was carried out by 15 from Saudi Arabia, 2 from the United Arab Emirates, 1 from Egypt, and 1 from Lebanon -- all countries that Trump considers to be our friends. The San Bernardino attack was done by an American-born person and a person from Pakistan (who had lived most of her life in Saudi Arabia). The Orlando shooter was born and raised in the United States. I repeat -- none of these attackers (or any others) were from any of the countries on Trumps's travel ban list.

* The travel ban violates the First Amendment of the Constitution by targeting a religious group (thus violating the religious freedom provision).

The truth is that there is no proof at all that the refugees from the countries on Trump's list pose any more danger to Americans than people from any other country -- and those allowed to emigrate to the U.S. have gone through a rigorous vetting process (that can take up to two years).

Trump is simply playing politics, and he doesn't mind using victims of terrorism in other countries to further his own political agenda -- an agenda aimed at nothing more than making himself look good. He should be ashamed of himself, but unfortunately, the part of his brain where shame should reside has been filled with an overflowing narcissism.

Making matters even worse is the fact that Trump is more dangerous to many living in the United States than terrorists ever will be. If Trumpcare is enacted, then thousands of people will die because they can no longer afford health insurance (and no longer are able to get preventative care). About 17,000 people a year die because of a lack of health insurance and preventative care (thanks to many GOP states refusing to expand Medicaid). Trumpcare, by taking insurance away from 23 million people, would double or triple the number of deaths.

Then we have his cuts to the EPA (of 25% to 30%), which will undoubtably make our air dirtier -- and endanger the lives of those with asthma and other respiratory diseases (especially children). And his refusal to stay in the Paris Accord and fight global climate change, which will surely increase the number and severity of storms, droughts, floods, and other natural disasters -- costing many lives unnecessarily. And that's before we even talk about his mean-spirited budget that cuts food stamps and other things that help people to survive.

The number of deaths that Trump's policies will cause make the terrorists look like amateurs. But he might get away with it by making people fear terrorism -- taking their eyes and minds off his policies. He needs to cut the things that help ordinary Americans to live and survive, because it's the only way he can give massive tax cuts that only help him and his rich friends. If you are worried about terrorism, he hopes you won't see the deaths he is causing to reward the rich.

I'm not saying terrorism shouldn't be dealt with. It should be, and our law enforcement and intelligence agencies are doing that. Just remember there is a far greater danger to Americans lives than terrorists -- and his name is Donald Trump.

Appeals Court Upholds Block Of Trump's Travel Ban

Donald Trump has lost another round in the courts over his executive order banning muslims from certain countries from entering the United States.

After his first executive order travel ban was tossed by the courts, he made some small revisions and issued a second executive order travel ban. That was almost immediately blocked by U.S. District Judges in Maryland and Hawaii.

The Trump administration appealed the rulings of those courts to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals -- asking that appeals court to overturn the lower court rulings and allow the ban to be instituted.

On Thursday, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its ruling (a 205 page ruling which you can read here). They refused to unblock Trump's ban on travel to this country by a vote of 10 to 3.

And they were unequivocal in their distaste for Trump's attempt to subvert the First Amendment's guarantee of religious freedom, saying the travel ban "drips with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination".

It should be no surprise that Trump's bigoted toady in the Attorney General's office didn't like the ruling of the appeals court. Sessions, who has shown in the past that he thinks discrimination against groups is just fine, now extends that feeling toward religious groups. He says he will appeal the ruling to the United States Supreme Court.

What will the Supreme Court do? Will they uphold the First Amendment of the Constitution and rule that the Trump administration cannot discriminate against any religious group, or will they trash the First Amendment and decide that religious freedom is no longer protected? Sadly, with the current court, it could go either way.

An Unintended Consequence Of Trump's Travel Ban

(Cartoon image is by David Fitzsimmons in the Arizona Daily Star.)

Donald Trump was surprised at the negative reaction to his executive orders banning muslims from entering this country. Poll after poll showed that a majority of Americans opposed the ban, and a federal judge stopped the ban. Trump is now trying to revise those executive orders to meet constitutional requirements -- but he should consider just dropping this terribly bigoted move.

It isn't just the political and legal ramifications that should make him stop (although that should be enough). There is another unintended consequence that was caused by the ban. Travel to the United States by foreigners has dropped significantly -- and it's not just travel from muslim countries. Travel is down from all countries.

On the web, searches for flights to the U.S. have dropped by 17%. And Travel Weekly magazine says foreign tourism is down already by about 6.8%. The Global Business Travel Association says that in just one week since the ban business travel had declined by $185 million.

The travel industry is calling this drop the "Trump slump", and they are not happy about it. If Trump persists in this bigoted attempt to ban muslims, this country could lose billions of dollars in businesses that depend on travel -- and that could mean the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Actions have consequences, and actions by the White House have consequences that affect the entire country. It's time Trump realized that, and reined in his bigotry for the good of the country. He had claimed he wanted to be a jobs president, but so far his actions seem destined to cost jobs.