I realize there is a suspension of airline traffic during the fireworks, but, there is a residual CLOUD and CHEMICAL in the air after the display is over. I have no idea if that is an issue for pilots and aircraft maintenance folks, but, I would think it might.
July 3, 2019
By Jeff Greenfield
...It's true that the president has upended (click here) many of the traditions of the celebration; the location of the fireworks have been moved; the president has demanded a heavy military presence, including tanks in the streets of Washington, and he plans to deliver a speech in front of a crowd where the choicest locations will be reserved for ticket holders, a feature somewhat at odds with Trump’s rhetorical scorn for the elites and D.C. insiders....
...Celebrations of the Fourth do not tend to benefit both parties equally, and here, Trump may well be demonstrating his instinctive grasp of which way a big event tends to nudge the populace. In 2011, two academics who studied the political effect of Fourth of July festivities concluded that: "Fourth of July celebrations in the United States shape the nation's political landscape by forming beliefs and increasing participation, primarily in favor of the Republican Party. … The political right has been more successful in appropriating American patriotism and its symbols during the 20th century, [so] there is a political congruence between the patriotism promoted on Fourth of July and the values associated with the Republican Party."...
I find that odd. What is this mess all about? I suppose the Republican Party likes war and all that is affiliated with it. They certainly don't hesitate to invade a country or two at least once a decade and then the war lasts forever.
I think President Obama addressed it best when he stated every soldier would understand why they were deployed, what is expected of the deployment and when they would be returning home (exit strategy). The morality of war.
That morality rang true with JFK when he was appalled by monks in Vietnam setting themselves on fire. He had deployed advisors to Vietnam when taking office and that is where he stopped. Some historians have stated he was not entering the Vietnam conflict with soldiers. Vietnam was a war inherited by Kennedy due to SEATO and the division of that part of Asia after WWII.
President Kennedy had every right to reassess the USA's place in Southeast Asia after decades of a treaty that was being abandoned by France in South Vietnam. He asserted the moral purpose of war even after his initial decision to send advisors, 5000 I believe. In other words, he was willing to admit the Vietnam conflict was less about the USA and more about the initial division of the country after WWII. The purpose of the division had run it's course and leaving the country to the people was the right thing to do.
That type of leadership may not or may support the idea of the USA having a world class military and all the hardware to go along with it. But, one thing is certain, any President of this country needs to use the USA military prudently and not with abandon.
...Trump prefers to think of himself as the lone, overarching figure who can bend history to his will. “I alone can fix it,” he said in his 2016 acceptance speech. Neither that speech, nor his inaugural, invoked the name of any past leader. He appears to believe that the American economy turned 180 degrees on the day of his inauguration, rather than moving on the same upward trajectory it had been on for the better part of a decade. Nor is he bound by the restraints that have guided his predecessors in understanding when partisan politics ought to give way to more unifying themes....
No President should make a decision about war alone. The AUMF of 2001 needs to end. It is providing the problem of continuous war. The legislature should play a vital role in these decisions. The president should have 90 days to intervene in issues of national security. Anything beyond that needs to be the decision of people elected by the people.
...There’s also a more personal dimension to the Trumpification of the Fourth. Throughout his presidency, he has taken outsize delight in over-the-top celebrations and honors given him by foreign governments, a delight that seems to translate into bizarre foreign policies. Receive the Gold Medallion from Saudi Arabia, and you brush aside the kingdom's murder and dismemberment of an American resident. Enjoy lavish banquets in China, and the brutal crackdown on a million Uighurs goes unmentioned. Get a “beautiful letter” from Kim Jong Un and maybe North Korea can keep its nukes. (And would you really be totally shocked if Kim showed up at the White House to help Trump celebrate the Fourth?)....
...To be fair, however, that would not be the worst result of a presidential Fourth. Back in 1845, President James Polk presided over a fireworks display at the White House. During the festivities, 12 rockets were accidentally fired into the crowd, and two people were killed. If the worst thing that happens tomorrow is just a speech, we can be thankful for small favors.
Indeed. I share the same concern as Jeff Greenfield. Safety. I have wondered since the tanks arrived on the DC Mall whether or not there was live ammunition available to them. It would be tragic to make short work of the VIP section and the viewing stand.
Democrats need to claim the USA military as their own as the measure used when all diplomacy has failed. They should not shrink from the massively important reality of national security and the many layers of authority that involves.
Wednesday, July 03, 2019
A citizenship requirement on the USA Census will require an amendment to the USA Constitution.
As of right now, the PUSH by Trump for the inclusion of a citizenship question on the census is a populous issue. There are Americans that believe it should be part of the USA Census. Trump is tapping into the populous idea of including this question. The American public, in general, does not understand why that question is not on the USA Census. It is counter intuitive. Democratic candidates need to be aware of this issue. The only LEGAL way of including that question on the USA Census is an amendment to the USA Constitution. This is not a State's Rights issue. It is a function of the federal government.
What is occurring with the Trump White House is a clear demonstration of it's criminality. They are lawless and they believe they have to find the right words and the right path. If the Robert's Court indicated there was a way forward, it was an amendment to the USA Constitution and NOT manipulating language and law to make it happen.
Trump's presidency is laced with lawlessness in plain sight and this is just ONE MORE TIME, it is obvious he has no respect for the USA Constitution.
What I find worrisome is the level of terror Justice Department officials/employees have of the Trump White House, hence, William Barr. Barr is as much guilty of criminality as Trump is, probably more so because he is SUPPOSED to know better.
July 3, 2019
By Scott Martelle
The Trump administration (click here) is absolutely bonkers – which comes as a surprise to no one at this point, but it’s remarkable how many different ways it manifests itself.
As the president finalizes plans for his moment of self-aggrandizement on the National Mall on Thursday – Tanks! Fighter jets! VIP tickets to supporters! – he took to Twitter to announce that, in fact, he was not giving up on trying to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census....
What is occurring with the Trump White House is a clear demonstration of it's criminality. They are lawless and they believe they have to find the right words and the right path. If the Robert's Court indicated there was a way forward, it was an amendment to the USA Constitution and NOT manipulating language and law to make it happen.
Trump's presidency is laced with lawlessness in plain sight and this is just ONE MORE TIME, it is obvious he has no respect for the USA Constitution.
What I find worrisome is the level of terror Justice Department officials/employees have of the Trump White House, hence, William Barr. Barr is as much guilty of criminality as Trump is, probably more so because he is SUPPOSED to know better.
July 3, 2019
By Scott Martelle
The Trump administration (click here) is absolutely bonkers – which comes as a surprise to no one at this point, but it’s remarkable how many different ways it manifests itself.
As the president finalizes plans for his moment of self-aggrandizement on the National Mall on Thursday – Tanks! Fighter jets! VIP tickets to supporters! – he took to Twitter to announce that, in fact, he was not giving up on trying to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census....
Jared Kushner is attempting to rewrite history.
Just because Kushner wants to be the savior of the region, he cannot rewrite history. The fact that Palestinians may have been refugees at one time, does not mean that is their current status. Kushner needs to end his silly pursuit. There is a lot of history he does not recognize, including, Yassir Arafat and the Oslo Accords.
None of Kushner's plans, with immense accusations of the Palestinians, will hold water in an international court. If he wants to have an economic forum that the Palestinian Authority is completely unprepared for, I suppose he can do it. But, the idea that is going to spawn a peace process is nonsense. When Kushner tries to intimidate President Abbas; he has no time for him. The last priority President Abbas has is to education Jared Kushner about the history and the legal underpinnings of the Israel-Palestine TWO STATE SOLUTION.
Kushner is taking a unique approach even though untenable. Usually, the peace process starts with Israel ending it's expansionist policies into settlements on Palestinian land.
Despite tensions and a total break in ties, (click here) US President Donald Trump remains “very fond” of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, senior White House official Jared Kushner said Wednesday.
But Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a senior adviser to him, also lambasted the Palestinian leadership for refusing to engage with the administration on its forthcoming peace proposal, including at a recent economic conference in Bahrain, and said the administration could announce the next steps of its peace push in the coming days....
None of Kushner's plans, with immense accusations of the Palestinians, will hold water in an international court. If he wants to have an economic forum that the Palestinian Authority is completely unprepared for, I suppose he can do it. But, the idea that is going to spawn a peace process is nonsense. When Kushner tries to intimidate President Abbas; he has no time for him. The last priority President Abbas has is to education Jared Kushner about the history and the legal underpinnings of the Israel-Palestine TWO STATE SOLUTION.
Kushner is taking a unique approach even though untenable. Usually, the peace process starts with Israel ending it's expansionist policies into settlements on Palestinian land.
Despite tensions and a total break in ties, (click here) US President Donald Trump remains “very fond” of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, senior White House official Jared Kushner said Wednesday.
But Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a senior adviser to him, also lambasted the Palestinian leadership for refusing to engage with the administration on its forthcoming peace proposal, including at a recent economic conference in Bahrain, and said the administration could announce the next steps of its peace push in the coming days....
The Inpsector General report is NOT fake news.
Donald J. Trump has signed orders and demanded detentions to supposedly protect Americans from the Undocumented crossing the USA southern border. He is not only directly responsible for the deaths, but he is also responsible for the CONTAINMENT of all the people currently in USA custody.
The judge ordered bail hearings within 7 days of apprehension or the people would have to be released from USA custody.
This is definitely a ticking time bomb. It is completely unknown to the extent these people, including children, are vaccinated against USA communicable disease. It is not a stretch of the imagination to realize if a communicable disease breaks out in these facilities, it could wipe out everyone, especially the children. "wipe out?" Dead or possibly permanent damage, including brain damage.
The people and children should be released immediately. Any person or child not receiving outdoor relief from their conditions are deprived of necessary exercise, a potential victim of blood clots and lacking vitamin D. D is the sunshine vitamin. The people not receiving daily exposure to sunlight should already be receiving Vitamin D supplements.
I REMIND. The Judge stated the detainees are supposed to receive a bail hearing within 7 days of APPREHENSION or released. The people in the detainment facilities are all well past 7 days and should be released immediately.
July 3, 2019
By Adam Serwer
The horrors detailed in the press were hard to believe.
Detainees (click here) described overcrowding so severe that “it was difficult to move in any direction without jostling and being jostled.” The water provided them was foul, “of a dark color, and an ordinary glass would collect a thick sediment.” The “authorities never removed any filth.” A detainee wrote that the “only shelter from the sun and rain and night dews, was what we could make by stretching over us our coats or scraps of blanket.” As for the food, “Our ration was in quality a starving one, it being either too foul to be touched or too raw to be digested.”...
The judge ordered bail hearings within 7 days of apprehension or the people would have to be released from USA custody.
This is definitely a ticking time bomb. It is completely unknown to the extent these people, including children, are vaccinated against USA communicable disease. It is not a stretch of the imagination to realize if a communicable disease breaks out in these facilities, it could wipe out everyone, especially the children. "wipe out?" Dead or possibly permanent damage, including brain damage.
The people and children should be released immediately. Any person or child not receiving outdoor relief from their conditions are deprived of necessary exercise, a potential victim of blood clots and lacking vitamin D. D is the sunshine vitamin. The people not receiving daily exposure to sunlight should already be receiving Vitamin D supplements.
I REMIND. The Judge stated the detainees are supposed to receive a bail hearing within 7 days of APPREHENSION or released. The people in the detainment facilities are all well past 7 days and should be released immediately.
July 3, 2019
By Adam Serwer
The horrors detailed in the press were hard to believe.
Detainees (click here) described overcrowding so severe that “it was difficult to move in any direction without jostling and being jostled.” The water provided them was foul, “of a dark color, and an ordinary glass would collect a thick sediment.” The “authorities never removed any filth.” A detainee wrote that the “only shelter from the sun and rain and night dews, was what we could make by stretching over us our coats or scraps of blanket.” As for the food, “Our ration was in quality a starving one, it being either too foul to be touched or too raw to be digested.”...
Flight delays as Reagan International tomorrow.
Fireworks, parades, flight delays? (click here) Passengers flying into and out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport may have an unusual interruption during Fourth of July celebrations in the US capital this year: two planned ground stops.
The Federal Aviation Administration has ordered flight operations at the airport to be halted twice on Thursday. The first is scheduled for 6:15 to 7:45 p.m. ET to free up airspace for military flyovers as part of the Independence Day parade and celebrations in the capital requested by President Donald Trump.
The second ground stop, scheduled from 9 to 9:45 p.m. ET, is due to the city's fireworks display. Fireworks on the Fourth are normally launched from the National Mall, which doesn't cause issues for Reagan airport. This year's launch site was moved to the Tidal Basin and West Potomac Park, however, to accommodate a White House celebration at the Lincoln Memorial during the parade, as Business Insider's Eliza Relman reported last week. That new site will cause the fireworks to interfere with the airspace surrounding the airport....
The Federal Aviation Administration has ordered flight operations at the airport to be halted twice on Thursday. The first is scheduled for 6:15 to 7:45 p.m. ET to free up airspace for military flyovers as part of the Independence Day parade and celebrations in the capital requested by President Donald Trump.
The second ground stop, scheduled from 9 to 9:45 p.m. ET, is due to the city's fireworks display. Fireworks on the Fourth are normally launched from the National Mall, which doesn't cause issues for Reagan airport. This year's launch site was moved to the Tidal Basin and West Potomac Park, however, to accommodate a White House celebration at the Lincoln Memorial during the parade, as Business Insider's Eliza Relman reported last week. That new site will cause the fireworks to interfere with the airspace surrounding the airport....
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