Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Paranoid Android]

KC: "'52' is significant for those numerologists in Iran who are listening to numbers. That's the number of hostages they took 40 years ago when — talk about a weak president — Pres. Jimmy Carter. I wish him the best now, but he was a very weak president when it came to that." https://t.co/CUR8VHzqqb

https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1...018084865?s=19

What a farce. I just can never grasp how authoratarian and how much we now have people who speak as Trump as some benevolent leader.

Can't speak much on Carter's handling of the Iran Hostage situation but calling other Presidents weak as Trump has done no wrong.

[Breccia]

The one thing Trump's war doesn't have: A direct attack on American soil.

Embassy soil is American soil.

I know what you meant, I just want that point to be made clear.

[Edge-]

Wait, so he's going back 40 fucking years to get his justification? That's where he got his 52 figure from? Jesus Christ.

He thinks real life is a movie.

[Forogil]

Embassy soil is American soil.

Except that it actually isn't.

[Edge-]

Embassy soil is American soil.

I know what you meant, I just want that point to be made clear.

Legally, it's not. It has special protections/rights, but it remains the territory of the home nation.

https://www.king5.com/article/news/v...2-562116b540bf

[Belize]

https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1...018084865?s=19

What a farce. I just can never grasp how authoratarian and how much we now have people who speak as Trump as some benevolent leader.

Can't speak much on Carter's handling of the Iran Hostage situation but calling other Presidents weak as Trump has done no wrong.

Kellyann is about to lose her job for using words that are too big.

Neither Trump nor his base know what a numerologist is, let's be real.

[mvaliz]

The one thing Trump's war doesn't have: A direct attack on American soil.

You know he's trying/gunning for one... hence all the threats and blustering. Though I'd like to think that even he knows that's a long-shot due to his blusterings... especially since compared to just starting shit in other countries and making it "their fault" is easier.

[Shadowferal]

Except that it actually isn't.

There are circumstances that negate the claim..however I don't recall it ever being tested by a country.

[Edge-]

There are circumstances that negate the claim..however I don't recall it ever being tested by a country.

It's established law - https://www.king5.com/article/news/v...2-562116b540bf

No, while embassies and consulates are protected by international law and have a variety of immunities and special governing rules, the land they are built on doesn’t belong to the country that operates them.

[Shadowferal]

It's established law - https://www.king5.com/article/news/v...2-562116b540bf

Well...For example, while the U.S. owns the property for its embassy in Mexico, it’s still technically on Mexican land.
This is backed up by a 1983 U.S. court of appeals ruling.
In McKeel v. the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals determined the American Embassy in Tehran was not considered the territory of the United States.

Alrighty now.

[DarkTZeratul]

Well...For example, while the U.S. owns the property for its embassy in Mexico, it’s still technically on Mexican land.
This is backed up by a 1983 U.S. court of appeals ruling.
In McKeel v. the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals determined the American Embassy in Tehran was not considered the territory of the United States.

Alrighty now.

I think at this point the answer appears to be "It's complicated, and depending on your perspective both is and isn't US soil."

[Edge-]

I think at this point the answer appears to be "It's complicated, and depending on your perspective both is and isn't US soil."

No, it's simply not. That's established law. It does grant additional rights/protections, but there is no legal argument backing our embassies being on "US soil".

[PACOX]

Pompeo steps down from the Senate

Well this is a close as well get to him stepping down.

[Levelfive]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/06/polit...ump/index.html

"Esper contradicts Trump on targeting Iranian cultural sites: We 'follow the laws of armed conflict'"

This should be interesting.

[cubby]

I think at this point the answer appears to be "It's complicated, and depending on your perspective both is and isn't US soil."

This is actually the correct answer. McKeel v. the Islamic Republic of Iran is mostly about asylum. In some instances, Embassy's are considered "U.S. soil", depending entirely upon the reasons for referring to it in that way. For instance, Embassy's cannot be breached by the hosting country for any reason, without an invitation. I know this answer will get a lot of "but that's not what [whatever] says". And that's exactly my point. It is complicated and not settled as a matter of law in it's entirety.

But if I understand the case law so far, Embassy locations are never considered to be the actual owned property of the country represented by the Embassy. The literal land underneath the building still belongs to the country where the building resides.

- - - Updated - - -

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/06/polit...ump/index.html

"Esper contradicts Trump on targeting Iranian cultural sites: We 'follow the laws of armed conflict'"

This should be interesting.

To me that says that there are still smart people at the DoD keeping Trump and his idiocy in check.

[Shadowferal]

Late GOP strategist's daughter releases documents disputed in census lawsuit

The daughter of a late GOP strategist has begun releasing documents belonging to her father that were involved in the lawsuit over the White House's push to add a citizenship question to the U.S. census.

Stephanie Hofeller, the daughter of redistricting strategist Thomas Hofeller, started uploading the documents Sunday onto a website entitled The Hofeller Files. These documents have been cited as evidence of Thomas Hofeller’s role in the efforts to include the question and used to question the administration’s motives behind the citizenship question.

Stephanie Hofeller, who was estranged from her father, obtained the computer documents after his death in 2018, NPR reported. After receiving a court order, she provided them to Common Cause, the advocacy group that sued Republican state officials in an effort to change state district maps that her father drew, but not without first copying the documents.

“These are matters that concern the people and their franchise and their access to resources. This is, therefore, the property of the people," Stephanie Hofeller told NPR. "I won't be satisfied that we the people have found everything until we the people have had a look at it in its entirety."

Stephanie Hofeller, who identifies as an anarchist, told NPR that her father’s stated goal was to “create a system wherein the Republican nominee would win." The documents suggest her father completed a study in 2015 that determined adding the citizenship question to the census would benefit Republican and white populations and damage Democrat and Latino populations.

She announced her plans to release the documents that she had in a tweet a month ago.

• Once you give it up (Dad said of discovery) don't expect to get it back. Of course I made fucking copies before I FedEx'd #thehofellerfiles to Arnold Porter. Barring the unexpected (or a petulant malaise) my copies will be uploaded to https://t.co/IlH9zmepNq by Monday... — Stephanie Hofeller (@SHofeller) December 6, 2019

Republican state lawmakers in North Carolina and Thomas Hofeller’s former company Geographic Strategies have attempted to prevent the documents from being published, but some have already come to light through court filings and media reports, according to NPR.

-------------------

Those unexpected wrinkles and shots from out of nowhere...do tend to flip furniture.

[Levelfive]

To me that says that there are still smart people at the DoD keeping Trump and his idiocy in check.

Which usually gets them fired, unfortunately.

[PACOX]

On the Stephan Hofeller documents. She didn't just release a couple of word files, she dumped the contents of an entire hard drive. 40GB of data that's been clones and achieved before the Boomers could try to do damage control.

[Shadowferal]

I guess hell hath no fury like a anarchist scorned...That Stephanie Hofeller seemed a bit pissed at her dear departed dad.

[Edge-]

I guess hell hath no fury like a anarchist scorned...That Stephanie Hofeller seemed a bit pissed at her dear departed dad.

I'd be pretty pissed if my dad was a piece of shit who made a career out of disenfranchising voters, too.