“Presidential fear-mongering has a long and sordid history. We cannot understand the threat that Trump poses without recognizing how prior presidents used similar ploys.”
“The nomination of Jeff Sessions to the office of Attorney General has made many criminal justice advocates nervous, as he has a long history of justifying the practice of policing for profit. On Tuesday, Trump confirmed these fears when he threw his support behind the controversial practice, saying that he saw ‘no reason’ to restrict law enforcement’s use of civil asset forfeiture. Ignoring the substantive concerns over the practices’ disregard for due process, Trump even threatened to ‘destroy the career’ of libertarian-leaning Texas legislator Konni Burton for her outspoken opposition to the practice, a comment met with approving laughter from the law enforcement officials in attendance.”
Read more: https://fee.org/articles/highway-robbery-gets-presidential-seal-of-approval/
“On Thursday, two Democratic senators said that Trump indicated he would support the bank following a lunch with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. In addition, they said Trump promised to fill two vacant seats on the bank’s board, which in the meantime is barred from financing deals of more than $10 million. ‘I specifically talked with the president about the need to get the Export-Import Bank up and running,’ Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota said. ‘It’s great news he agreed.’ Though the bank said that 90 percent of its authorizations are for small businesses, Boeing is one of its biggest beneficiaries.”
Read more: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/10/ex-im-bank-trump-likes-it-conservatives-hate-it.html
“All that Trump had to do is pull the troops out of the Middle East and Afghanistan and bring them home, immediately, without killing one more person, including 8-year-old Nawar al-Awlaki. That would have meant the end of anti-American terrorism, which would have meant no more war on terrorism, including Trump’s Muslim ban. But then again, that also would have meant a severe diminution in the power, influence, and taxpayer-funded resources of the U.S. national-security establishment, which is the undoubtedly the biggest reason why Trump has now chosen to travel the 16-year-old road of death and destruction, loss of liberty, and out-of-control federal spending of George W. Bush and Barack Obama.”
Read more: http://www.fff.org/2017/01/31/four-years-bush-obama-maybe-worse/
“In comments published in the European press on Tuesday, Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro said the ‘grossly undervalued’ euro served as a currency for Germany alone, allowing the country to ‘exploit’ the United States and others. On Capitol Hill, Treasury Secretary-designate Steven Mnuchin softened the traditional U.S. ‘strong dollar’ mantra, suggesting that the dollar’s current strength may be working against what has become perhaps the administration’s central economic priority: reviving U.S. manufacturing and exports.”
Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-germany-analysis-idUKKBN15F2WP
The Trump administration has in the past week made various degrees of military threats against three more countries that pose no threat to U.S. citizens or their property. A leaked phone call discussed sending troops to Mexico; a campaign promise to seize Iraq’s oil was reiterated; and Iran was put “on notice” and new sanctions were put in place after a missile test, emboldening the Iranian government’s divisive political strategy.
“President Donald Trump invited the sheriff of a small Texas County to ‘destroy’ the career of a state senator who sought to ban a controversial law enforcement practice by naming the lawmaker during a White House meeting.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/trump-sheriff-asset-forfeiture-texas-234740
“With promises to ‘drain the swamp!’ still ringing in our ears, we have watched Trump appoint nothing but Goldman banksters, Soros stooges, neocon war hawks and police state zealots to head his cabinet. Join us this week on The Corbett Report as we examine the swamp-dwellers with which Trump has filled his swamp.”
“Kiara Robles, an avid cryptocurrency enthusiast, was one of his people interviewed during the protests. As she was giving the interview, an unknown assailant pepper sprayed her in the face for no apparent reason. It appears this attacker mistook her for a Donald Trump supporter, simply due to the red baseball cap she was wearing. Not the kind of attention bitcoin enthusiasts are after, by any means.”
Read more: https://themerkle.com/bitcoin-supporter-pepper-sprayed-in-the-face-during-berkeley-protests/
“What the judge just did is sent federal law enforcement affiliated with the court to JFK airport to make sure other federal law enforcement obeys the order. In other words, Judge Donnelly does not trust that the Trump administration will follow the law and pre-emptively sent muscle to carry out her order. If you’re to believe the Daily Kos, the U.S. Marshals were sent with good reason: they report that in other airports, U.S. Customs & Border patrol has ignored the order. Update: The Guardian also reporting non-compliance by CBP.”