Holidaze: Deportation Nation, Con't

Starting to think I picked the wrong Christmas to take it easy on posting, as the Trump regime just keeps openly saying how awful they are in abusing power, doing end runs around Congress, and apparently using migrant kids as deportation traps for family members.

The White House sought this month to embed immigration enforcement agents within the U.S. refugee agency that cares for unaccompanied migrant children, part of a long-standing effort to use information from their parents and relatives to target them for deportation, according to six current and former administration officials.

Though senior officials at the Department of Health and Human Services rejected the attempt, they agreed to allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to collect fingerprints and other biometric information from adults seeking to claim migrant children at government shelters. If those adults are deemed ineligible to take custody of children, ICE could then use their information to target them for arrest and deportation.

The arrangement appears to circumvent laws that restrict the use of the refu­gee program for deportation enforcement; Congress has made clear that it does not want those who come forward as potential sponsors of minors in U.S. custody to be frightened away by possible deportation. But, in the reasoning of senior Trump administration officials, adults denied custody of children lose their status as “potential sponsors” and are fair game for arrest.

The plan has not been announced publicly. It was developed by Stephen Miller, President Trump’s top immigration adviser, who has long argued that HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement is being exploited by parents who hire smugglers to bring their children into the United States illegally. The agency manages shelters that care for underage migrants who cross the border without a parent and tries to identify sponsors — typically family members — eligible to take custody of the minors. 

Previous Trump administration attempts to give ICE more access to the refu­gee program have generated significant opposition, because it potentially forces migrant parents to choose between reclaiming their children and risking arrest. Administration officials acknowledge the arrangement will instill fear among migrant parents, but they say it will deter families from having their children cross into the United States illegally.

Officials at ICE and HHS said that the information shared with enforcement agents primarily would be used to screen adults for criminal violations and other “red flags,” and that it would not be focused on capturing parents and relatives who come forward to claim what the government calls “unaccompanied alien children.”

Bryan Cox, an ICE spokesman, said his agency will help HHS ensure that children are not placed with sponsors until the sponsors have been thoroughly vetted, a review process that includes using biometric data. Cox said his agency has more-powerful screening tools at its disposal than HHS has, “including better capabilities to identify fraudulent documents or documents obtained by fraud.” 

After the Trump administration began a similar information-sharing initiative last year, which predictably led to fewer sponsors coming forward and created a massive backlog of children in U.S. custody, Democrats fought to put a firewall between ICE and ORR. Language in the 2019 funding bill specifically prohibited the Department of Homeland Security from using child sponsor data — addresses, names, phone numbers — to generate ICE target lists.

According to those provisions, no federal funds “may be used by the Secretary of Homeland Security to place in detention, remove, refer for a decision whether to initiate removal proceedings, or initiate removal proceedings against a sponsor, potential sponsor, or member of a household of a sponsor or potential sponsor of an unaccompanied alien child.”

HHS officials have generally tried to keep ICE at a distance, insisting that their agency’s mission is to safeguard children and not to facilitate the arrest of their relatives. 

So, let's go through this. 

First, we have Stephen Miller, America's Secretary of White Purity, using refugee data to round up the undocumented.  I honestly don't know how the man can function with the soul-sucking singularity in his chest where his heart should be, and I'm forced to admit he may be some sort of necromantic construct powered by the aforementioned portal to the netherworld inside his humanoid husk.

Second, Congress stuck this provision in there blocking this specific action because Miller and his merry band of Klansmen were already doing this.  The response from Miller and the White House is "We're going to do it anyway, please enjoy the court battles that won't stop us."  The main reason Mitch McConnell has turned the Senate into a federal judiciary packing factory is to tip the scales and get away with as much as they can.

Third, Miller's goal is not to "end illegal immigration" but to completely reverse America's demographic destiny by driving out non-white people and increasing the percentage of white people in the country. As soon as you realize this fact, the rest of Miller's actions make total sense by placing them in the context of his white supremacist policy goals.

We have to get rid of Trump in November, if only to get rid of Stephen Miller.

Holidaze: It's About Suppression, Con't

Republicans continue to disenfranchise millions of voters, the vast majority black, Hispanic, the elderly, and/or college students, groups that vote for Democrats.  When Republicans are winning states by fractions of percentage points and thousands of votes out of millions cast, those efforts are directly responsible for keeping the GOP in power.  They must cheat to win, and if you ask them about it, of course they admit to doing it, as they gladly did last month at a Wisconsin GOP event.

Justin Clark, a senior political adviser and senior counsel to Trump’s reelection campaign, made the remarks on Nov. 21 as part of a wide-ranging discussion about strategies in the 2020 campaign, including more aggressive use of Election Day monitoring of polling places.

“Traditionally it’s always been Republicans suppressing votes in places,” Clark said at the event. “Let’s start protecting our voters. We know where they are. ... Let’s start playing offense a little bit. That’s what you’re going to see in 2020. It’s going to be a much bigger program, a much more aggressive program, a much better-funded program.”

Asked about the remarks by AP, Clark said he was referring to false accusations that the GOP engages in voter suppression.

“As should be clear from the context of my remarks, my point was that Republicans historically have been falsely accused of voter suppression and that it is time we stood up to defend our own voters,” Clark said. “Neither I nor anyone I know or work with would condone anyone’s vote being threatened or diluted and our efforts will be focused on preventing just that.”

Clark made the comments Nov. 21 in a meeting of the Republican National Lawyers Association’s Wisconsin chapter. Attendees included the state Senate’s top Republican, Scott Fitzgerald, along with the executive director of the Wisconsin Republican Party.

Audio of the event at a country club in Madison obtained by the liberal group American Bridge was provided to AP by One Wisconsin Now, a Madison-based liberal advocacy group.

The roughly 20-minute audio offers an insider’s glimpse of Trump’s reelection strategy, showing the campaign focusing on voting locations in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, which form the the so-called “blue wall” of traditional Democratic strength that Trump broke through to win in 2016. Both parties are pouring millions of dollars into the states, anticipating they’ll be just as critical in the 2020 presidential contest.

Republican officials publicly signaled plans to step up their Election Day monitoring after a judge in 2018 lifted a consent decree in place since 1982 that barred the Republican National Committee from voter verification and other “ballot security” efforts. Critics have argued the tactics amount to voter intimidation.

The consent decree was put in place after the Democratic National Committee sued its Republican counterpart, alleging the RNC helped intimidate black voters in New Jersey’s election for governor. The federal lawsuit claimed the RNC and the state GOP had off-duty police stand at polling places in urban areas wearing armbands that read “National Ballot Security Task Force,” with guns visible on some.

Without acknowledging any wrongdoing, the RNC agreed to the consent decree, which restricted its ability to engage in activities related to ballot security. Lifting of the consent decree allows the RNC to “play by the same rules” as Democrats, said RNC communications director Michael Ahrens.

“Now the RNC can work more closely with state parties and campaigns to do what we do best, ensure that more people vote through our unmatched field program,” Ahrens said.

Although the consent decree forced the Trump campaign to conduct its own poll monitoring in 2016, the new rules will allow the RNC to use its multi-million dollar budget to handle those tasks and coordinate with other Republican groups on Election Day, Clark said.State directors of election day operations will be in place in Wisconsin and every battleground state by early 2020, he said.

In 2016, Wisconsin had 62 paid Trump staff working to get out the vote; in 2020, it will increase to around 100, Clark said.

We're going from voter suppression to armed voter intimidation.  Expect "voter task forces" and armed police at polls harassing voters of color, all while saying it's necessary because of "New Black Panthers" and "Antifa terrorists".  Hell, I expect open violence at polling places.  It'll only take one story of "liberals gunning for Republican voters" and that'll be it.

Don't be surprised if this happens in an early voting state, and the Barr Justice Department will call for "voter protection police squads" all over the country.

Watch very closely.  This is how we get to elections being "monitored" or canceled altogether.

Happy Holidays From ZVTS!

We're taking a bit of a Christmas break until the New Year, so we'll have some posts for you, the usual end of year predictions and scorecard, and whatever news breaks over the next week and change.  We'll be back on a normal schedule January 2nd is the plan, worst case scenario it's Monday, January 6th.

I'll recharge the batteries as we get ready for the Senate trial fight, and as always, if you want to donate, use the PayPal link.

I appreciate you guys sticking with me all these years, as we head into our third decade.

Last Call For Orange Meltdown, Con't

Acting WH Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney is expected to quit after Trump's Senate impeachment trial.

Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney is widely expected to leave his current position once the Senate wraps up its impeachment trial and the intense scrutiny of the West Wing settles down, according to five aides and confidants to President Donald Trump.

Trump allies and White House aides, who have been nudging the president in recent weeks to find a new leader for the team as it delves into a crucial reelection campaign, have been circulating lists of potential replacements for weeks.

Mulvaney no longer wields much control over White House staff. Lately, he has been left out of major personnel and policy decisions, and he is not driving the strategy on impeachment even though he occupies what is historically the most powerful job in the West Wing.
“He is there. I’ll leave it at that,” said a Republican close to the White House when asked about Mulvaney’s status. “He’s like a kid. His role at the dinner table is to be seen and not heard.”

The news Thursday that Republican Rep. Mark Meadows would not seek reelection and would instead work in some capacity for the president was interpreted throughout the White House and Trump world as Meadows morphing into Trump’s chief of staff in waiting — ready to assume the position in a second term if Trump wins reelection. Meadows has been spotted around the West Wing in recent weeks and has been one of Trump’s key advisers throughout the House impeachment process. He is also close to Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and one of his most trusted advisers, whom the outgoing congressman often speaks with multiple times per week.

A spokesman for Meadows declined to comment. The White House press office did not respond to a request for comment.

So continuing the thread from yesterday, Mulvaney's number is pretty much up and Mark Meadows will take over.

"Got my president impeached" doesn't exactly look great on your resume, but Mulvaney has basically been a ghost since his disastrous September presser all but assured Trump was going to get impeached.

Mulvaney basically admitted on national television that Trump's Ukraine call on July 25 was a messy quid pro quo, and that opened the door to everything that followed.  He couldn't be fired during the impeachment process because he'd have been forced to testify in the House proceedings.  She still should be, but that's a fight for a different day.

Besides, "after the Senate trial" might be a while.  The White House is now arguing because Pelosi hasn't named impeachment managers and sent the articles to the Senate, impeachment never actually happened so it should be ignored.

The White House is considering making the argument that President Trump has not officially been impeached, given that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not transmitted the articles of impeachment to the Senate, two sources involved in the president's impeachment defense told CBS News.

The House voted to impeach Mr. Trump on two articles of impeachment — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — on Wednesday. However, Pelosi told reporters on Thursday that the House would wait to deliver the articles until the Senate had laid out the rules for the trial.

"When we see the process that's set forth in the Senate, then we'll know the number of managers we'll have to move forward, and who we would choose," the California Democrat said. The House must vote on a resolution designating impeachment managers to prosecute the case against Mr. Trump in the Senate before delivering the articles.

The White House is considering making the case that Mr. Trump has not been impeached based on an opinion piece by Harvard Law Professor Noah Feldman on Bloomberg's opinion page Thursday. Feldman was one of the legal experts called by Democrats to testify before the House Judiciary Committee earlier this month and has advocated for Mr. Trump's impeachment and removal from office.

"Impeachment as contemplated by the Constitution does not consist merely of the vote by the House, but of the process of sending the articles to the Senate for trial," Feldman wrote in Bloomberg. "Both parts are necessary to make an impeachment under the Constitution: The House must actually send the articles and send managers to the Senate to prosecute the impeachment. And the Senate must actually hold a trial."

"If the House does not communicate its impeachment to the Senate, it hasn't actually impeached the president. If the articles are not transmitted, Trump could legitimately say that he wasn't truly impeached at all," Feldman wrote.

However, Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe wrote on Twitter that he disagreed with Feldman's analysis, saying that "under Art. I, Sec. 2, Clause 5, he was impeached on Dec 18, 2019. He will forever remain impeached. Period." That portion of the Constitution says that the House of Representatives "shall have the sole Power of Impeachment."

Tribe is correct, but expect the White House to argue that Trump was never impeached until his base believes it, with the goal of de-legitimizing the process to the point that the Senate can simply dispose of it with a simple majority vote.  If the Senate chooses to do that before Pelosi send the articles over, well then, it's Constitutional Crisis number 14 or 15 of the Trump era.

The Red Rout Continues

A decade of campaign finance violations have caught up to the number three Republican in the House, Cathy McMorris Rogers of Washington state, as the House Ethics Committee has sanctioned her for repeated violations of House rules.

The committee's extraordinarily long review described "sloppy practices" and record keeping stretching back to 2008, which contributed to the improper use of campaign funds. The Ethics Committee also found evidence that McMorris Rodgers' staffers "used official resources, including official staff time, congressional office space, and travel funds, for political activities."

"The extensive record compiled by the Committee in this matter demonstrates that the offices of Representative Rodgers frequently exhibited an indifference to the laws, rules and regulations relating to the use of official and unofficial resources," concluded the panel, which is chaired by Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) but equally divided between Democrats and Republicans.

"This indifference led to myriad instances of resources being used inappropriately. While in some of those instances, the misuse appeared to be a minor deviation from expected conduct, at other times the impropriety was more severe."

As a result of the long-running string of ethical and legal violations, McMorris Rodgers was ordered to reimburse the government $7,576.

The ethics panel noted that McMorris Rodgers accepted responsibility for the findings and has "taken steps to prevent such conduct from happening in the future."

The panel also praised her for full cooperation and acknowledged that McMorris Rodgers likely was unaware of the "full extent" of her office's transgressions, though it concluded that she should have known.

“Over the course of six years and four Congresses, the congresswoman and her staff voluntarily cooperated with the [Ethics] Committee in full, as it noted in its report, producing 66,500 pages of documents and submitting to over 30 witness interview requests," said a McMorris Rodgers' spokesperson in a statement. "We are pleased that the committee has ended its review and we can finally put this matter behind us."

McMorris Rogers's district covers eastern Washington and Spokane, so it's practically Idaho.  It's a fairly Republican district (R+8) and this has been going on for several terms, so I'm not sure this is going to exactly hurt her chances for reelection.

Still, smart Democrats should use this to point out she's not fit for office and should be voted out.

The Christian Thing To Do

Out of the blue, Mark Galli, editor of the Billy Graham-founded evangelical magazine Christianity Today, called for the removal from office of one Donald J. Trump.

In our founding documents, Billy Graham explains that Christianity Today will help evangelical Christians interpret the news in a manner that reflects their faith. The impeachment of Donald Trump is a significant event in the story of our republic. It requires comment.

The typical CT approach is to stay above the fray and allow Christians with different political convictions to make their arguments in the public square, to encourage all to pursue justice according to their convictions and treat their political opposition as charitably as possible. We want CT to be a place that welcomes Christians from across the political spectrum, and reminds everyone that politics is not the end and purpose of our being. We take pride in the fact, for instance, that politics does not dominate our homepage.

That said, we do feel it necessary from time to time to make our own opinions on political matters clear—always, as Graham encouraged us, doing so with both conviction and love. We love and pray for our president, as we love and pray for leaders (as well as ordinary citizens) on both sides of the political aisle.

Let’s grant this to the president: The Democrats have had it out for him from day one, and therefore nearly everything they do is under a cloud of partisan suspicion. This has led many to suspect not only motives but facts in these recent impeachment hearings. And, no, Mr. Trump did not have a serious opportunity to offer his side of the story in the House hearings on impeachment.

But the facts in this instance are unambiguous: The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president’s political opponents. That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral.

The reason many are not shocked about this is that this president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration. He has hired and fired a number of people who are now convicted criminals. He himself has admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women, about which he remains proud. His Twitter feed alone—with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and slanders—is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused.

Trump’s evangelical supporters have pointed to his Supreme Court nominees, his defense of religious liberty, and his stewardship of the economy, among other things, as achievements that justify their support of the president. We believe the impeachment hearings have made it absolutely clear, in a way the Mueller investigation did not, that President Trump has abused his authority for personal gain and betrayed his constitutional oath. The impeachment hearings have illuminated the president’s moral deficiencies for all to see. This damages the institution of the presidency, damages the reputation of our country, and damages both the spirit and the future of our people. None of the president’s positives can balance the moral and political danger we face under a leader of such grossly immoral character.

This concern for the character of our national leader is not new in CT. In 1998, we wrote this:

The President's failure to tell the truth—even when cornered—rips at the fabric of the nation. This is not a private affair. For above all, social intercourse is built on a presumption of trust: trust that the milk your grocer sells you is wholesome and pure; trust that the money you put in your bank can be taken out of the bank; trust that your babysitter, firefighters, clergy, and ambulance drivers will all do their best. And while politicians are notorious for breaking campaign promises, while in office they have a fundamental obligation to uphold our trust in them and to live by the law.

And this:

Unsavory dealings and immoral acts by the President and those close to him have rendered this administration morally unable to lead.

Unfortunately, the words that we applied to Mr. Clinton 20 years ago apply almost perfectly to our current president. Whether Mr. Trump should be removed from office by the Senate or by popular vote next election—that is a matter of prudential judgment. That he should be removed, we believe, is not a matter of partisan loyalties but loyalty to the Creator of the Ten Commandments.

That's the equivalent of the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch going off on a count of five (three, sir) in the middle of the biggest megachurch you can find.

"Donald Trump is as immoral as Bill Clinton" is a hell of an argument, but at least it's an argument.  Where Christianity Today has been during the three years it apparently took them to stumble across the fact that Donald Trump has been an immoral gangster, well.

That's a different argument, I suppose.

So white evangelical Christian support for Trump is only at 99.999%.  How awful for him.

StupidiNews!

• A snow squall in central Pennsylvania on Interstate 80 caused a 30-vehicle pile-up, at least two people were killed and several were hospitalized.
• One person was injured at a shooting at a busy mall in Oklahoma City on Thursday, police responded to shots being fired at Penn Square Mall after a fight broke out, the suspect is at large.
• Pentagon officials say new evidence in the Sep. 14 attack on Saudi Aramco's oilfields indicate the attack came from the north, the Trump regime's supposition is that the attack came from Iran.
• The House has adjourned until January 7, meaning the question of when a Senate trial will take place won't be addressed until next year.
• The New England Journal of Medicine predicts that by 2030, half of US adults will be clinically obese, including a quarter of US adults who will be severely obese.

Last Call For That Little Domestic Terrorism Problem Of Ours, Con't

I've talked before about Washington state Republican Matt Shea, an openly violent white supremacist serving in the state legislature, and his links to domestic terrorism.

Washington state Rep. Matt Shea acknowledged Wednesday he had distributed a four-page manifesto titled “Biblical Basis for War,” which describes the Christian God as a “warrior,” details the composition and strategies of a “Holy Army” and condemns abortion and same-sex marriage. 

The document is organized in 14 sections with multiple tiers of bullet points and a smattering of biblical citations. Under one heading, “Rules of War,” it makes a chilling prescription for enemies who flout “biblical law.” It states, “If they do not yield – kill all males.”

That was least year.  Since then, Shea has been under investigation by the state for his white supremacist terrorism ties.  The investigation has finished this month and the conclusion is that Shea is far worse than anyone knew, because he's been an active part of domestic terrorist attacks.

An independent investigation has concluded that Washington state Rep. Matt Shea “participated in an act of domestic terrorism against the United States” by helping plan the armed takeover of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon three years ago. 

The investigation found that Shea similarly played a key role in two other armed conflicts against the U.S. government — not only by showing up and participating in the standoffs, but by helping plan them, which involved recruiting armed militia members to oppose federal law enforcement agents. 

The 108-page report, released internally Thursday to members of the state House, includes several other serious findings against Shea. 

Among them: that the Spokane Valley lawmaker took part in a group chat in 2017 where he “condoned violence and intimidation” of his political opponents, and offered to conduct background checks on them.

That allegation, first reported by The Guardian in April, was largely what spurred House leaders to commission the outside investigation into Shea’s conduct. 

But the incident wasn’t an isolated one, according to the four-month investigation, which was led by a former FBI agent and former law enforcement officer. 

The investigation says Shea, a leader of the anti-government Patriot movement, routinely encouraged his supporters to intimidate “activists, government officials, Muslims, and others who speak or act in opposition to his personal beliefs and political agenda.” Those activities occurred over a five-year period from 2014 to 2019, the report says. 

The four-month investigation similarly confirmed other media reports about Shea, including that he “engaged in and supported the training of youth and young adults to fight a holy war” (also reported by The Guardian), and that he wrote a document called “Biblical Basis for War" (first reported by The Spokesman-Review).

So he actively helped the Malheur standoff and helped Cliven Bundy, but Shea also participated in a third terrorism incident.

But the investigation says Shea also took part in a third armed standoff against federal officials, this one in Priest River, Idaho, in 2015. 

That confrontation involved blocking federal officials from seizing firearms from an elderly veteran who was no longer legally eligible to possess guns, according to the investigators’ report. 

After the veteran suffered a stroke, a health care professional added the man to a federal database of people ineligible to purchase firearms. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs had planned to remove the veteran’s guns, the report says, “pursuant to VA regulations for individuals receiving VA benefits.” 

Shea called on members of the Patriot movement to assemble at the man’s house to stop the firearms seizure. 

It worked, the investigators wrote: “Reports indicated that approximately 100 individuals showed up, many armed, and stood with Representative Shea at the veteran’s home to prevent the VA employee from entering.” 

No one was hurt in the incident. But the investigators found evidence that Shea was heavily involved in planning the standoff, and was prepared for a prolonged encounter that could lead to violence.

May I remind you that Matt Shea is a sitting lawmaker in the Washington State legislature, an open white supremacist and militia nutjob who has taken up arms against the government.

These are who Republicans are, guys.

Never forget that.

The Red Rout Continues

Yet another GOP Congressman retiring, and this time it's impeachment troll and clown shoe Mark Meadows of NC.

Republican Rep. Mark Meadows, one of President Donald Trump's most visible allies on Capitol Hill, is not seeking reelection in 2020, he announced in a statement Thursday. 

"After prayerful consideration and discussion with family, today I'm announcing that my time serving Western North Carolina in Congress will come to a close at the end of this term," Meadows said in a statement. 

The North Carolina Republican was first elected to Congress in 2012 and has since played a major role in shaping the House GOP over the last few years, including as the former chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. A source familiar told CNN that the timing of Meadows' announcement was driven by the North Carolina candidate filing deadline, which is Friday. 

Ahh, but this rat isn't fleeing the sinking Trump ship, he's getting a promotion to Chief of Rats.

In his statement, Meadows said his work "with President Trump and his administration is only beginning." 

Meadows is open to a role in the Trump administration, but nothing has been finalized, the source told CNN, adding that he had been thinking about not seeking reelection for awhile. 

Last year, Meadows was considered for the role of White House chief of staff, but the "President told him we need him in Congress so he can continue the great work he is doing there," then-White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. 

Lately, conversations about his role in Trump world have turned to something closer to the President's campaign, sources told CNN. 

While the top job in the West Wing hasn't been ruled out, Meadows has expressed an interest privately in playing a role in the President's reelection effort, two people say. Ultimately the decision will be up to Trump and his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner. 

So either Meadows is going to be Trump's new Chief of Staff and Mick Mulvaney is out, or he's going to Brad Parscale's 2020 campaign shop.  Either way, Meadows sees no benefit in sticking around for what could be a tough fight for him in NC's newly redrawn congressional districts.

We'll see where Meadows goes, but NC-11, which is now the far west of the state including Asheville, is now very competitive for Dems without an incumbent.

They Blinded Science With Me, Con't

The Trump Regime continues to attack national science institutions relentlessly, now handing the Centers for Disease Control a list of forbidden words that can no longer be used in official documents, reports, or next year's budget.

The Trump administration is prohibiting officials at the nation's top public health agency from using a list of seven words or phrases — including "fetus" and "transgender" — in official documents being prepared for next year's budget.

Policy analysts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta were told of the list of forbidden words at a meeting Thursday with senior CDC officials who oversee the budget, according to an analyst who took part in the 90-minute briefing. The forbidden words are "vulnerable," "entitlement," "diversity," "transgender," "fetus," "evidence-based" and "science-based."

In some instances, the analysts were given alternative phrases. Instead of "science-based" or ­"evidence-based," the suggested phrase is "CDC bases its recommendations on science in consideration with community standards and wishes," the person said. In other cases, no replacement words were immediately offered.

The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC, "will continue to use the best scientific evidence available to improve the health of all Americans," HHS spokesman Matt Lloyd told The Washington Post. "HHS also strongly encourages the use of outcome and evidence data in program evaluations and budget decisions."

The question of how to address such issues as sexual orientation, gender identity and abortion rights — all of which received significant visibility under the Obama administration — has surfaced repeatedly in federal agencies since President Trump took office. Several key departments — including HHS, as well as Justice, Education, and Housing and Urban Development — have changed some federal policies and how they collect government information about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.
In March, for example, HHS dropped questions about sexual orientation and gender identity in two surveys of elderly people.

HHS has also removed information about LGBT Americans from its website. The department's Administration for Children and Families, for example, archived a page that outlined federal services that are available for LGBT people and their families, including how they can adopt and receive help if they are the victims of sex trafficking.

At the CDC, the meeting about the banned words was led by Alison Kelly, a career civil servant who is a senior leader in the agency's Office of Financial Resources, according to the CDC analyst, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly. Kelly did not say why the words are being banned, according to the analyst, and told the group that she was merely relaying the information.

Other CDC officials confirmed the existence of a list of forbidden words. It's likely that other parts of HHS are operating under the same guidelines regarding the use of these words, the analyst said.

At the CDC, several offices have responsibility for work that uses some of these words. The National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention is working on ways to prevent HIV among transgender people and reduce health disparities. The CDC's work on birth defects caused by the Zika virus includes research on the developing fetus.

Get rid of the words, get rid of the science, get rid of the people.

Sure would love to see the First Amendment folks acknowledge that a government that openly bans the use of words in its own operations is in violation of the Constitution and oh yeah, openly fascist and autocratic.

This is only the beginning should Trump get that second term.

StupidiNews!

 


And that's the news.

Last Call For The Impeachment Reached

And at 8:24 PM EST, Donald J. Trump was impeached by the US House of Representatives on the first article, abuse of power.

230-197, 1 present vote (Tulsi Gabbard, natch). Jeff Van Drew and Collin Peterson voted no for the Dems, Justin Amash voted yes.

On Article II, obstruction of Congress, the final vote was 229-198-1, with the only difference being Democrat Jared Golden voting no, Golden had announced his plans to split his votes yesterday.

But that's it.

Trump has been impeached.

Now we move on.

Homeless On The Range

The US Supreme Court this week refused to touch a Ninth Circuit ruling that struck down a Boise, Idaho law criminalizing homelessness, leaving the ruling in place.

A federal appeals court had ruled that the anti-camping ordinance in Boise, Idaho, was cruel and unusual punishment, violating the Constitution's Eighth Amendment. "A state may not criminalize conduct that is an unavoidable consequence of being homeless," the appeals court said.

The Supreme Court denied Boise's appeal Monday without comment, as is its normal practice when declining to grant reviews.

Lawyers for the city argued that Boise wanted to enforce the ordinance "in the parks, foothills, and other public areas not just to keep them safe and sanitary but also to allow users to utilize the public spaces as they were intended to be used." Supporters of the law said people sleeping on the streets are unsafe and make residents feel less safe.

In asking the Supreme Court to take the case, Boise's lawyers said the appeals court ruling that invalidated the ordinance created "a de facto right to live on sidewalks and in parks" and said it would cripple the ability of more than 1,600 communities in Western states to enforce similar laws.

But challengers of the law said the appeals court ruling simply blocked Boise from charging homeless people with a crime for sleeping outside when no shelter space was available. The appeals court affirmed "the ought-to-be uncontroversial principle that a person may not be charged with a crime for engaging in activity that is simply a universal and unavoidable consequence of being human,” they said.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates that half a million people are likely to be homeless on any given night. A study by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness found that 42 percent of homeless people sleep in public locations such as under bridges, in parks, or on the sidewalks.

The importance of this is not that the Roberts Court suddenly wants to protect the homeless, they've shown plenty of disdain for the marginalized before.  It's that they don't want to take up Boise's case because a much bigger issue is coming: the Trump regime is planning to use HUD to criminalize homelessness nationally, and they will direct police to rid cities of camps and temporary shelters or they will eliminate federal funds for cities that don't comply.

Advocates say that they expect an executive order on homelessness to assign new resources to police departments to remove homeless encampments and even strip housing funds from cities that choose to tolerate these encampments. It’s one of several efforts being steered by the White House’s Domestic Policy Council in concert with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

On Monday, Housing Secretary Ben Carson met with local officials in Houston, part of a push for federal action on homelessness that could soon take shape in cities across the country. The secretary visited an emergency shelter and was slated to tour a former Harris County jail facility, according to advocates familiar with his agenda. Officials at HUD have been looking at real estate in several cities since the fall, when President Donald Trump ordered a sweeping federal response to homelessness.

Carson’s latest stop is yet another signal that the administration is keen to take a hands-on approach to people who sleep on the street. Advocates say that the government is looking closely at ways to turn former correctional facilities and federal buildings into shelters, a controversial approach backed by Robert Marbut, the newly appointed White House czar on homelessness.
One advocate for a Washington, D.C.-based housing organization says that HUD has narrowed its focus to a list of 24 cities and states, all of which have large numbers of unhoused people sleeping outside. Most are located on the West Coast, where Trump has sought to embarrass progressive officials by intervening. Houston is among the cities on this list, obtained by CityLab, where local and regional bodies known as continuums of care (CoCs) face high unsheltered counts. In addition to 20 cities, four of the places named on the list are states that have homeless populations outside the largest urban centers.

While Houston made its way onto HUD’s potential action list, the city has made significant progress in recent years in curbing homelessness, especially relative to other cities in Texas. Over the last decade, the city has cut the number of people experiencing homelessness by more than half. And despite a recent increase following Hurricane Harvey, the trend is still stable or downward, unlike in Dallas, Austin, and other places.

Yet housing advocates fear that the White House favors a punitive approach for Houston, where—as in other Texas cities—homeless encampments are increasingly visible. “I hope that what [Carson] takes away is that if you really turn all your resources to permanent housing and ending homelessness, instead of managing the condition of homelessness, it can have dramatic results,” says Eva Thibeaudeau, CEO of Temenos, a community development corporation that operates about 140 performance supporting housing units in Houston. 

Since 2011, the city has marked a 54 percent decline in people experiencing homelessness, according to local point-in-time counts. Thibeaudeau credits the falling numbers of people living on the streets to the city’s adherence to a set of principles known as Housing First. The policy has enabled Houston to put more than 18,000 people into permanent housing situations with their own leases. “We shifted a lot of dollars out of short-term, temporary, high-barrier projects, and reallocated them all toward permanent solutions,” Thibeaudeau says. “That really is the reason that our homelessness has been driven down.”

Housing First runs contrary to the approach favored by Marbut, the consultant who was named director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness last week. Marbut has pushed for shelters that set up barriers to treatment, namely sobriety. For example, at Haven for Hope, a shelter founded by Marbut in San Antonio, homeless people with substance-abuse problems must sleep outside in an exposed courtyard until they can pass a drug test.

Trump rounds up those suspected of being undocumented to put into the hell system of ICE detention, now he's planning to do the same for homeless, only a lot of them are going to actually be US citizens, but of course they will lack the resources to be able to prove that.  Of course there's going to be citizenship checks on those detained under this vile program, and no papers, no problem, into ICE detention camps you go.

And if you don't think the Trump regime will disappear homeless into ICE detention camps, US citizens, for removal from our country, well you haven't been paying attention to a regime that separates kids from their parents on purpose as a deterrent to other migrants.

Horrific doesn't begin to describe these scumbags.

The Reach To Impeach, Con't

As the House has set aside six hours for final debate and floor speeches today before the fateful vote in Donald Trump's impeachment, pro-impeachment protests organized in scores of cities across the country last night showed the nation that yes, people want Donald Trump gone.

From Boston Common to the French Quarter in New Orleans, a series of protests reverberated across the country on Tuesday evening to call for President Trump’s removal from office, a prelude to momentous impeachment votes set for Wednesday in the House of Representatives.

In Center City Philadelphia, a group of demonstrators held up signs with LED lights spelling out IMPEACH at the base of a bronze statute called “Government of the People,” while Times Square in New York teemed with protesters chanting, “No one’s above the law.”

In Marshall Park in Charlotte, N.C., about 200 pro-impeachment demonstrators recited the Pledge of Allegiance and sang “America the Beautiful.” Among them were Kendrick Frazier, 49, and his husband, Vincent Archie, 59.

“I’m here because our democracy is at risk,” Mr. Frazier said. “The rule of law has been thrown to the wayside. And people think that you have this personal thing against Donald Trump, and there have been lots of Republican presidents, but they acted like presidents. They didn’t act like, I’m sorry, but criminals.”

A coalition of liberal groups including MoveOn.org and Indivisible organized hundreds of demonstrations, which incorporated many of the same elements as the yearly women’s marches that have been held since Mr. Trump’s election in 2016. The hashtags #impeachmenteve and #notabovethelaw trended on Twitter.
In Tucson, Ariz., several hundred activists who support impeachment flocked to the front of the federal courthouse, where they were greeted by the sound of honking horns from rush-hour traffic.

“This is not a partisan issue,” said Dr. Eve Shapiro, 67, a local pediatrician who favors impeachment. “Congress has made it one, but that’s what’s happening to our country. For us today, it’s about a president who obstructed justice. That’s not partisan.”

Today is going to be historic, one way or the other, but last night history was made too.

StupidiNews!

• Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has been sentenced to death in absentia for high treason by a state tribunal court, Musharraf is currently in Dubai where he fled in 2016.
• Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is facing calls for resignation after delivering a $67 million highway funding project to her husband Mitch McConnell's home state of Kentucky.
• Congress has approved more than $300 million for military base housing repairs and improvements after multiple exposes showed base personnel were living in squalor among dangerous conditions.
• The Trump regime is all but admitting defeat on stopping Russia and Germany from completing their joint Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project.
• The death of crypto-exchange founder Gerry Cotten in January left $137 million in assets locked in his digital wallet, now creditors want Cotten's body exhumed in order to get his passwords.