The Trump Presidency (Act V - The One Where Everybody Dies)

Status
Not open for further replies.
Captain_Swoop said:
A week after his chief of staff ordered an overhaul of the process for granting White House security clearances, President Donald Trump on Friday blamed an overly rigorous background vetting process for holding up the approval of his son-in-law’s permanent security clearance.

“It’s a broken system and it shouldn’t take this long,” said Trump during a joint news conference at the White House with visiting Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

https://thinkprogress.org/trump-security-clearance-933e7031c184/
Click to expand...

He's right. Kushner's clearance should have been permanently denied a year ago.
 
BobTheCoward said:
There is no material difference between someone in the military and someone not in it.
Click to expand...

Perhaps you could put little flashing smileys around the weasel word to forewarn people.

There is no :shocked: material :shocked: difference between someone in the military and someone not in it.

That way, we could be forewarned not to "go bob-bob-bobbin' along" with you on your latest trip down Derail Road.

I can think of one major difference between someone in the military and someone not in it. They are in the military. That's a different status and by law can connote different responsibilities and privileges. I know when my wise old pappy was running a PT Boat, he needed things that he didn't need when he was a civilian. Perhaps that concept might be considered for, oh, a PFC in the Army and a greengrocer in Dubuque? But that's just me.
 
Squeegee Beckenheim said:
Let's see whether this actually comes to pass. Given that the only gun legislation he's signed into law was to roll back Obama-era restrictions on people with mental health problems from buying guns, I can only imagine that this is more to do with PR or pressure than it is due to deeply-held personal beliefs. Perhaps someone's had a word in his ear that it might be better to at least pretend to want to do something about this than to do like his son and endorse conspiracy theories that attack the child survivors of a massacre.
Click to expand...

From your post:
I will be strongly pushing Comprehensive Background Checks with an emphasis on Mental Health. Raise age to 21 and end sale of Bump Stocks! Congress is in a mood to finally do something on this issue - I hope!
Click to expand...
Another bad side effect of this line of thinking(?) is that it is always stated as "mental health" is associated with shooting sprees. But "mental health" encompasses a YUUUGE range of conditons ranging from mild depression to complete detachment from reality ... with an endless variety of stops in between. But only a tiny fraction of those with a "mental illness" are at risk to going postal.

So the risk of not being fully "mentally healthful" becomes a real potential problem. Difficulty getting hired or finding housing or availing oneself of other social services. There is already a large stigma associated with mental illness so this added opprobrium will further drive those who might otherwise seek help to stay in the shadows.
 
Crossbow said:
Wow!

Considering the tens of thousands, and perhaps hundreds of thousands, that Bush killed in the Iraq War, as well as the torture programs he instituted, I never thought of George W. Bush as a decent human being.
Click to expand...

But that is consistent with what Trebuchet said. I do think W was a decent person but politically too weak to stand up to Darth Cheney and Rumsfeld and the warmongers like Bolton.
 
Beelzebuddy said:
I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd rather take all that money and use it to make the schools themselves better, so that maybe these kids don't fall through the cracks without anyone caring until they come back with a gun.
Click to expand...

Agree completely. If guards end up gun fighting with terrorists, then we've lost, no matter the outcome. I, too, would prefer better schools, teachers, intervention programs, parent help in being better parents, etc.

Any program that starts when the shooting starts is a failed program.
 
The Greater Fool said:
Trump's solution for school shootings: arm teachers, post veterans with guns:


Trump is brilliant! Oh, but if the coach had a gun in his locker then...

1) He would have had to run out of the building to his locker in the gym, unlock the locker, unlock the gun safe, unlock the ammo safe (if separate as should be the case when there are kids about, or so we are told), load the gun, then run back to shoot the shooter;

2) Schools are not long on security. Even the paragon of virtue that I was in high school, I was I was able to get into the science building, classrooms, and locked equipment room at will;

3) Lockers within schools are not safe places to put anything. In my school, we were clearly told lockers were not places to store valuables, they were only for textbooks (No mixed message there);

4) As I said in another thread, based on my experience I would not feel real comfortable having many of my (or my kids, g-kids, or gg-kids) teachers ready access to guns;

5) Would a hand gun really be very useful against someone that can spray bullets at you?

Other than those minor quibbles, brilliant idea!
Click to expand...
Another nightmare scenario is a teacher does go after a gunman and kills him. But when he gets back to his classroom, he finds out there were TWO gunman and his classroom contains nothing but dead bodies. Now, how is he to be treated?

Or another, he goes after the gunman and sees someone down the hall shooting a gun so he kills that shooter ... only to find out that it was another teacher trying to shoot someone else.

Or another, he is firing away at the intruder when the SWAT team shows up and gives him a lead lunch.

In short, arming teachers is a bad idea.
 
SezMe said:
They do? Here in the USA? I need an example of what you are talking about.
Click to expand...

Don't you know that we are on the brink of another Civil War? We're designing our uniforms now.:D

I think one of the stupidest arguments the anti-gun control people make is this one. They've watched Red Dawn too many times. They think that civilians armed with AR 15, hunting rifles, and handguns are going to take down an invading army (as if Russia is going to land on the shores of California and New York). I also find those with this mindset tend to be of the "the gubbermint is out ta git us, Pappy!" crowd.
 
What teacher in his/her right mind would go after someone with an assault rifle armed only with a handgun? Trump's idea is stupid beyond belief. But what else is new?
 
SezMe said:
...Any program that starts when the shooting starts is a failed program.
Click to expand...

Agree completely. Most of the parents I know, including me, prefer a much saner alternative than arming teachers. Limit the entry points, and control them with security officers, metal detectors and handheld wands. In fact, sad to say, many schools in New York already function that way, not because of spree killers but largely because of students who belong to gangs.

Of course, it's not an idea I would expect our action movie loving president Mr. Potato Head would embrace. But is what some lying, conniving snake oil salesman believes really relevant? I don't think so. ;)
 
SezMe said:
They do? Here in the USA? I need an example of what you are talking about.
Click to expand...

Over history, many democracies have fallen under the sway of authoritarian strongmen and ended up in very dark places.

I guess one could attempt to make the case that there’s something about the US that makes it exempt. “It can’t happen here”.

Not that I think it will, but I think it’s naive to deny even the possibility of it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Back
Top Bottom