As anticipated there’s no shortage of bizarre news stories this week thanks to our new president. Trump promised to rattle the political establishment, and he hasn’t disappointed. Now he’s beginning to work on world leaders (see Mexico and Canadian stories below).
President Trump is moving forward with his agenda, which is far more expansive than any other president in recent history. Some people laud him and many don’t. In any case his modes operandi doesn’t conform to those of his predecessors. This alone has the liberal press and Democrats scrambling to log in their anxieties.
Here are some choice bizarre stories for you to sink your teeth into.
-Schumer delays confirmations . Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), the Senate Minority Leader, is creating quite a stir. He has held up critical confirmation hearings for Trump cabinet nominees to prove he can obstruct government as well as any Republican can. The problem is than he’s delaying formation of the new government in an effort to prove he has power, even if appointments are critical to the effective administration of our country.
Republicans have a clear majority in the Senate, and the party has been voting as a bloc so there is no way to stop the nominees from being confirmed.
The questions being posed by Democrats in hearings are insulting an inane in many cases. Senators cannot control themselves when a camera is rolling. Despite his abhorrence of our new president, Schumer takes every opportunity to be in photos with Trump.
It’s a wonder that highly successful conservative men and women even consider public service when hostile lawmakers and the liberal press are so rude and mean spirited.
Confirm the Trump’s nominees now!
Democrats are already sharpening their knives for the impending confirmation of the next Supreme Court justice to replace Justice Scalia. BTW confirmation will require 60 votes.
-Torture. Why the hell is Trump revisiting interrogation techniques? The country has already considered this inhumane practice and decided it’s not consistent with American values. The U.S. should set the standard for civilized behavior even in its dealings with terrorists.
-Homicides are at an all-time high in Chicago. The trend has continued into the New Year. Already 228 people have been shot, up 5.5% over last year. Chicago is a city with 2.7 million people and it has more homicides than any other metropolis in the country.
Many Chicagoans are castigating Rahm Emanuel, the city’s controversial mayor. Trump has seized the opportunity to join the mix. He said to Emanuel via Twitter, “Fix crime rate or I’ll send in feds.” It’s not clear what this means. It could be federal soldiers, National Guard or FBI agents.
It’s been reported that Chicago police are shirking their duty to maintain peace because they are afraid of reprisals about using excessive force. The city has been criticized for using aggressive methods to fight crime in the past. This has resulted in increasing gang activity and more shootings.
Emanuel has welcomed federal support, but not what Trump has in mind. The situation is volatile and it appears that Emanuel’s position is tenuous.
-The Keystone Pipeline. It’s no surprise that President Trump has ordered the construction of the controversial pipeline to proceed, countermanding and order by Obama to stop it for environmental reasons. The pipeline is part of a larger system that will transport oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. It will increase North American output of oil products and have a positive impact on jobs.
What’s interesting is that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada is conflicted. On one hand he is a great supporter of efforts to decrease emissions from fossil fuel. On the other hand the pipeline will increase natural resource revenues for Canadian companies. Obama’s decision to suspend the construction of the pipeline enabled Trudeau to sidestep any decisions that would upset environmentalists and his own oil companies.
-Mexico’s president and Trump have decided to cancel the Mexican’s trip to Washington. Trump is insistent that Mexico pay for the immigration wall between the country, and the U.S. President Nieto is under political pressure in his own country about the wall as well as other issues like a sagging economy and drug violence. Perhaps this decision to not meet with Trump was an attempt to prove that Nieto is strong.
It’s highly unusual for a state visit to be cancelled even if there are serious disagreements clouding the meetings. These sit-downs can often times defuse the tensions and ultimately set a stage to find agreement. If Nieto doesn’t meet with Trump the controversy surrounding the wall will dog him moving forward.