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[Maximum Spin]

I just assumed it was intentional...

[Trekkin]

So basically: we need to stop putting so many people in prison, we need to stop committing human rights violations, we need to improve our police departments, and we need to end the war on drugs.  The only one that's seriously being worked on right now is the last one; pretty much everyone in the legal system agrees on that point except Jeff Sessions.

Fundamental to the problem of prison reform is the question of what we want prisons to do. You could, for example, argue that prisons need to be unpleasant enough to an outside observer to discourage people from committing crimes for fear of incarceration. There are also a small fraction of people who should not be free by virtue of being a danger to themselves and others and a fraction of them are beyond our ability to help, and there needs to be a place to contain them for everyone's safety -- and those places are prisons, whatever else they may be. Then there are the people who need and can benefit from rehabilitative efforts within our ability to render, and that requires an institution capable of doing so.

The great tragedy is that we demand one set of facilities serve all three roles, often in mutually exclusive ways, so our jails and prisons are ineffective deterrents, terrible insane asylums, and hugely imperfect centers for reeducation and rehabilitation. Since a lot of the problems with prisons are a consequence of the inmate pool as well as the conditions, properly triaging incoming people would help a lot, especially since it would allow for more precise encouragement of the outcomes we want to incentivize.

[scriver]

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.


Basically:  You cant just dump your armed forces off on the citizenry, you have to provision them properly. In peacetime, that means you have to own up to keeping an active military yourself, stupid aristocrats.  In war time, the only support you can demand of this type is what actually has laws on the books to govern such support. Anything not explicitly mentioned in that law is not required, and should not be expected.

It was a serious problem for the ruling elite to raise up big standing armies to go "raw raw, our penis is the biggest!" to each other with (see for instance, some of the bullshit from NK) while failing to adequately feed, clothe, house, or otherwise see to the needs of that army. Instead, the citizenry was EXPECTED to make up for that shortcoming, because they were subjects of the crown, and thus essentially the king's property (and if he wills that you quarter half a battalion in your basement, then by jingo make it so!) All too often, this led to serious misconduct from said standing armies, because they could demand anything, and the people had no grounds to refuse. (this included such nasty things as rape.)

This little thing is kinda a big deal.  Imagine if Uncy Sam decided "Hey, you know that multi-trillion dollar war machine we shovel money into each year? Yeah-- let's force ordinary Americans to warehouse, feed, clothe, and otherwise pay for everything straight up, or they can go to jail. In fact, let's couple that with that fancy civil forfeiture stuff we like so much. Yeah, that's awesome-- GO US for saving the government money!"

Because as absurd as that sounds, there would be SOMEBODY who thinks that would be a swell idea.

Swedish History Trivia of the Day: In Sweden this practice was outlawed in 1280 by King Magnus "Barn-Lock".

[Baffler]

Travel ban is a go after all.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/04/supreme-court-allows-president-trumps-travel-ban-to-go-fully-into-effect.html

[Folly]

Is there an ongoing list of Trumpscuses yet?

It was just locker room banter. Also, that wasn't even really my voice.

Hilary did it first.

My lawyer made me say that.

It doesn't matter that the videos were fake, because they were based on real threats.

I am above the law!

[smjjames]

You forgot all the variants of 'Obama did it.'

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Respect your President's authority.

Trump's a smart guy, he's doing it on purpose.

You just don't get it because you're [inherent value].

Don't you get that he just does that because people like you get so angry about it?

[Loud Whispers]

Don't forget

I didn't say that

I always say that

[Dunamisdeos]

Don't forget

I didn't say that

I always say that

Best answer

[ChairmanPoo]

"semate"

I AM the SEMATE.

~Palpatone alias Darth Deferens

[Trekkin]

Well, there's the new (and probably enduring) Trumpscuse:

"When the President does it, it's not illegal."

That one will stick around in various forms for a while, I think. It's clear from Lewandowski's book that Trump is deeply insecure about literally everything about himself; he likes surrounding himself with Harvard graduates so he can boss around people smarter than him, for example, and "prove" he's better "at life" than they are. The same compulsion drives him to surround himself with generals.

Dowd's latest piece of legal nuttery plays right into that drive to brag about how special he is. After all, other people may be richer or smarter or better-looking than him (and that last one matters to a disgusting degree with him), but no one is Presidenter than him -- and I have no doubt he will eventually degrade into putting it that way, because he's unraveling fast.

"Hillary did it too" may fade, "locker room talk" may ring even more hollow than it does now, and even the great "witch hunt" may one day fall out of favor, but "I am the President and can therefore do nothing wrong" will be on his Twitter feed for the rest of this administration and beyond.

[redwallzyl]

Well, there's the new (and probably enduring) Trumpscuse:

"When the President does it, it's not illegal."

That one will stick around in various forms for a while, I think. It's clear from Lewandowski's book that Trump is deeply insecure about literally everything about himself; he likes surrounding himself with Harvard graduates so he can boss around people smarter than him, for example, and "prove" he's better "at life" than they are. The same compulsion drives him to surround himself with generals.

Dowd's latest piece of legal nuttery plays right into that drive to brag about how special he is. After all, other people may be richer or smarter or better-looking than him (and that last one matters to a disgusting degree with him), but no one is Presidenter than him -- and I have no doubt he will eventually degrade into putting it that way, because he's unraveling fast.

"Hillary did it too" may fade, "locker room talk" may ring even more hollow than it does now, and even the great "witch hunt" may one day fall out of favor, but "I am the President and can therefore do nothing wrong" will be on his Twitter feed for the rest of this administration and beyond.

I wonder how this will go down in the history books. Probably not well knowing how much historians love ripping into people. Also there's the possibility of a Stalin like denunciation after he's gone.

[smjjames]

Well, there's the new (and probably enduring) Trumpscuse:

"When the President does it, it's not illegal."

That one will stick around in various forms for a while, I think. It's clear from Lewandowski's book that Trump is deeply insecure about literally everything about himself; he likes surrounding himself with Harvard graduates so he can boss around people smarter than him, for example, and "prove" he's better "at life" than they are. The same compulsion drives him to surround himself with generals.

Dowd's latest piece of legal nuttery plays right into that drive to brag about how special he is. After all, other people may be richer or smarter or better-looking than him (and that last one matters to a disgusting degree with him), but no one is Presidenter than him -- and I have no doubt he will eventually degrade into putting it that way, because he's unraveling fast.

"Hillary did it too" may fade, "locker room talk" may ring even more hollow than it does now, and even the great "witch hunt" may one day fall out of favor, but "I am the President and can therefore do nothing wrong" will be on his Twitter feed for the rest of this administration and beyond.

I wonder how this will go down in the history books. Probably not well knowing how much historians love ripping into people. Also there's the possibility of a Stalin like denunciation after he's gone.

Wasn't that used by Nixon?

[misko27]

Not during his Administration. The Frost/Nixon tapes. "When the President does it, that means, that it is not illegal."

[Trekkin]

Well, look how well that turned out.

Then again, the RNC has resumed funding Roy Moore's campaign, so perhaps it will; the Republicans have apparently decided that they've crossed the political Rubicon.

Oh, and apparently a normal dinner for Trump is two Big Macs, two Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, and a chocolate milkshake, so saith Lewandowski.