Because of logistics, not because of some stinking law
Finally the usurper gave up his effort to insert the citizenship question into the census.
President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he is backing off his effort to include a citizenship question in the 2020 census and is instead issuing an executive order directing departments and agencies to better share data related to the number of citizens and noncitizens in the country.
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The news conference came as two federal judges refused to let the Department of Justice withdraw lawyers from a lawsuit over the Trump administration’s plans to put the citizenship question on the 2020 census form.
The administration is currently printing census forms without the question after the Supreme Court ruled late last month that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who stood alongside Trump during his announcement Thursday, did not provide an adequate reason for why the question was necessary.
Attorney General William Barr, who also appeared with Trump at the new conference, said the Supreme Court’s decision effectively closed off the possibility of successfully litigating the issue without jeopardizing the ability to carry out the census on time.
The situation presented “a logistical impediment, not a legal one,” Barr said.
Lickspittle. He wants us to conclude that Trump wasn’t trying to pull an authoritarian move. He was though, Barr.
Meanwhile, the press conference came at the conclusion of another event that’s drawn considerable attention in recent days, the president’s planned social media summit. Trump hosted several right-wing internet personalities to “share how they have been affected by bias online” as Republicans for months have blasted social media companies for what they see as unfair censorship of their views online.
I watched the live video of Trump addressing the meeting for a few minutes, and was gobsmacked all over again at how frantic his way of talking is. He talks at a rapid clip, so rapid that there is no way for anyone else to get a word in, but what he says is completely incoherent, because he keeps interrupting himself to start a new subject – and when I say “keeps” I mean it’s every few seconds. A few words on this obsession, which suggest this other one so interrupt with a few words on that, which suggest this other one so interrupt with a few words on that, repeat forever. It’s so crazy and disordered and wrong it’s hard to believe. He doesn’t have a mind, he has a bundle of chopped-up clips from Fox News that have been whisked together just long enough to disorganize them but not long enough to make any one coherent talking point. Fox Salad dressed with bullshitpesto.
I’m keeping that Ophelia. Just so you know.
Seconded. Your articularity and eloquentness is refreshing in these times of nonsensitude and bullshittery. Thank you. Seriously, sober and polite and refined speech in reference to this administration gives it a whiff of credibility that it doesn’t deserve. The sentence before Rob’s reference is just gold.
“I’ll back down, but only because I want to back down!”
http://nedroid.com/2009/06/new-tricks/
If the goal was to intimidate people here illegally from filling out the census forms, perhaps to deny left-leaning areas a few representatives, then this might prevent that.
If the goal was to find out who’s here illegally, it doesn’t mean much. As the article indicates, they can simply take the census data and cross-reference it with data that they have about who is a citizen and who is here legally. Anyone not matching might have an ICE visit in their future.
And if people figure this out, the original intimidation factor will reappear, and we’re back to square one.
I begin to think that this is the main goal of everything the Republicans do. Their entire mission is one of self-preservation, of making sure that they are the party in power, and making sure there are few to no Democrats in power positions.
Of course, there is an underlying goal behind that one – the desire to maintain wealth is an overarching theme. But it cannot be the main one, since, in reality, the Democrats do little or nothing to threaten the wealth of the privileged classes. The main goal is raw power.