Trumpery and today’s birther stance
It’s rich that Donald Trump is lying again even as he finally admits the truth that his Barack Obama birther blather was all bunk in the first place.
Trump on Friday finally conceded that President Barack Obama was born in the United States and falsely blamed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for starting the rumors about the president’s citizenship.
“Hillary Clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy. I finished it, I finished it. You know what I mean,” Trump said to introduce the announcement. “President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period. Now we all want to get back to making America strong and great again.”
Then he abruptly walked off stage, ignoring press questions.
Trump had baited the media to his new hotel in Washington, D.C., for a “major announcement,” then spent nearly 30 minutes advertising the hotel before making the five-sentence statement about Obama and Clinton.
No apology. No mea culpa. No admission, even of being wrong. After all, it’s clear by now that Trump thinks he is never wrong about anything. Of course the standard press line about his statement went something like this: “The admission was a major reversal for the Republican nominee, who for nearly a decade has been the chief spreader of the so-called “birther” conspiracy theory.”
Just the day before, after three of Trump’s primary surrogates had told different reporters that the nominee no longer believed the birther tripe, Trump had refused to say to the Washington Post whether the president was born in America.
As recently as January he was still stoking doubt: “Who knows [if Obama is a natural-born citizen]? Who knows?” he said at the time. “Who cares right now? We’re talking about something else, OK? I’m going to have my own theory on Obama. Someday I’ll write a book, I’ll do another book that will do successfully.”
By all means. As we know, he may often lie, but he never believes he’s wrong.
Our Senate never fails to disappoint
Can we say dysfunction?
In yet another stunning display of dysfunction, the United States Senate has failed to pass a major criminal justice reform bill that everyone and every partisan side backed.
The so-called Crime Bill would have reduced federal mandatory minimum sentences and provided a second chance for nonviolent offenders facing long prison sentences while also saving tax dollars on prison costs.
Speaker Paul D. Ryan has said he’s for it. The Senate Judiciary Committee passed it on a strong bipartisan vote. President Obama considers it a top priority. The Koch brothers back it. So does the liberal Center for American Progress. Polls show it has broad public support. Both red and blue states have moved ahead with parallel policies. Law enforcement groups back it.
Then along came the election and Donald Trump’s empty “law and order” campaign stump. Now, the Senate authors of the legislation say it is effectively dead, according to The New York Times.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, apparently not wanting to split the GOP caucus leery of having its tough-on-crime image blurred just before the election, has decided not to allow a vote on the proposal most believe would pass easily.
It’s not about governing, you know. It’s all about politics.
Who’s minding the baby, and details
If Donald Trump’s 11th-hour maternity leave plan were ever enacted into law, it would likely be struck down by the courts as unconstitutional, according to The Washington Post.
Trump announced his plan to mandate six weeks of paid maternity leave for “new mothers” last week, and his website says it will only be available to women with children, not men.
In announcing his plan, he falsely claimed that Hillary Clinton doesn’t have such a plan.
But maybe it was only a half lie.
Clinton does have a plan, and has had one since she ran for president in 2007.
But she doesn’t have one like Trump’s. Hers would pass court muster by not being gender discriminatory.
It would provide paid time off (12 weeks) for new parents or to recover from illness. And it also covers people caring for other family members.