*Lies – Page 27 – * Failed Pols

On Saturday, August 4, a photo of two men wearing t-shirts proclaiming, “I’d rather be a Russian than a Democrat” went viral. The two men were attending a rally in Ohio, where Donald Trump was supporting Republican Troy Balderson, who is running in the special election. “I’d rather be a Russian than a Democrat” seems to directly contradict “Make America Great Again,” emblazoned, ironically (or not), on the baseball cap one of them was wearing.

To say “I’d rather be a Russian than a Democrat” is, on one hand, a little like the “Yeah, butting” (“Yeah, but at least he’s not Hillary”) that has become a trend whenever Democrats find any fault with Trump. In this case, it’s “I support a president who is cozying up to Russia, but at least I’m not a Democrat.”

Some are already explaining away the t-shirts as “just a joke,” and that Democrats are overreacting. Perhaps, but these men are not the only ones who have implied that they’d prefer Putin over a fellow American citizen. About a year ago, a photo of a woman holding a sign that read, “Thank you Russia” went viral. And a new YouTube video promotes the t-shirts for sale. Will we begin seeing more and more such sentiments as the Mueller investigation continues?

It’s troubling when people either don’t know history, or don’t care about Putin and his legacy. It’s downright alarming when people proclaim that Putin and all he stands for (murder and the denial of human rights come immediately to mind) are preferable to Americans who support human rights and basic freedoms.

One might be inclined to laugh (if it weren’t so horrifying) at the irony of two Trump supporters wearing “I’d rather be a Russian than a Democrat” t-shirts. They come from the same group of people who vigorously wave the American flag, claim to stand by our military, and choose to be offended by athletes who “take a knee” during the National Anthem.

On the other hand, is the slogan, “I’d rather be a Russian than a Democrat” all that far off from what a typical Trump supporter advocates? They do, after all, denigrate our free press; support the recent policy of cruelty to children and their families at the Mexican border, and continually parrot Donald Trump’s disregard for such basic American foundations as the U.S. Constitution. Perhaps “I’d rather be a Russian than a Democrat” is closer to the truth than even a Trump supporter realizes when he says it.

‘Pro-Russia’ t-shirts at Trump rally go viral, sending Democrats into meltdown | Today News [2018-06-08]

Trump speaks at Ohio rally |CNN [2018-08-04]

The greatest of policy failures are those that fail families – particularly children – such as the recent policy hastily enacted by the Trump administration that has resulted in the separation of hundreds of migrant families who may never be reunited.

Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy required that those attempting to cross into the U.S. from Mexico be detained, their children separated from them and held in detention facilities. U.S. District judge Dana Sabraw ordered the Trump administration to reunite the migrant families by July 26, 2018. (July 10 was the deadline for children under five, and only 38 families out of 102 were reunited), yet the deadline has passed, and roughly 700 migrant children remain separated from their parents.

The Trump administration, however, claims that it has met the goal, reuniting all “eligible” migrant familes. The 711 migrant children who remain separated from their families, it says, are “ineligible” to be returned to them for one reason or another.

Some of the migrant parents have red flags on their background checks, and others were held in criminal custody so weren’t eligible to be reunited with their children. For at least 431 children, though, according to the Independent, their parents either left the U.S. without their children, or were deported. The parents of roughly 120 additional children allegedly “waived reunification” by signing documents that they may have not fully understood.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), many of the migrant parents reported not fully comprehending what they were signing, or being coerced into signing the waivers. Some said they were told that signing the papers would expedite being reunited with their children. Others said they were threatened with the possibility of never seeing their children again if they didn’t sign.

In short, the Trump administration put a poorly-thought-out policy in place without a backup plan. When a U.S. District judge called them out on it and ordered them to reunite the affected migrant families, it became apparent that the administration had neglected to closely track the parents and their children after they were separated. With the threat of missing their legal deadline for reunification, it’s speculated that they made another hasty decision – this time to cover their sloppiness by conveniently having the immigrant parents waive their rights to being reunited with their families. Thus, the Trump administration can neatly say that it met the deadline to reunite all “eligible” migrant families.

Trump administration says 711 children can’t be reunited with parents by deadline | CBS Evening New [2018-07-26]

DHS: All eligible separated children reunited with parents | Fox News [2018-07-27]

Category: *Lies

“I’d Rather Be a Russian Than a Democrat,” Said the Guy in the MAGA Hat

Failure to Reunite 711 Migrant Children with Their Parents