3 ms·

I am merely pointing out the flaw in your argument that the Trump administration's order is in any way acceptable simply because they're working off the same li

I am merely pointing out the flaw in your argument that the Trump administration's order is in any way acceptable simply because they're working off the same list of countries that the Obama administration used for a past order.

cookiecaper 10y ago
I fail to see the flaw. Many people are pretending that Trump explicitly selected these countries because they didn't interfere with his business interests, or that he selected them specifically because they are home to many Muslims (in fact, the nations with the 5 largest Muslim populations are totally unaffected by the order). The Trump administration wisely chose to use a list of countries that had been previously identified as terrorist hotspots by President Obama, which fully obviates the implication that Trump selected the countries due to their religious makeup, etc., because the fact is that Trump did not select the specific countries involved at all, and merely relied on the evaluation codified into law under the Obama admin.
- mwpmaybe 10y ago
  You are clearly 10x smarter than I am, but I wish you would use your powers for good. Yes, it was clever of then to use the list, because it gives them the cover to do whatever they want to do, knowing full well that people like you and Andrew McCarthy of the National Review would defend their actions using this argument. You must be able see the difference between what the Obama administration did in 2015 and the Trump administration is attempting to do today. The fact that the two orders involve the same seven countries in both cases is irrelevant.
  - varelse 10y ago
    It makes for the same sort of easily repeatable distractoid like bleating that Obama did the same thing(tm) in 2011. http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/01/30/sorry-mr-president-the-obama-administration-did-nothing-similar-to-your-immigration-ban/ http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/01/30/sorry-mr-president-the-o...
- danso 10y ago
  It's not unprecedented for policies to be applied in phases, starting with a more palatable version before expanding it. > because the fact is that Trump did not select the specific countries involved at all, and merely relied on the evaluation codified into law under the Obama admin. You're making it sound like Trump was restricted to just that list. Trump isn't a civil servant carrying out the stated orders of the President, he is the President, and is not bound to follow the details of the EO of the previous president.

cookiecaper 10y ago

I fail to see the flaw. Many people are pretending that Trump explicitly selected these countries because they didn't interfere with his business interests, or that he selected them specifically because they are home to many Muslims (in fact, the nations with the 5 largest Muslim populations are totally unaffected by the order). The Trump administration wisely chose to use a list of countries that had been previously identified as terrorist hotspots by President Obama, which fully obviates the implication that Trump selected the countries due to their religious makeup, etc., because the fact is that Trump did not select the specific countries involved at all, and merely relied on the evaluation codified into law under the Obama admin.

mwpmaybe 10y ago
You are clearly 10x smarter than I am, but I wish you would use your powers for good. Yes, it was clever of then to use the list, because it gives them the cover to do whatever they want to do, knowing full well that people like you and Andrew McCarthy of the National Review would defend their actions using this argument. You must be able see the difference between what the Obama administration did in 2015 and the Trump administration is attempting to do today. The fact that the two orders involve the same seven countries in both cases is irrelevant.
- varelse 10y ago
  It makes for the same sort of easily repeatable distractoid like bleating that Obama did the same thing(tm) in 2011. http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/01/30/sorry-mr-president-the-obama-administration-did-nothing-similar-to-your-immigration-ban/ http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/01/30/sorry-mr-president-the-o...
danso 10y ago
It's not unprecedented for policies to be applied in phases, starting with a more palatable version before expanding it. > because the fact is that Trump did not select the specific countries involved at all, and merely relied on the evaluation codified into law under the Obama admin. You're making it sound like Trump was restricted to just that list. Trump isn't a civil servant carrying out the stated orders of the President, he is the President, and is not bound to follow the details of the EO of the previous president.