In one of President Trump’s best speeches he asked made the following statement: “This election will determine whether we are a free nation, or whether we have only the illusion of Democracy but are in fact controlled by a small handful of global special interests rigging the system. This is not just conspiracy but reality, you know it and I know it.”
Ten years later and there is more evidence of the illusion of democracy than a free nation. The latest example comes in the form of CNN’s Dana Bash defending the right of illegal aliens to destroy our nation. Video and Transcript Below:
[Transcript] – Dana Bash: Here with me now is White House border czar Tom Homan.
Thank you so much for being here this morning, sir. I want to start with the case of Milo Yiannopoulos. There is a lot we don’t know here. What kind of visa was he under? And did he apply to extend that visa?
TOM HOMAN, WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR: Look, it’s my understanding, looking at the Department of Homeland Security press release, that he overstayed his visa. I believe it was a visitor visa, but I’m not sure.
But he overstayed the visa. He was ordered to appear in immigration court. He didn’t show up. The judge ordered him deported. So, once ICE gets an order of deportation from a federal judge, their job is to execute that order, and that’s what they did. He had his due process, ordered removed by a federal judge, and ICE removed him. It’s that simple.
BASH: Homeland Security said he was arrested Thursday. We understand he was deported the next day. That seems like a pretty quick turnaround. Was he given preferential treatment to leave, instead of remaining in an ICE detention facility longer?
HOMAN: No, we have been working steadily the last few months on getting people out quicker, that way to save the taxpayers money in detention space.
The quicker we — once a judge orders them out, rather than being in detention, waiting for travel documents and flight arrangements, we — ICE, along with the CBP and Department of Homeland Security, working really good on the efficiencies of the removal process.
Get them out quick, open those beds up for more detainees to be held.
BASH: So that’s standard now, or that’s the goal? HOMAN: We track the average length of stay, and we want to get the average length of stay, average length of stay in detention down. We want to execute those orders as soon as we can get them.
BASH: Laura Loomer, who is a Trump ally, far right political activist, said she tipped ICE off to his illegal status. Is that true?
HOMAN: Well, several — a lot of people tipped ICE off. There are a lot of people who’s calling ICE, and she says she’s one of them. She probably was.
But bottom line is, it doesn’t matter. He was ordered removed by an immigration judge, and ICE’s job it to execute that order.
BASH: This is someone who had publicly praised immigration crackdowns, and yet Homeland Security chose to publicly publicize his arrest, rather — put a rather unflattering mug shot out there, and wrote that, “He chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws,” and warned other immigrants to take control of their departure by self-deporting.
Did the Trump administration choose to make an example out of him to send a message?
HOMAN: We don’t deport people based on political affiliation.
Again, as soon as we get an order removal, our goal is remove them as quick as possible, regardless of who they are.
BASH: Right. I’m not talking about the deportation. I’m talking about the publicizing of it, the way that it was put out there. You don’t put public — press releases out about everybody you deport.
HOMAN: Well, I think the press release is in response to press inquiries.
Again, I don’t work at the Department of Homeland Security, but I saw the press release. I think it was based on press inquiries.
BASH: OK, let me turn to a “New York Times” story out this morning, an account of 10 deportees who said they experienced or witnessed abusive or violent treatment by ICE officers.
When some resisted deboarding a plane in Liberia, a country they had no ties to, they said they were — quote — “forced onto the tarmac by ICE officers, who yanked and twisted their handcuffs, pinned them to the ground and pressed their knees directly onto their necks.” Another said: “They treated us like we were wild animals, like beasts.”
Are you comfortable with this treatment?
HOMAN: No, and I don’t — I don’t — yes, I don’t think that treatment occurred. It will be investigated, but we get allegations a lot. Every law
enforcement agency in this country gets allegation of mistreatment. But, look, we know that threats against ICE officers are up over 9000 percent. Actual attacks are up for 1400 percent.
So, ICE officers are trying to protect themselves while enforcing the law. A lot of people just don’t want to comply with law enforcement. They want to fight. So I don’t know these specific instances, but if they filed a complaint, it will be investigated by internal affairs.
BASH: So, just to be clear, the — what I just described, and there’s a lot more in this “New York Times” really harrowing account, you’re saying this is not standard operating procedure?
HOMAN: No, we use a minimum force required to make an arrestee comply.
So, if someone acted out of line, it will be investigated by internal affairs, but the policy is minimum force necessary to make an arrest or to get compliance of an arrestee.
BASH: So there will be an investigation in internal affairs, and if found that this is accurate, there will be consequences?
HOMAN: I’m sure there will be. I mean, that’s the policy.
I leave that question to the Department of Homeland Security, since they work for the Department of Homeland Security, but that is the policy, yes.
BASH: The Department of Homeland Security sent two deportation flights to Haiti over the past two weeks. Haiti is a country that a Trump administration official this week said is in a dire state, saying that, for months, terrorist gangs have murdered civilians, terrorized communities, burned homes, and destroyed families.
Why is the Trump administration knowingly sending Haitians, including many who’ve lived in the U.S. legally under Temporary Protected Status, into the danger that they describe?
HOMAN: Again, we’re returning deportees to their home country. Many times, if the home countries don’t accept them, we send them to a third country.
I’m not in the loop on this specific incident, but, again, that’s a question for the Department of Homeland Security. But when people are ordered deported, they can’t stay here. They’re going to go home.
BASH: I understand. You are the border czar, and this is happening because of a policy the Supreme Court held up, but a policy by this administration to end Temporary Protected Status for these Haitians.
And now this administration is sending them back to a country that the administration describes as overrun with gangs and not safe to be.
HOMAN: Well, look, the Temporary Protected Status is supposed to be temporary.
And, as long as I have been around, for over 40 years, it seems like it’s never temporary. It gets extended and extended and extended, even if the conditions in the home country have changed. So this is an order of the court. They were ordered removed, and ICE is removing them.
They’re going home. And if we send them to a third country, we — people would be complaining about that. So ICE did their job. I’m not — again, not involved in the specifics of this, but they lost their DPS status. They’re ordered removed. They have got to go home. They have no status here anymore. They can’t stay here.
BASH: Just you, as the border czar and as a human, do you feel comfortable sending them back to a country, a country of origin perhaps, that your administration is describing as so dire?
HOMAN: Look, bottom line is, they have been ordered removed. And I don’t know the conditions in Haiti. I have never been in Haiti. I don’t know if you have.
[09:10:05]
But, look, the judges made a decision they must go home. And they need to go home. I mean, I — I’m not familiar with the country conditions in Haiti. I have never been there, but we’re just enforcing the law. And we’re doing it in a way that the American people voted for.
President Trump’s the president of the United States because he promised to enforce immigration law, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. We’re sending a message to the whole world. The border is no longer open. You can’t come here for a free pass and expect to stay forever if you’re here illegally.
There are millions of people standing in line wanting to be a part of the greatest nation on Earth. They’re sitting in the back seat because millions of people came across the border illegally under Joe Biden under fraudulent pretenses.
That’s why the Trump administration is taking action. If you’re in the country illegally, we’re looking for you, and we find you, we’re going to remove you.
BASH: Yes, I hear what you’re saying about Haiti. You haven’t been there, I haven’t been there. And I’m just quoting your own ambassador, Jennifer Locetta, who is a representative for special political affairs at the U.N. Those were her quotes.
I want to turn to what’s being reported in Connecticut. Senator Chris Murphy said ICE officers targeted parents at school bus stops this week. He said — quote — “In Danbury, they are just targeting parents sitting at school bus stops just to terrorize little kids.”
Are ICE officers detaining parents at school bus stops?
HOMAN: ICE isn’t in the business of terrorizing children. That’s — that’s just — that’s just political fire.
ICE is out there enforcing law that was enacted by Congress. Then we arrest illegal aliens? Are some parents? I’m sure many are. But we’re not out there to terrorize children. We’re out there to look for illegal aliens with final orders of removal, those who overstayed, those that are criminals, and we’re out there looking for them and arresting them.
ICE has no intention of terrorizing children. That is just a political statement made to enrage the American people. In the last two years, I constantly hear the attacks on ICE and what ICE is doing. They think it’s a winning message to know to vilify ICE.
And I have said for a long time all these hateful words against ICE and what ICE does, that’s a reason assaults against ICE officers are up over 9000 percent, the threats. It — and no other law enforcement agency in the world has that percentage of increase in threats.
And I say most of it is based on hateful writer and mischaracterization what ICE does, just like the Delaney Hall, right? Delaney Hall was a big story. Everybody’s protesting up in Newark on Delaney Hall, said there was a hunger strike.
I went there. There was never a hunger strike. People weren’t eating at the cafeteria, but they’re eating in the commissary. And there — no one was missing medication. They said one person, one father was arrested while buying diapers. No, he was arrested at a jail, and he was there for domestic violence charges.
But all these false stories come out, and people buy off on them.
BASH: Well…
HOMAN: But you notice, when we prove those stories are fake, no one ever covers that. No one ever says, OK, we were wrong. There actually wasn’t a hunger strike. There wasn’t actually mistreatment at that facility.
BASH: Yes, well, that’s literally why we have you on, and we appreciate you coming on. Three detainees did die at that facility.
But I want to stick to bus stops, because I — my question is, even more broadly beyond Connecticut, are bus school stops fair game for a place where parents can be arrested?
HOMAN: Look, we — the ICE policy is — it used to be what we call a sensitive location policy. We don’t have that policy anymore.
But I have pointed out, for the last two years, you — no one can point to one single incidence we arrested anybody in an elementary school. We haven’t arrested anybody in a hospital. We haven’t arrested anybody in the church. ICE is real good at their job.
Now, did they — somebody arrest somebody at a bus stop? I’m not aware of that. But ICE is out there to enforce law those that have been ordered removed by a federal judge. And if the — especially if they’re a criminal or if they’re a national security threat, there’s no safe harbor for them in this country. We will go where we need to go.
But to this day, ICE has not made arrests in one of those three sensitive locations I’m aware of. But you read a lot of stories they have, but no one’s giving me one instance…
BASH: Yes.
HOMAN: … one name, one date where somebody’s arrested at one of those three instances. As far as the school bus, I’m not aware of that incident at all.
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: Will you look into this incident in Connecticut? Because it’s not just the senator. It’s the mayor, it’s the governor who are saying it happened there.
HOMAN: I will — I will make an inquiry to the Department of Homeland Security, yes.
BASH: OK.
Last question. You are a big proponent of body cameras. You said in July that ICE was going to require body cameras and that — and ICE actually subsequently said that every field officer would have one by the end of August. We are at the end of August now. Has that happened?
HOMAN: I don’t know. I know ICE is — the camera purchase was held up when the government was shut down. I mean, there’s millions of dollars to buy those cameras. I’m a big proponent of cameras…
BASH: I know.
HOMAN: … because the cameras — I want the American people to see what the officer sees when he makes a decision.
Whether it’s a hands-on decision or a shooting incident, I want the American people to see what that officer saw when he took that action. I’m a big proponent. I know they have got the cameras purchased. The last I knew, before I was on the road a few weeks ago, the trainer happened.
That’s where they send trainers to each field office to train somebody on the use of body camera, how to turn them off, when to turn them on, what did we do with the film and keeping the record someplace. That has happened. I know they’re being deployed. Are they 100 percent deployed today? I’m not sure.
But I know the plan was to get them deployed by the end of August, but I do not know if that has been completed yet or not.
BASH: OK. Well, if you find out, get back to us. I appreciate it, and really, I’m grateful to you for joining us this morning, Tom Homan.
HOMAN: All right, thank you.
Listen up, Dana….
said we all!
#100
Yes ma’am, that’s exactly what I voted for! 3x not including primaries.
“Ten years later and there is more evidence of the illusion of democracy than a free nation.”
I believe it is absolute fact we live in an illusion of democracy and it’s been that way for decades.
If you define the terms, a democracy is confirmed to be mob rule despite common sense and decency; the observation of mob rule opposed to and in direct conflict with the rule of law in many instances. A representative republic, which is what we have always been, is the adherence to laws enacted to represent the constituency of each state and in the best interest of law abiding citizens against illegal activities.
We are a representative republic. Not a democracy. Those who represent may be doing a poor job, but at some point, the citizens are liable for their own leadership choices.
In no founding document does the word “democracy” appear.
Irrelevant.
Via our Declaration of Independence, ON THE FACE OF ITS WORDING, it is abundantly clear that our USA [read: our new NATION brought forth upon this continent] is a Democracy.
Our system of GOVT, which is a related but otherwise separate notion — which is why our USA is a NATION-STATE — is a Republic in form.
There is absolutely no need to include the particular ward within, where, actually, including it would be redundant; very much unlike Jefferson and his colleagues … who wrote what they meant … including that the DOE was written in the Name of and by the AUTHORITY of the Good People of the colonies.
Such is Democracy.
“… and that government of the people, by the people, for the people…”.
Lincoln defined it also.
As I said, the word does not appear. The concept, purpose, and intent however…
…as you state.
Thank you for your thoughtful reply; that is, thoughtful, particularly with respect to the actual notions and words of our Founders, our Framers, and POTUS Lincoln.
Permit me to add one more crucial point— concerning our Democratic NATION — in reference to the wording of our Declaration of Independence: In the penultimate paragraph of this document — the paragraph that declares the collective conclusions; the one that is aka “The Lee Resolution” — the 2nd Continental Congress states that this declaration was written IN THE NAME AND BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE GOOD PEOPLE OF THESE COLONIES …
Note: these representatives did not write, in the name and by the authority of the king or queen; nor did they write by the authority of the Oligarchs …
but, rather, absolutely specifically and purposely, they wrote that the entire document was written by the AUTHORITY of the GOOD PEOPLE of these Colonies … because this is what THEY MEANT: the People have the authority; the people are in charge.
Such wording IS the fundamental definition of Democracy. This is why I — and many others before me and along with me — argue that ON THE VERY FACE OF THE WORDS, the word “democracy” is not used, but, absolutely, democracy is what is being described and attributed as the foundational authority of our NATION. [A rose by any other name … ]
Again, thank you.
Clearly early American history, and in particular the founding of our Republic, is a passion of yours. It’s a shame that today’s young are not able to experience/learn from that sort of fervor in their classrooms. They are being woefully cheated in their so-called education. What a tragedy that is…for them and for the state of the nation they will live in.
You’re quite welcome.
That’s due to the fact that universities are spitting out increasingly inferior education and training (or lack of).
The educators are uneducated.
Their students do not stand a chance.
Home School!
The dumbing down of America!
I do know what the hell I am talking about!
“They” want rabid ideologues so they can indoctrinate younger generations, as you know, Lorrie.
You go, girl. You speak the absolute truth.
My granddaughters are being homeschooled by their stay-at-home mother/a former teacher. Their grandmother/my wife is a retired school teacher, 35 years. If you have children or grandchildren, do whatever you possibly can to homeschool your children or private Christian school them.
Yep, all part of the cpusa agenda fomented decades ago and progressively melded into institutional frameworks inch by inch step by step until the masses are deaf dumb and blind and eager to be told what they think… until,…the scales are removed. Due gedanken Sind immer frei!
Although Americans–unlike Europeans and Canadians–believe that government derives its authority from the governed, that does not make its form a democracy. I suggest you look up just what a democracy really is and maybe see what happens when you try to govern that way. The Peloponnesian War is a good place to start.
Part and parcel in the determined agenda to not only rewrite history, but worse, to redefine the terms within.
Well, no.
Most definitely NOT irrelevant.
The word “democracy” does not appear anywhere in the US Constitution or the Declaration of Independence or in the Articles of Confederation.
But the word does appear in the Federalist Papers, Federalist #10 in particular. This was written by James Madison, the main author of the Constitution, published November 23, 1787. The Federalist Papers were written to explain to the US public why the new Constitution was necessary and why The Constitution was a far better plan for government than anything earlier.
Madison writes about why democracies are unstable and a republic much more stable:
“A common passion or interest will, in almost every case, be felt by a majority of the whole; a communication and concert result from the form of government itself; and there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party or an obnoxious individual. Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths. Theoretic politicians, who have patronized this species of government, have erroneously supposed that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality in their political rights, they would, at the same time, be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions.
A republic, by which I mean a government in which the scheme of representation takes place, opens a different prospect, and promises the cure for which we are seeking.”
Read the whole thing, it’s very instructive.
Irrelevant as well.
My comments focus on the terms and conditions of our NATIONHOOD, as expressed in our DOI, our NATION’s PRIMARY document. You, OTOH, are focusing on our Constitution … which is a secondary or derivative document.
BTW, in the creation of our NATION — the Declaration of our Independence — Madison was NOWHERE to be found. He was considerably less than 30 years old, and at that time he was not politically involved. [But, he was a soldier of Washington’s Continental Army; where, in fact, he can be seen in the famous painting of Washington Crossing the Delaware.]
It seems, by your own words, that you do not understand that our USA is a NATION-STATE; that is, a NATION that has a System of State; a self-governing NATION. And, as a result, you seem to be conflating the two.
For our continued existence as a Free NATION, it is existential that We the People, collectively, understand the difference between these two notions; particularly, that we are a NATION that has a System of STATE [and its GOVT] … and not the other way around.
A Democracy — whose population is one of FREE CITIZENS — is a NATION with a System of State.
An Autocracy or Oligarchy — whose populations are ones of CONTROLLED SUBJECTS — is a System of State that has a NATION.
Learn the concepts; they are very instructive … much more so than your irrelevant nonsense.
That’s because the founders rejected democracy in favor of a republic. Unfortunately, it has since been democratised somewhat.
Somewhat?
I don’t think there was any such concept like that at the time. Seems to me that was a construct created in the 50s-60s to explain the difference between communist countries that styled themselves as “democratic” and the US.
At least as set forth by Cicero in De Republica (which was not known by the founders but I think they reached much the same conclusion) a republic (or often preferred term “commonwealth”) can only exist when government acts to ensure justice. How that is best done in Cicero’s view was “mixed” government. He shows how monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy (forms of government) would each devolve into enforcing the privilege of the ruler (despotism, oligarchy, anarchy respectively) thus preventing justice while mixed (combination of each) would prevent this from happening thus enuring continuance of the republic.
No. Absolute rubbish.
It was the FRAMERS — those who wrote our FIRST and SECOND Constitutions — who rejected a democratic form of GOVT.
Further, Madison, who was a primary author of the Federalists and of the Constitution — he was the main critic of any kind of DIRECT DEMOCRACY in GOVT — was not involved in the least with the writing of the Declaration of Independence. [At the time, he was considerably less than 30 years old.]
The FOUNDERS, OTOH, who wrote our Declaration of Independence, embraced Democracy — democracy, meaning that it is the People, collectively, who are in charge — where notions of such are found in a number of instances in the text of the Declaration.
Voting -as in democratically styled. Participatory within – instead of ruled from on high. The illusion is that all is fairly counted and fairly debated for the consent and consensus of the “rulers”. Government is force. Civil society binds itself to the rules.
ABSOLUTE NONSENSE.
Democracy has ONE fundamental meaning — based on its Greek root words — and you do not seem to understand this.
Root word: Demos = the People
Root word: Kratos = the Authority
The fundamental meaning of DEMOCRACY, based on these roots, is that the PEOPLE ARE THE AUTHORITY.
Contrast that with AUTOCRACY, which means AUTHORITY IS HELD BY A SINGLE PERSON/ENTITY; and also contrast that with OLIGARCHY means that AUTHORITY IS HELD BY A FEW. [And, of course, when NO ONE holds the AUTHORITY, such is ANARCHY.]
From reading our Declaration of Independence, it is stated specifically that the Good People of the Colonies HOLD the AUTHORITY, in whose name our NATIONAL document, by the 2nd Continental Congress, was written.
Further, per our Founders, it is not the king, nor is it the queen, nor is it some collection of individuals — IOW, neither an Autocracy nor an Oligarchy — but, rather, it is We the People, collectively, who hold the AUTHORITY. Again: Democracy … which is perfectly in line with the fundamental meaning of the word.
Further, our Founders, in establishing our NATION, declared that it is the People whose DUTY it is to form and hold a system of GOVT; where that system of GOVT MUST BE ACCORDING to our FOUNDATIONAL American Principles of which the general purposes are to PROTECT THE INDIVIDUAL from TYRANNY, MOB RULE, etc.
American-style democracy is NOT MOB RULE. Read the Declaration.
Further, per the Declaration, if and when We the People establish a GOVT, or, in the event, we may want to change or abolish our system of GOVT, where the resultant GOVT is not IN FULL AGREEMENT with our Founding Principles, then, yes, while we may remain a NATION, certainly it not be an AMERICAN NATION; rather, we, as a NATION, would be something different.
This exact notion, by several Presidents — particularly, by A. Lincoln — has been publicly raised and discussed many times.
So, not only is our NATION a DEMOCRACY, more importantly, ours is an American-Styled Democracy; that is, one that must always remain in agreement with our American Principles … which is TOTALLY ANTITHETICAL to mob rule.
As a NATION of Free Citizens [read: a Democracy], per the Founders, it is our collective DUTY to install ANY TYPE OF GOVT that we want … again, as long as it is in total agreement with our Founding American Principles.
Read the Declaration. For people who read and understand the English language, how could these notions be made any clearer? Such is why the Declaration is our PRIMARY National Document — it defines who we are as a NATION; the reasons we even exist as a NATION — and our system of GOVT — any Constitution that We the People establish — is a SECONDARY, or Derivative, document.
Our Declaration if SUPREME, while our System of Law [read: our System of GOVT] is flexible. Re-writing our Declaration is REVOLUTION but Re-writing our Constitution is part and parcel of our American Social Contract … as so many times we have re-worded our Constitution [let alone the time we re-wrote it ENTIRELY].
Yes, nonetheless, countless Americans — it seems to me — still do not understand that We as a People are a NATION-STATE … which is a NATION that has a System of State, where the GOVT is the apparatus [read: toolbox] of that System of State. To me, when people demonstrate that they do not know this, it suggests to me that these many Americans have either not read or do not understand our Declaration of Independence.
An existential concept that comes out of this — again, one that is misunderstood by so many Citizens — is that we are a NATION that has a GOVT … and NOT the other way around.
In closing, being a NATION-STATE implies that we are a NATION that governs itself … which is quite different from what we were before our Revolution … under which we were — yep, you got it — British Colonies for which the British Crown was the absolute authority; an Autocracy.
So, with our NATION being a Democracy, we, together, as FREE CITIZENS and no longer SUBJECTS to the Crown — with our 2nd and current Constitution [1787] — established our current system of GOVT as a Republic. [Thank God!]
In summary [to repeat]: we are a NATION-STATE … where our NATION is a Democracy, and our System of GOVT is Republican in Form. We are a NATION that has agreed among ourselves to have a GOVT.
MAGA & MAHA!
We are a Republic.
The reason this argument continues is that the meaning of terms like Republic and Democracy change and become water down over time. Add to that the political rabble rousers that want to change the system into their favor.
As above: ABSOLUTE NONSENSE.
AI Bot?
I wonder
Obviously!
You forgot to add that the word republic comes from the Latin, res…thing, publica…of, by the people. Yes, thank God a “Republic” and not a pure democracy, as in ancient Greece where the majority opinion of the voting citizens (the people you referenced) ruled without protection for individual citizens…the story of Socrates suffices, with the hunt to exterminate Plato…hence the similarity to “mob rule” in the minds of many.
Yes, the word Democracy means that We The People, collectively, ARE IN CHARGE — We are the ULTIMATE AUTHORITY — and that our NATION is a Democracy is abundantly clear in our Declaration.
For those who do not want to read and understand our Founding Document and our current articles of governance, just apply basic logic: if our NATION was not a Democracy, the candidates for political GOVT offices would NOT be spending untold $BILLIONS in efforts to dupe-convince THE PEOPLE to vote for them; rather, they would be spending these vast sums on whichever entities were actually responsible for them getting into office.
Secondly, in our NATION, if it is not We the People who are in charge — per our Founders in our Founding Documents — then who, indeed, is in charge? Our Revolutionary Founders got rid of the Autocracy [read: the British Crown], and certainly, they did not want to put an Oligarchy in charge … so, who did they put in charge? Yes, collectively, it is We the People … in our American Democracy.
Note: absolutely almost nowhere, in the recorded history of humanity, was/is there a NATION where there was/is not some entity — either a single person, a few people, or all of the people — who was/is IN CHARGE. Further, to my knowledge, there has never been a long-lived Anarchy. [Syria, a few years ago, tried it, but, again, not long-lived.]
Further to your comment, yes, I am familiar with the meaning of the word “publica” — I still remember some of my Latin and basic American Civics — and I agree with the notions mentioned, but my original comment focused on our NATION and only secondarily our system of GOVT, that is, our Republic. [And, again, for my one vote, thank God that our GOVT is a Republic.]
However, now that you raised the issue of the Constitution: Our Framers began the Constitution with the words We the People”. They did not write “We the States”; nor did they write “We the king or the queen or the dictator”; nor “We the Oligarchy”.
No, of course they began it with We the People because, in our Democracy, it is We the People who are the ULTIMATE AUTHORITY … particularly for such things as determining our system of GOVT, etc.
Further, the other counter-Democracy argument which is often raised at this point is the apocryphal line regarding Benjamin Franklin’s response to the lady’s query, upon the exit of the Delegates from Constitution Hall, of “What kind of GOVT — not what kind of NATION — did you give to us?” … To which — as we all know — Franklin responded, “A Republic, if YOU can keep it.”
Franklin did not say, “A Republic, if the KING/QUEEN can keep it,” nor did he say, “A Republic, if the OLIGARCHY can keep it.”
No, not at all. He said IF YOU [read: IF you the People; you the DEMOS] can keep it, because he and all the other Delegates understood, without doubt, that in our America, it is We the People who determine our system of GOVT and it is We the People for whom our laws are constructed. This notion, in the historical records, of the People being the Ultimate Authority is written by these same Framers — unambiguously — many times over.
All this nonsense of so many Americans — particularly those on the Right — insisting that our NATION is not a Democracy is doing incredible damage to our nationhood as established by our Founders; it is doing existential damage … which is being exploited, without end, by the EVIL anti-USA Left.
While, in the meantime, regarding the DemonKKKrats harping about “Our Democracy” — and whatever other misguided talking points they regurgitate — they are way too anti-American to be of any use; where instead their perverted notion of democracy is in total contradiction with that of our Founders; however, where, as such, that is a completely different argument.
Anyway, good Citizen, thanks for your thoughtful response.
Where are you from?
Re Publica is typically translated as Commonwealth.
This Tree is not your run of the mill site, Ivan…
You can get your point across without being condescending to those you disagree with.
Remembering always that manners maketh man….especially here.
Regards…
You conflate “democracy” with the concept of the source of authority so nicely that it’s almost a shame to disagree with you, but I do. Democracy is not a philosophical concept on which you might base the source of the authority. It is just a form of government, which the founders rejected.
We are a representative republic.
We are not a nation-state. There are nation-states in the world. We are not one of them. A nation-state has a central, controlled, independent political and ruling class that defines the culture of a country.
We are a group of individual states who are linked together in a united continuity across a specific continental boundary [north, south, east and west] and linked by specific limiting factors. And by factors determining our collective agreement to abide by certain national [federal] rules of law. So far, there are 50 individual states who are autonomous in their legal obligation to follow their own state legislation. They are not 50 individual little nation-states with a sovereign crown head controlling the culture.
And because we have regular voting schedules in-state and nationally, we are a representative republic.
RIGHT
America is a republic and not a pure democracy. The contemporary efforts to weaken our republican customs and institutions in the name of greater equality thus run against the efforts by America’s Founders to defend our country from the potential excesses of democratic majorities. American republicanism and the ordered liberty it makes possible are grounded in the Federalists’ recognition that non-majoritarian parts of the community make legitimate contributions to the community’s welfare, and that preserving these contributions is the hallmark of political justice. But, the careful balance produced by our mixed republic is threatened by an egalitarianism that undermines the social, familial, religious, and economic distinctions and inequalities that undergird our political liberty. Preserving the republican freedoms we cherish requires tempering egalitarian zeal and moderating the hope for a perfectly just democracy.
https://www.heritage.org/american-founders/report/america-republic-not-democracy
George Carlin decades ago said we only have the illusion of choice. Frank Zappa had something to say about what happens when the illusion is gone.
IMO, the PRIMARY ILLUSION under which We The People suffer is that COLLECTIVELY so few of us understand that the task of holding together our NATION-STATE is a primary DUTY of the People … and that of NO ONE ELSE.
Yes, we have our RIGHTS — read any media outlet, and it becomes apparent readily that most people are SCREAMING for their RIGHTS — but, sadly, so few of us are SCREAMING ABOUT DUTY … and as every American Citizen should know, DUTIES COME BEFORE RIGHTS.
IOW: Freedom requires DUTY, the cost of which must be paid up front.
For those unaware of such [Patriotic] DUTY, read our Declaration of Independence, wherein such are presented clearly. That is, IF you know, of our PRIMARY National Document, particularly as it defines how and why we exist as a NATION.
So, most definitely, I disagree totally with Carlin — a narcissistic nihilist, PROBLEM FINDER extraordinaire — where instead, I recognize that JUST LIKE IT WAS FOR OUR REVOLUTIONARY FOUNDERS, where any illusion of choice that we might want to fabricate would be in total contradiction to our Founding American Covenant; where such, just like it was for our Founders, IS UP TO US and to us alone.
MAGA & MAHA!
Do you agree with Red Skelton?
https://youtube.com/shorts/R8edpMclFSo?is=Gufoy43elCEj2u0c
yep, a bot
A start is get rid of the UniParty bird! A Left wing and a Right wing don’t cut it! They’re birds of a feather flock together! Cut way back on mail in voting! Count votes/ballots in 1 day! Get rid of all the free shit, make ’em earn it!
For starters!
I call our government a Potemkin republic
But, FINALLY, the American people are actually starting to wake up to that FACT. And now, the question is, WHAT are they/we going to do about it? Our country’s survival depends upon the answer – NOW!
“If you can keep it.” Benjamin was no dummy, especially after suffering for years under many of the same political/global “abuses” that are prevalent today.
Taking it one step further, I believe it’s called being at a “crossroads.” “Check!”
The answer regarding the Haitians should have been: “Yes, Haiti is a shithole. By keeping them in US, do you want the US become like Haiti?”
Remember when the media, brain dead/know nothing actors, and leftist politicians were crying salty tears after President Trump called Haiti a “sh*thole”?
“It isn’t!!!!!!” they screamed in unison.
Who was that red haired late night talk show host who then went to Haiti and was photographed floating in a swimming pool or a body of water, sipping some alcoholic beverage to show that it wasn’t…
My, my…and just like that (snaps fingers)…
Suddenly it is.
Conan O’Brien.
And Dana would have replied, “Why, yes I do.”
Ah, yes! That ‘ol pesky propaganda stuff once again. When will it ever end?
Or simply following a judge’s order. They (democrats/liberals) love the judges and their orders unless they disagree with them. I shouldn’t be surprised at their hypocrisy. He should not have to defend following the rule of law. She just displays her traitorous nature with those questions.
A MAJOR part of the Haiti problem is, quite literally, spiritual, as per Fr. Chad Ripperger, 15+year exorcist.
Apparently, when the two nations were established, Haiti was, “consecrated” to Satan. The other side of the same island, the Dominican Republic, was consecrated to Christ.
Same exact island.
Why is our country allowing these Traitors at CNN to spew their Crap over the airways and TV? George Washington would handle this like a hammer on a nail.
Wow that Bash sow is absolutely pathetic. Don’t understand how Holman could keep his composure when faced with that communist BS
HEY!!! Don’t insult sows!!!
First of all, CNN is a cable-creature of a cable ‘network’, not a terrestrial TeeVee broadcast that can be received for free … one must pay some provider, that you, a subscriber, can then watch given their direct satellite subscription service or thru a subscriber-based cable television system.
And most importantly, we can also refuse to watch that garbage and refuse to support their sponsors. I will not waste my time giving them one second of my attention.
Or old George would have chopped it down like that cherry tree!
Because it divides our society!
Not one single question about the welfare of Americans murdered by illegals, Dana?
Not even one?
Rest in Peace, beloved Kate
Someone’s beautiful and happy daughter, Gipper, with her whole life on front of her.
How many “someones” are out there…💔
(Thank you, dear brother.)
Don’t make me cry.
I’m way ahead of you, dear sir….
I knew you were when I got up this morning, Bets. 🙂
Love you, my big hearted friend…
And you, sis.
😘
Amen, Betsy. My heart aches for the families that have lost precious daughters to these savages that have invaded our homeland while our government did absolutely nothing to stop them. They allowed it to happen.
Letting them in was a premeditated, depraved, malicious act, WD. But that’s who the Democrat s are, to a man or woman. They have no souls. They are all complicit for the murders and life devastation as if they committed them themselves.
All of them.
Put another way…
Too many. Although even one is too many.
Shouldn’t have been, Guest. There is no rewind button. They can’t be undone.
Sundance said it best years ago…..
State Dept use CNN…….. CIA/IC use Washington Post. DOJ/FBI use New York Times/Politico…….. These are the constants in an ever evolving, ever changing, yet always consistent narrative engineering roadmap…..
So considering that our legacy media ..ie.. fake news is the propaganda arm of a rogue, shadow gubmint, is it any wonder why so many people have absolutely no idea what’s really happening in the world?
I think Trump Derangement Syndrome is a displaced reaction by people trying desperately to hold onto the *illusion* of normalcy created by a hostile shadow gubmint.
Sounds like she’s demanding that Homan be duty bound to ignore judicial orders when they don’t fit her narrative. But of course that would be irresponsible of her to even suggest such a thing in light of Obama judges defying SCOTUS which Trump must then obey.
Awe, why the long face, Dana?
MAGA/America First is winning, and Bash has the sads.
Careful, she may get Triggered.
“Trigger”, wasn’t that the Lone ranger’s horse’s name?
(PS. It was Silver. Roy Rogers’ horse was named Trigger.)
Dana’s looking more like Mr. Ed.
“Dana’s looking more like Mr. Ed.”
The front end, or the bac…………never mind..
The south end facing north…….
Good! Let her do it in public!
🤪 😝 😉 🙀 …..I SEE what you did there……Wordman has nothing on you Jimbo……. 👊🏻 🤓
She was born with the long face. It’s genetic
😉
“Face-drooping syndrome”, commonly refers to Bell’s palsy. Researchers in South Korea found that COVID-19 vaccination was linked to an elevated risk of facial palsy.
https://www.medicaldaily.com/covid-19-vaccine-linked-elevated-risk-facial-palsy-study-472551
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/11/24-0610_article
Is Dana up to-date on boosters?
Why do libtards, especially Dana Bash, always look constipated?
You’re observing the smugness which results from lifelong inculcation in the cult of the superiority complex.
Mainly because they’re full of shit.
Let’s be polite her at TCT, and say, feces!
Lies are very hard to digest. And when they make up your entire diet….
It’s amazing her colon hasn’t ruptured. On air. Now that would liven up the interview.
That is her dead meat resting face, meant to convey disinterest and neutrality.
In other words, it’s a lie.
Hate has that tendency in people! Hopefully somewhere down the line Lefties start to dummy up!
Dana Bash, formerly Dana Ruth Schwartz, is paid to lie and harm American citizens because she still works at CNN. When they leave MSM / CIA, their positions can change…
💯 on bash’s genetics.
Daddy Schwartz was an ABC News producer, and ex-husband Bash was in the CIA, and the DOD, under Obama.
Dana’s been sipping the koolaid since she was in the womb. Nature and nurture.
Well, I can certainly understand why she has an ex-husband.
She has another ex husband, John King–another media liar
Patterns emerge when you scratch the surface of these beasts.
What is the common denominator in all of them? MSM! Always a Lefty! Who was it that wants to censor the opposition? Of course, a Lefty! Who is the most dangerous to engage or discuss with? ELFs, (Educated Liberal Females) I thank my lucky stars as I’m no longer in school!
The constant Lefty BullShit gets old fast! Find a breath of fresh air in RSBN or OANNetwork once in awhile!
I don’t know why people continue to do interviews with these far leftwing globalist media companies
it’s all part and parcel of the ‘show that never ends’
everyone in dc has a role to play
……. and apparently prostitution is still legal in DC.
Prostitution/politician/presstituion all old professions IMO
I never thought I’d see the day in which CNN would be “defending” Milo.
Ideology uber alles I suppose.
<I never thought I’d see the day in which CNN would be “defending” Milo.>
Dana Bash Song
(With a little help from Paul McCartney)
And when I go away…
I know my heart can stay with Milo…
It’s understood…
It’s in the hands of Milo
And Milo does it good 🙂
Did she ever get this worked up about the invasion of illegals and the endless caravans during the four years of the Autopen administration?
“Shirley, you can’t be serious.”
I am serious, and stop calling me Shirley😂
the ciann kommie is right
instead of sending them back to haiti where there’s so many gangs and so much violence
drop them off wearing a red bandana in a crip hood in the ever so peaceful south side of chitcago
where they’ll be welcomed by many arms
the semi-automatic variety
Every country is inferior to America in most measured standard of living ways. Given that, Bash face is suggesting that no immigrant should be deported, because all countries are worse off than America.
Can’t take much of her even reading it.
Nice job Border Czar Tom Holman.
I know, I cringe seeing her name.
Thank God our Presidents cabinet is more true MAGA this term.
Last term, by this time he was getting stabbed in the back by everyone.
Great job Tom, the more the better….Full Speed ahead!!!💥🇺🇸✝️🦅💥💥💥
My EXACT thought!
Dana Rash she should be classified as an irritant
Like jock itch.
Without the charm.
Preparation H can help what’s ailing her!
An overloaded lifeboat will eventually sink.
We cannot be the World’s lifeboat.
So we need to throw Dana Bash overboard.
Of COURSE she supports illegal immigration.
Nothing ever changes with these people.
They NEVER rethink their views.
Bash has the face of a ruined woman.
If illegals took the jobs and even the lives of politicians and journalists like regular Americans suffer, this would all end overnight.
Congress passes immigration laws. Judges give deportation orders based on our laws. Law enforcement is tasked with enforcing those judgements.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand this.
Waiting impatiently for the day when these pos, overpaid, highly monotonous talking heads are replaced by AI robots!
Let the filthy animals squat and shit in her house then! Start with sex traffickers.
Why do I want to slap that cow up side the head ..? She really erks me ..
She needs a good, old fashioned bitch slappin’.
BASH: Homeland Security said he was arrested Thursday. We understand he was deported the next day. That seems like a pretty quick turnaround. Was he given preferential treatment to leave, instead of remaining in an ICE detention facility longer?
Poor Dana, in such a twisted knot. Why didn’t she label Maryland Man’s deportation “preferential”? We all know the answer.
If only we could deport the millions, MILLIONS, of parasitic illegals THE NEXT DAY. Let’s give them all PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT.
And shout out to Tom Homan, as always. Tirelessly doing the work that got Trump elected. This, THIS, is what I voted for.
What a witch! After the exchange about ICE arresting people at school bus stops, reportedly she said, without any dates, names, or evidence, she then asks Homan if he will look into it.
He was so kind in his generic answer. I can’t believe he didn’t tear her a new one.
Why the “F” doesn’t she and CNN look into it? She also claimed they had Homan on so he could respond to the reported claims(every ridiculous lie ever made about ICE) and clear up these incidents.
Why is Bash face still on the air?
Bash is such an insufferable piece of excrement!
CNN is among the worse offenders of those who overtly hate this country. We would be no worse off to have Al Jazeera, CCP propagandists, or Baghdad Bob broadcasting out of New York city! How is it that they continue to maintain a FCC license?
MSNow is the worst of the worst, IMHO. I cannot stand the sight of those clowns. They are nauseating!
CNN is only a tiny part of the Red-Green Alliance.
They want Western Civilization destroyed.
They want Christian Civilization destroyed!
“… He was arrested Thursday. We understand he was deported the next day. That seems like a pretty quick turnaround. Was he given preferential treatment to leave, instead of remaining in an ICE detention facility longer?”
Translation: “I can argue either way; you went too fast or you should have taken longer. That’s why they call me “Bash” Bash!”
And if it were one of us we’d be doing the Trump dance at a one day deportation.
More!!!!
Why do any of our people give garbage outlets like CNN even a return email? Why serve as cannon fodder for them to slice and dice how they present you to the public. Make them wither on the vine for lack of attention.
“What about his Right to a Flattering Mugshot?!!”
And a stylist?
He’s had enough stylist.
It’s unfortunate that the Trump administration has largely burned their bridges with the podcasters who helped him get elected, because appearing on their shows to discuss deportations, visas etc would do far more good than than these appearances on tiny far left outlets like CNN. Nobody who watches CNN is going to be persuaded to back Trump.
A lot of those people have flipped on Trump and exposed their own weakness.
Brian Glenn, formerly of Real Americas Voice interviewed Trump a number of times. Then he flipped to the MTG/Tucker faction.
Who is buttering his bread?
CCP.
Thank you for providing the transcript, Sundance.
Dana Bash’s condescension toward everyone she interviews (I use that term loosely) that is associated with President Trump just oozes from her mouth. Despicable creature she is.
A horse walks into a bar, the bartender says, “Why the long face?”
ROFLOL!!! Thanks! I needed that!
Trusting the NYT as a reliable source?????
If citizens have to return to their messed up countries like Haiti there is much more incentive for them to sort out the mess.
These are after all not foreign criminal gangs but gangs of their own people and even perhaps own families.
Bash needs to be bashed with some of these hard questions.
Get off the flicking plane and get on with your life
Hey dana, If you are so concerned, why not sponsor, and house some yourself?
At Dana’s bash, there was too much whine.
Guests had to wait until the end of the lying.
Deflecting Dana, getting paid.
Really! Milo, the mashed up mess. Prayers needed.
Here is not what she covered, THE END OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY.
The muhammad problem needs to be fished out and they stupidly use hate as a hat tip.
Tip, begins with J and ends with s, 4 letters.
Thanks and keep it up.
Why don’t we send Bash to Hati with the illegals? Let her live with them to see what kind of life they have there. Stay as long as you like, Dana.
I like the idea of them coming to live with her and crapping all over her front porch.
That October 2016 speech by then candidate Trump told me without a doubt he knew what he was up against and was still willing to enter the arena, taking all the bards that he had to have known were going to be thrown at him, having befriended over the years the son of JFK and other Kennedy’s, Richard Nixon and Roger Stone and even worked with H Ross. Perot when he ran for President and saw, first hand how bad the opposition was going to be.
We are so very fortunate President Trump was willing to step into the arena, even after the 2020 coup.
I think the better word would be blessed, but we all need to pray and fast!
Can’t even stand READING her, “interview”, never mind listening to it! SPIT!!! Can’t STAND her!!!
One of the Dementors getting paid to shamefully shill for any and all opposition regardless of federal law. Bash is part of the modern education system that has no clue…even when you explain it to them…that entering this country without proper papers and permission you are here illegally and have committed a crime. No more complicated than that.
In contrast, when one has a Visa to reside in France for a period of time you must take periodic French language tests; pass and you get to extend your visa, fail and you have to leave…regardless if you own property there. That’s France, not exactly a prime example.
Dana Bash talks trash. She’s ugliness personified in every conceivable way.
I believe the best description is that we are in a godless, corrupt republic (or corporatocracy if you will), and we need to pray and fast to, with God’s help, turn this around!!!
SD, best part of this is Mickey!
Mickey Mouse’s reaction (which I know is exactly the same as that of Millions of Native Born Freedom Loving Americans) is PERFECT)!!!
Send every one of them out of the country. Not “some.” ALL of them!!!
P.S. And that whining, propaganda spewing, traitorous bitch needs to go as well
What part of that is so hard to understand, Dana?? As well as the rest of you Communist-loving, “Orange Man Bad,” Demtards?
They have to go back.
Bovino is correct. We have 100 million plus illegals. We are not seeing mass deportations. Bovino was thrown under the bus.
She’d change her tune if she or her daughter was raped and murdered by one of Biden’s illegal scum.
Sometimes it takes a very hard knock to wake up from a fantasy.
We can only hope….
Weren’t those Haitians long-tern asylum residents in Latin America (Chile?) Before they crossed the Darien Gap and came to the US for an even better dea l? They should have stayed where they were.
Thank yo for the transcript. I can not bear to watch or listen to Dana Bash, and send my sympathies to Tom Homan, who had to suffer this during the interview. He didn’t let Bash get away with her ‘interview technique’ of sloughing over responses that are contrary to her political intentions. I love Homan.