Somehow, despite 85-year-old Justice Ginsburg being incapacitated by surgery and intensive care recovery, the supreme court voted 5-4 to allow a lower court block on President Trump’s asylum restrictions to remain in place.  Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the three resistance activists and the unknown puppeteer for Ginsburg.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided Supreme Court won’t let the Trump administration begin enforcing a ban on asylum for any immigrants who illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border.
Chief Justice John Roberts joined his four more liberal colleagues Friday in ruling against the administration in the very case in which President Donald Trump had derided the “Obama judge” who first blocked the asylum policy.
New Justice Brett Kavanaugh and three other conservative justices sided with the administration.  There were no opinions explaining either side’s votes.  (read more)

President Trump has been executing a foreign policy, a clear doctrine of sorts, where national security is achieved by leveraging U.S. economic power. It is a fundamental shift in approaching both allies and adversaries; summarized within the oft repeated phrase: “economic security is national security.”
Initially, given the nature of multiple military entanglements, a traditional military approach could not easily be reversed or dispatched.  Defense Secretary James Mattis was the bridge to a path forward. President Trump removed military constraints, allowed rules of engagement that were much stronger, and let Mattis work on confronting and stamping out terror threats. In essence, an aggressive “let’s get this over with” approach.
However, that strong-arm military approach cannot continue indefinitely because it will never end. James Mattis was/is one voice who doesn’t want it to end. Hammers are useless without nails. War and intervention have a long history of unnecessarily expanding if not constrained. The war machine turns into a military business.
Candidate Trump, now President Trump, campaigned on a desire to bring U.S. troops  home from all the “stupid wars”, in part because they are also “expensive wars.”  And as a direct consequence the time for Defense Secretary Mattis was sure to come to an end.

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A spokesperson for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has released a statement outlining recent surgery to remove malignant cancerous growth in her lungs.
No indication as to the date of the surgery, it is presumed recent. Apparently the surgeons are confident they have achieved clear margins.  Justice Ginsburg is 85 years old.

In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

President Trump Twitter @POTUS / Vice President Pence Twitter @VP

Sarah H Sanders Twitter @SHSanders45

Following up to the earlier report conspicuously missing from MSM reports, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen expands on the collaborative agreement between the U.S. (President Trump) and Mexico (President Lopez-Obrador) regarding how asylum seekers must stay in Mexico while being processed.

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There is a second part to the interview below:
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Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller appears on U.S. state run television for a policy and current event debate with propagandist Wolf Blitzer.

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You might think I’m joking by calling CNN State Run Television; however I am not.
CTH has tracked the connective tissue between CNN, the State Department and the U.S. intelligence apparatus for years: 2012  [Amber Lyon Here]  – 2015 [Jason Rezaian Here]  – 2015 [Bill Weir Here] – 2017 [CNNi Here]  – 2018 [CNN Townhall Here]
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The House of Representatives voted tonight to include $5.7 billion for border security in a spending bill after President Trump warned them he would veto the spending bill without it.  Despite prior claims by Democrats the bill passed 217-185.

The bill now goes to the senate where Mitch McConnell, the GOP Decepticon caucus, and Chuck Schumer previously refused to consider border security.  If Schumer, McConnell and the Decepticons reject the bill it will likely lead to a partial government shutdown.

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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin discusses the strength of the U.S. economy, and the apparent disconnect between Main Street’s growth and Wall Street’s multinational risk exposure.  [Pro Tip: go back and read the dimensional shift]
Secretary Mnuchin (correctly) stays away from discussing the federal reserve and highlights the strength of Main Street.   CTH readers well understand what is driving this dynamic; and it will continue until 30-years of divergence is corrected, and parity achieved.

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Traditional economic principles have revolved around the Macro and Micro with interventionist influences driven by GDP (Gross Domestic Product, or total economic output), interest rates, inflation rates and federally controlled monetary policy designed to steer the broad economic outcomes.
Additionally, in large measure, the various data points which underline Macro principles have been viewed as two dimensional. As the X-Axis goes thus, the Y-Axis responds accordingly… and so it goes…. and so it has historically gone.  This ain’t that.
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Oh snap, grab my belt, we’re going deep.
This move is not unexpected; especially for those who have followed the Trump Doctrine for the past two years. President Trump has announced reception of a notification from Defense Secretary James Mattis that he intends to retire.

The move makes sense on multiple levels.  President Trump has been executing a policy, a clear doctrine of sorts, where national security is achieved by leveraging U.S. economic power.  It is a fundamental shift in approach.
Initially, the traditional military interventionist approach couldn’t just be reversed or dispatched; and James Mattis was the bridge to a path forward.  Toward that end President Trump removed military constraints, allowed rules of engagement that were much stronger, and let Mattis work on confronting and stamping out terror threats.  In essence, an aggressive “let’s get this over with” approach.
(more…)