Trump Wants to Shut Down the Internet. He Can’t.

“We cannot allow the internet to be used as a recruiting tool, and for other purposes, by our enemy. We must shut down their access to this form of communication, and we must do so immediately.”

— Donald J. Trump, August 15, 2016

Mr. Trump seems to think the government somehow controls the Internet. It doesn’t. No one does. for someone who doesn’t believe in science, the GOP candidate has an odd faith in the brilliant minds of U.S. technology.

More:

“Why Trump can’t shut down the internet,” Bree Fowler, Associated Press

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‘March Madness’ Leaves North Carolina Over Bathroom Bill

North Carolina’s “Bathroom Bill” has cost it two rounds of 2017’s “March Madness” Division I men’s college basketball tournament games. The National Collegiate Athletic Association has relocated those games and six other championship events out of the state due to the North Carolina state law known as HB2, which requires people to use public bathrooms based on their sex as designated on their birth certificates. The law, which also nullifies local laws protecting the civil rights of LGBT citizens, had already lost Charlotte the NBA All Star Game and millions of tourist dollars. The NCAA decision is arguably a bigger blow to the Tarheel State, where college basketball has deep roots and a wide following, and Duke and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are legendary contenders. This won’t help North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory’s reelection bid, either.

Here are the NCAA championships North Carolina is losing to bigotry:

• 2016 Division I Women’s Soccer Championship, College Cup (Cary), Dec. 2 and 4.
• 2016 Division III Men’s and Women’s Soccer Championships (Greensboro), Dec. 2 and 3.
• 2017 Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, first/second rounds (Greensboro), March 17 and 19.
• 2017 Division I Women’s Golf Championships, regional (Greenville), May 8-10.
• 2017 Division III Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships (Cary), May 22-27.
• 2017 Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championship (Cary), May 26 and 28.
• 2017 Division II Baseball Championship (Cary), May 27-June 3.

More:

“NCAA  Moves Championship Events From North Carolina, Citing Anti-Gay-Rights Law,” Marc Tracy and Alan Blinder, New York Times

“NCAA had enough of NC inaction on HB2,” Luke DeCock, Charlotte Observer

Related:

“North Carolina’s HB2 Is Not Just a ‘Bathroom Bill,'” NotionsCapital

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Hong Kong Elections: Umbrella Protest Parties Win

In late 2014, despite the 1997 promise of local autonomy (“One Country, Two Systems”), China’s ruling party proposed new restrictive measures for Hong Kong elections. Hong Kong responded with 80 days of street demonstrations. Young protesters carried umbrellas to shield themselves from police pepper spray, and the movement became known as the Umbrella Revolution.

While authorities suppressed the pro-democracy street protests, the movement for local self-government continued. Last week, a record voter turnout elected six leaders of the Umbrella Movement to the Legislative Council of Hong Kong and Macau. The next Hong Kong Chief Executive election is scheduled for March 26, 2017.

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¿Taco Trucks? ¡Sí, por favor!

“My culture is a very dominant culture. It’s imposing and it’s causing problems. If you don’t do something about it, you’re going to have taco trucks on every corner.” — Marco Gutierrez, Latinos for Trump.

Marco Gutierrez’s parents were among the unauthorized immigrants who received amnesty in 1986 during the Reagan administration.

Phillip Bump of the Washington Post ran the numbers for one taco truck at each intersection in the USA.  3.2 million taco trucks x 3 employees per truck = 9.6 million new taco truck jobs, and a need for more mechanics, gas station workers and mechanics, agricultural, food supplier and warehouse workers, and food truck management services. An estimate puts the total employment figure at 63 million new jobs. “We’d likely need to increase immigration levels just to meet the demand.”

“And the tacos are made in America”, observes Steve Lopez of the LA Times, “unlike some of the clothing sold under Trump’s name.”

In Denver, Democrats have parked a taco truck outside a Trump campaign office. The truck serves tacos, burritos, and voter registration forms.

More:

“The national economic implications of a taco truck on every corner,” Phillip Bump, Washington Post

“So what exactly could be wrong with having taco trucks on every corner?” Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times

“Democrats Troll Donald Trump With a Taco Truck in Colorado,” Sam Frizell, TIME

“Taco Truck Owner Racks Up Sales At Trump Event In Detroit,” Bill Chappell, NPR

Twitter: #TacoTrucksOnEveryCorner

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Trump On Immigration

On Wednesday, Chinese clothing importer and GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump talked about immigration in Mexico and Arizona (aka Joe Arpaio‘s playpen). Mr. Trump’s immigration policy has not not changed; he is just saying different words. He may have tried out some of those new words on Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, but they dispute what was said during their closed-door meeting.

But there’s no mistaking what Donald Trump said in Phoenix. His Deportation Force would deport millions of people who have lived in the U.S. for years, breaking up families, destroying small businesses and agriculture, and hobbling the manufacturing and construction industries.

Most of the GOP’s hastily assembled “Hispanic Advisory Council for Trump” have since self-deported from the campaign, and RNC Hispanic media relations chief Ruth Guerra has resigned.

At the Phoenix rally, Rudy Giuliani and Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions sported “Make Mexico Great Again Also” baseball caps.

More:

“‘He Used Us as Props’: Conservative Hispanics Deplore Donald Trump’s Speech,” Alan Rappeport, New York Times

“‘No amnesty’: Trump vows to deport millions during ‘first hour in office,'” Rory Carroll, The Guardian

“Trump’s immigration speech decoded: What he said, what it means and how it would work,” Lisa Mascaro, Los Angeles Times

“Fact-checking Donald Trump’s immigration speech,” By Michelle Ye Hee Lee and Glenn Kessler,” Washington Post

Trump Is Running a Hat Business, Not a Campaign

“. . . Trump’s organization spent more money in July on the now-iconic ‘Make America Great Again’ red hats, Trump T-shirts, and mugs than on the staff whose job it is to run the campaign,” observes Zaid Jilani. The campaign paid more than $1.8 million for T-shirts, mugs, stickers, and the trademark hats but only about half that ($921,000) on staff and consultants.

More:

“Donald Trump is Spending More on Hats and Other Merchandise Than on Campaign Staff,” Zaid Jilani, The Intercept

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GOP Finds the 24 Hispanics Who Back Trump

After some extreme vetting, the Republican Party found two dozen Spanish-surnamed Americans who support the GOP presidential candidate. Four are rogue Evangelical pastors and the rest are long-time GOP party hacks, including one from Puerto Rico, where American citizens can’t even vote for President. Donald Trump has less support among Hispanic voters than any Republican candidate since 1996.

Mr. Trump met with his “Hispanic Advisory Council” atop the border wall Trump Tower on Saturday. Participants said the candidate suggested that he wants to figure out a “humane and efficient” manner to deal with undocumented immigrants. They took this to mean some kind of a path to legal status rather than a vaguely sinister reference to ethnic cleansing.

Even a Lobbyist for Tyrants Couldn’t Make Trump Look Good

When Paul Manafort took the helm of the Trump presidential campaign, Republican Party pros were relieved. Here was a guy whose lobbying firm made torturers and tyrants look warm and fuzzy, or at least nearly human. He had done it for Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines. For Jonas Savimbi of Angola. Even Mobutu Sese Seko. Surely he could make Donald Trump look … almost normal.

But Mr. Trump isn’t Nigeria’s Sani Abacha, Somalia’s Siad Barre, or Ukraine’s Viktor Yanukovych. He’s Donald Trump, and doesn’t want a makeover. He likes being Donald Trump, whose outrageous, erratic behavior made him the terror of the GOP playground and won him the nomination. He thinks he can win the presidency the same way, so he doesn’t want to change. Or maybe he just can’t change. In any case he yanked Paul Manafort from the campaign’s driver’s seat and installed Breitbart bad boy Stephen Bannon as his campaign’s CEO, someone as irresponsible as he is. Mr. Bannon will applaud and double-down on every bizarre Trump statement and conspiracy theory. The Trump-Bannon campaign should complete the meltdown of the Republican Party.

More:

“Trump shakes up campaign, demotes top adviser,” Robert Costa, Jose A. DelReal and Jenna Johnson, Washington Post

Update:

Paul Manafort resigned from the Trump campaign Monday morning in order to spend more time with his family lawyers.

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Top image: Trump piñata, by Dalton Ávalos Ramírez.

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Trump: X-Ray the Minds of Immigrants and Tourists

Celebrity golf cheat and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump outlined his anti-terror plans Monday, calling for “Extreme Vetting” to root out people with evil minds before they can enter the United States. Would-be travelers and immigrants would have to pass a test (devised at Trump University, no doubt) to find out if they have bad thoughts or beliefs. That would work because people never change their minds or lie.

Since recent acts of terror have been committed by U.S. citizens, to make this policy effective we’ll all need to undergo “Extreme Vetting.” The values test outlined by Mr. Trump requires recognition of gay rights, but we don’t know if that means Mike Pence will be deported.

More:

“Donald Trump Proposes Ideological Test for Entry to the United States,” Christina Wilkie and Elise Foley, Huffington Post

“Trump proposes ‘extreme vetting’ test for immigrants who may support Isis,”Dan Roberts, The Guardian

“Why Trump’s immigration ideas won’t work,” Nahal Toosi, Politico

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Trump: Ah, THAT Explains It.

Gracie Allen and Pat Paulsen did it first, but Donald Trump is really nailing this presidential campaign thing. Trevor Noah explains: