Random Politics & Religion #36

fence is back on the table

foney you still play ffxi?

The gofund me page setup by that Vet has raised $6.82million for the wall in 3 days!

Forget we need more Simpsons clips

I will! I'll be spending some time in the best state there is, Florida!

Yea a little bit.

come join us on shiva! we have punch and pie.

You know, I saw that thread about how easy it was to start over, I am considering coming back to Shiva. Still don't know if I want to deal with Playonline tho.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis announced his resignation on Thursday, citing differences over policy with Donald Trump, a day after the president abruptly called for the withdrawal of American forces from Syria.

Mattis informed the president of his decision in a meeting earlier in the afternoon in which the two discussed policy differences that have included the president’s decision to pull out of Syria, said a White House official. Mattis’s departure didn’t cause the president to rethink his decision on Syria, the official added.

In a two-page letter to the president, Mattis laid out his convictions on the value of U.S. leadership in strategic alliances, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the 74-nation coalition to defeat Islamic State. His letter also suggested differences with Trump over the president’s handling of strategic challenges posed by Russia and China.

“Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position,” Mattis said in the letter to Trump released by the Pentagon.

Moments earlier, Trump announced the news on Twitter, saying that Mattis would be the latest senior official to leave his Cabinet and that the former Marine general would be “retiring, with distinction, at the end of February.” Trump said he would name a new Pentagon chief “shortly.”

Republican Senator Marco Rubio said in a tweet Mattis’s resignation letter “makes it abundantly clear that we are headed towards a series of grave policy errors which will endanger our nation, damage our alliances & empower our adversaries.”

“This is scary,” Senator Mark Warner, the top-ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said in a tweet posted shortly after the announcement. “Secretary Mattis has been an island of stability amidst the chaos of the Trump administration.”

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said she was “shaken” by his resignation.

Mattis departs at a fraught moment in American foreign policy as the administration grapples with North Korean nuclear talks, Russian aggression in Ukraine and growing influence in Syria, rising tensions with Iran and an ongoing trade war with China.

The House of Representatives Thursday approved a bill that would fund most of the federal government through early February -- and provides $5.7 billion for President Trump's long-promised border wall, increasing the chances of a partial government shutdown later this week.
Eight Republicans joined all 177 voting Democrats to oppose the measure, which passed 217-185. The bill now goes to the Senate, where it is certain to fall short of the 60 votes needed for passage since the chamber's 49 Democrats are against funding the wall. That, in turn, makes it more likely that parts of the federal government, including nine of 15 Cabinet-level departments and dozens of agencies, will cease operations at midnight Friday.