ChiGoose

[Breaking] Martial law forces withdraw from parliament after nullification vote “Forces have completely withdrawn from South Korea's National Assembly building, the Speaker's office confirmed to local media early Wednesday morning. The withdrawal came shortly after the National Assembly voted unanimously to nullify President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law, with all 190 lawmakers present voting in favor at 1:01 a.m. Wednesday. Earlier footage showed soldiers breaking windows to enter the main parliamentary floor. Forces were positioned at the main entrance where they blocked civilians, and outside the main chamber where lawmakers were present. Parliamentary staff reportedly confronted the soldiers, with some using fire extinguishers to block their entry, according to local media reports.”

Korean soldiers had entered the National Assembly building. Reporting is that they are now starting to retreat in the wake of parliament voting to lift martial law.

Looks to me like their president is using unsupported claims of foreign and domestic pro-North Korean actors in order to use martial law against his opponents. Not good. Wonder how this will impact US Forces Korea. We have a lot of good people over there. South Korea President Yoon declares martial law, slams domestic opponents "SEOUL, Dec 3 (Reuters) - South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday declared martial law in a surprise late-night TV address, slamming domestic political opponents and sending shockwaves through the country. Yoon said opposition parties had taken the parliamentary process hostage. He vowed to eradicate "shameless pro-North Korean anti-state forces" and said he had no choice but to take the measure to safeguard constitutional order. Yonhap news agency cited the military as saying activities by parliament and political parties would be banned, and that media and publishers would be under the control of the martial law command. Yoon did not cite any specific threat from the nuclear-armed North, instead focusing on his domestic political opponents. It is the first time since 1980 that martial law has been declared in South Korea. South Korea has had a series of authoritarian leaders early in its history but has been considered democratic since the 1980s. The Korean won was down sharply against the U.S. dollar. A central bank official said it was preparing measures to stabilise the market if needed. Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok has convened an emergency meeting among top economic officials, his spokesman said in a text message. Yoon's predecessor, Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party, said in a post on X that the country's democracy is in crisis. "I hope that the National Assembly will act quickly to protect our democracy from crumbling," he wrote in a post. "I ask the people to join forces to protect and save democracy and to help the National Assembly function normally." The United States is in contact with the South Korean government and is monitoring the situation closely, a White House spokesperson said. Some 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea to guard against the North. A spokesman for the U.S. military command did not answer repeated phone calls. Japan's prime minister's office could not immediately be reached for a comment outside of business hours. YOON SLAMS PARLIAMENT "I declare martial law to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free constitutional order," Yoon said. Yoon did not immediately specify who constituted the pro-North Korean anti-state forces. But he has cited such forces in the past as hindering his agenda and undermining the country. He did not say in the address what specific measures will be taken. Yonhap reported that the entrance to the parliament building was blocked. "Tanks, armored personnel carriers, and soldiers with guns and knives will rule the country," Lee Jae-myung, leader of the opposition Democratic Party, which has the majority in parliament, said in a livestream online. "The economy of the Republic of Korea will collapse irretrievably. My fellow citizens, please come to the National Assembly." Yoon cited a motion by the country's opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in parliament, this week to impeach some of the country's top prosecutors and its rejection of a government budget proposal. "Our parliament has become a den for criminals. It has paralyzed the administrative and legal systems by ramming through (opposition-driven) legislations and is attempting to overthrow our democratic system," Yoon said. South Korea's ministers on Monday protested the move by the opposition DP last week to slash more than 4 trillion won from the government's budget proposal. Yoon said that action undermines the essential functioning of government administration. South Korea's opposition parties held a rally on Saturday calling for Yoon to accept a special prosecutor investigation on allegations of fraud against the first lady, the latest such protests by the party and civic groups in recent weeks against Yoon. In October, North Korean propaganda leaflets apparently carried by balloons were found scattered on the streets of Seoul, including some making personal attacks on Yoon and the first lady.

Holy straw-man projection, Batman! I greatly appreciate you reinforcing my point that MAGA falsely believes that Dems want open borders simply because they reject ineffective and dumb MAGA border policies.

I'm not sure what you think temporary means, but the factors listed for the decrease in crossings are all things that could change in a moment. In fact, Trump seems intent on undermining probably the most important factor: greater cooperation and partnership from Mexico. Again, I don't think you can claim you've solved an issue if your solution can be done away with easily and by people other than yourself. You seem hung up on the fact that temporary things can work temporarily but I don't think you can call that "solving" anything. MAGA thinks everything is simple and can be solved simply. Usually with loud noises and big talk. But their policies fall apart when applied to the real world because not everything is as simple as a Truth Social post.

It’s really not as hard as you’re making it seem. Executive orders are insufficient for solving any longstanding problem because they lack the finality of an enacted law. They are a stopgap at best. If you actually care about solving a problem like the border crisis, you would do so with a law, not an executive order. Any action taken by executive order would almost certainly be insufficient and temporary. Reading your responses is showing me that you are an unserious hack who just guzzles whatever nonsense makes them feel good because solving hard problems is too difficult for you. The only actual solution to the border crisis is congressional action. Everything else is either mitigation or a distraction. But you seem willing to follow the shiny object because it’s easier than actually thinking for yourself.

You said “you posted Biden fixed 75% problem in June of 2024 without Congress by executive order” when I said no such thing, as I had quoted an article saying there were multiple factors diving down illegal immigration. You’re continuing to ignore the non-executive action factors driving the change and then appearing confused when called out on it. Additionally, any action that can be immediately rescinded can hardly be called as solving a problem. Unless your definition of solving a problem is kicking the can down the road. Consider sitting down for a bit before you continue to embarrass yourself. Good luck with that. If Trump has his way, you’re going to see massive inflation on produce and other goods. But it’ll be worth it for you, right?

Since you seem to have reading comprehension issues, I’ll point out that the article cited multiple factors, not just the executive order. And in case you also didn’t do well in civics class, you should know that executive orders can be rescinded by any president. They do not have lasting value like a law would. Before you call me a liar, maybe wonder if you’re actually an idiot. You either want to stop illegal immigration or you want to stop anything that could curb it unless you get a big stupid wall across the desert that won’t do anything. The problem isn’t that I want illegal immigration, it’s that the GOP proposals to solve it neither solve it nor address the root causes. They’re just grandstanding non-starters designed to keep the issue alive for elections because it’s a good issue for them. What do you think decriminalize means, by the way?

You would fit in very well with the progressives and DemSocs with your “everything or nothing” approach to lawmaking.

It’s almost as if the only way to solve the border issue is through congressional action and that Biden pursued that path (even allowing one of the most conservative senators to write the bill in exchange for propping up our allies) until it became clear that the GOP had no intention on actually solving the crisis when it’s a good election issue for them. But you dopes keep thinking that the president is a king who can solve everything with the wave of a pen.

Undocumented Immigration Has Plummeted By 98% From 4 Key Countries “Analysts credit the Biden administration’s use of legal pathways, a June 2024 executive order on asylum policy and greater cooperation with Mexico for the significant decline at the border. Illegal entry is lower today than when Donald Trump left office, a fact neither side mentions on the campaign trail.”

The irony here is absolutely incredible. We are finding new levels of lack of self-awareness never before thought to be possible.

Tommy Eyerolls sticks to his script. The idea of having an original thought causes him too much pain, so better for him to just spew the talking points he’s been handed.

GREAT NEWS! I just had a wonderful conversation with the coach of the Buffalo Bills, Sean McDermott. He has agreed to start Josh Allen at Quarterback. We also talked about what can be done to stop the massive Chiefs inflow into the Super Bowl, and also, Bills fans having to watch these Chiefs Super Bowls. It was a very productive conversation!

Let’s take politics out of this and just look at it logically. Negotiator 1: You need to do X, or I’m going to do Y. Negotiator 2: I’ve been doing X for a year. If you do Y, I’m going to do Y back to you. Negotiator 1: Good news, everyone! I have convinced Negotiator 2 to do X! Would anyone here honestly think Negotiator 1 did a good job?

ITT: Incredibly gullible people

Let me know when a Dem president nominates Oprah to the cabinet because they like her on tv

Cool story you tell yourself, buddy. You’re doing that projection thing again.

It seems fairly apparent at this point that an important factor on whether or not Trump will nominate someone is if he sees them on the TV and they butter him up enough, regardless of their experience or qualifications.

MAGA: Claudia said this thing and it totally supports our policy! Reality: Claudia did not say that. Here’s what she actually said. MAGA: Oh, now liberals are quoting Claudia approvingly? Marxists! You can’t make it up.

Because our refineries weren’t built to process the shale oil we get here and are better suited to crude we can import. So we make something that is more useful to others so we sell it to them and buy things that are more useful to us. Makes sense to me.

Some fun facts about American energy independence: We import energy that better fits our needs and export what we produce here that isn't as good for our systems: "U.S. refineries are well-suited to process heavy, sour crude oils. But the oil produced from the shale oil boom is primarily lighter and sweeter. Thus, U.S. oil producers can export this oil, while refiners can import the heavy, sour crude that they prefer." We also import energy to process for sale: "The second reason is that we may simply import crude oil to process it and export the finished products. In that scenario, we aren’t importing oil because we need it, but rather because it is financially lucrative to do so." "During President Trump’s term, the U.S. imported an average of 9.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and finished products per day." "But the shale boom unleashed huge amounts of domestic oil and gas, and by 2012 U.S. net imports had fallen to half the 2005 level. By the time President Trump took office in 2017, U.S. net energy imports had fallen 75% from the 2005 level." "In 2022, U.S. net energy exports grew to 5.94 quads, which is the highest number on record. Total U.S. energy production was also the highest on record. Overall, the U.S. produced 2.5% more energy in 2022 than we consumed. By comparison, in 2005 the U.S. consumed 44% more energy than we produced." "In conclusion, 2022 marked the highest level of US energy independence since before 1950." TIL: Apparently Trump was president in 2022?

It's probably a good idea to be skeptical of posts about an article that don't include a link to the article, especially if the post is from a questionable source like Charlie Kirk. Here is the actual story: Migrant Caravans Not Reaching Border, Claudia Sheinbaum Says After Trump Threats What Sheinbaum actually said is that Mexico was already taking the actions Trump demanded *before* he proposed these tariffs. She did not say that they would change how they approach the border in light of the tariffs but did threaten retaliatory tariffs (which is an obvious reaction the US should expect from any country upon which we place broad-based tariffs). "Maybe President Trump doesn't know this, but of those arriving at the border—which is significantly fewer, 75 percent less than in December 2023—half them have a CBP One appointment. In other words, they have an appointment. So, they [the U.S.] are the ones inviting them to come to the United States," she said. Sheinbaum also highlighted Mexico's proactive role in addressing migration while criticizing the U.S. for failing to tackle the root causes. "If a percentage of what the United States spends on war were dedicated to peace and development, it would address the underlying causes of migration," she said, advocating for regional investment over punitive measures." Also, it's a bit strange that Trump originally proposed the tariffs as an economic measure to allow for tax cuts (it's clear that he incorrectly believes that the foreign countries pay the tariffs when the burden is actually placed on US consumers) but now he's saying it's to curb certain behaviors. However, his inconsistency has never been a problem for his supporters before...

Trump must have some issue with the USMCA trade agreement since he's vowing to break it on day one. I guess he thinks it was negotiated by an idiot and/or loser?

After WWII, we rebuilt the global system in our favor. After the collapse of the USSR, we positioned ourselves on top of the global order. Now, we have decided to cede that power and responsibility, leaving a void to be filled by whoever wants it.