The Trump White House just can't seem make up its mind about the Muslim ban.

Even though Donald Trump himself has called the ban a "ban" on Twitter - both Homeland Security chief John Kelly and White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer pushed back against that idea today in comments to reporters in Washington.

Spicer was especially adamant - refusing to even say call the ban a "ban" - insisting that it was instead just a "vetting system" to keep Americans safe.

MR. SPICER:    "It can't be a ban if you're letting a million people in. If 325,000 people from another country can't come in, that is by nature not a ban -- it is extreme vetting."

Q    I understand your point. But the President himself called it a ban.

MR. SPICER:    I understand that.

Q   Is he confused or are you confused?

MR. SPICER:   No, I'm not confused. I think that the words that are being used to describe it are derived from what the media is calling this. He has been very clear that it is extreme vetting.

This back and forth about what exactly to call the ban comes as the Trump administration is facing widespread opposition to its policies both in the streets and at the highest levels of the federal government.

On Monday night - Acting Attorney General Sally Yates took the borderline unprecedented step of announcing that she would not defend the Muslim ban in court.

Trump fired her soon afterwards - and replaced her with Dana Boente - the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Meanwhile - over at the State Department - more than 1,000 diplomats have signed a dissent cable condemning Trump's actions - and many more are expected to add their signatures in the coming days.

Just 11 days into his first - and hopefully only - term in office - Donald Trump has already provoked the most serious constitutional crisis we've seen maybe since the Nixon days.

But all politics aside - what does the Muslim ban mean for the people who are actually affected by it?

And where are we in terms of getting more clarity about how this ban will work going forward?

-Thom

(What do you think? Tell us here.)

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10:30pm... Trump Administration, "Corporations Can Have Religion" (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

Community Square  

 "California, my home"
  Posted by MLK.

 

 "Congressional GOP Utterly Silent After Jason Chaffetz Busted Using Personal Email Server"
  Posted by bluedog 294.

 

 "Can You Imagine?"
  Posted by Oceanbreeze1.

 

 "The Consent Of The Governed"
  Posted by Dave Rosene.

 

To upload an image click on the "add new blog post" link over at the community.

Wednesday's Daily Stack 

Article: "Neil Gorsuch's mother once ran the EPA. It didn't go well." by Brady Dennis and Chris Mooney.

Book: Are You Tough Enough? by Anne Burford with John Greenya.

Article: "Anne Gorsuch Burford" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Trump picks Gorsuch, conservative in Scalia mode, as Supreme Court nominee" by Gary Gately.

Article: "Trump Taps Conservative Judge Neil Gorsuch For Supreme Court" by Julie Pace And Mark Sherman.

Article: "Trump Nominates Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court" by Julie Hirschfeld Davis, Mark Landlerjan.

Article: "Trump picks Gorsuch for Supreme Court" by Shane Goldmacher, Josh Gerstein, Matthew Nussbaum.

Article: "Trump nominates Judge Gorsuch to Supreme Court" by Judson Berger.

Article: "Trump Nominates Neil Gorsuch for the U.S. Supreme Court" by Matt Ford.

Book: The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia by Neil M. Gorsuch.

Article: "Roe v. Wade" by History Channel.

Article: "The GOP's Stealth War Against Voters" (Crosscheck) by Greg Palast, August 24, 2016.

Tweet: ".@SenSchumer on #SCOTUS: "The need for a mainstream consensus candidate is greater now than ever before because we are in new territory."" (w/video) by CSPAN.

 

Article: "Trump names Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma attorney general suing EPA on climate change, to head the EPA" by Chris Mooney, Brady Dennis and Steven Mufson.

Article: "Trump's EPA Pick Is Skeptical of More Than Just Climate Change" by Robinson Meyer.

Article: "Hobby Lobby and executive power: Gorsuch's key rulings" by Steve Vladeck.

Case: "Brown v. Board Of Education", 1954 (Segregation in public schools) (overturned Plessy v. Ferguson).

Article: "Roe v. Wade" by History Channel.

Article: "Senate Finance Democrats boycott Mnuchin, Price votes" by Zachary Warmbrodt.

Article: "Republicans suspend committee rules, advance Mnuchin, Price nominations" by MJ Lee.

Article: "Congresswoman Waters Introduces Legislation Urging Investigation of President Trump's ties to Russia and Cyberattacks" by Rep. Maxine Waters.

Quote: "If a nation expects to be ignorant & free, in a state of civilisation, it expects what never was & never will be. the functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty & property of their constituents. there is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves; nor can they be safe with them without information. where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe." - Thomas Jefferson.

Article: "Congress moves to give away national lands, discounting billions in revenue" by Heather Hansman.

Article: "The Powell Memo or Powell Manifesto".

Case: "Buckley v. Valeo", 1976

Video: Manchin: We should give Neil Gorsuch a chance.

Hour Two: Join The Revolution Where You Live...
- Sarah Van Gelder, The Revolution Where You Live/Yes Magazine    

Article: "Big Protests Are Fine, But Here's a To-Do List for Lasting Change" by Sarah van Gelder.

Site: Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF)

Article: "Southern strategy" by Wikipedia.

Event: 1 Feb 7pm, DC: "Sarah Van Gelder - The Revolution Where You Live: Stories from a 12,000-Mile Journey Through a New America.

 

Article: "Understanding the Iran-Contra Affairs" by Brown University.

Article: "'Argo' helps Iran's dictatorship, harms democracy " by Abolhassan Bani-Sadr.

Article: "Republican success opens door to amending U.S. Constitution".

Article: "Nontheists Reject President Trump's Supreme Court Nominee" by Secular Coalition for America.

Book: "The Age of Reason" by Thomas Paine.

Case: "Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged v. Burwell".

Article: "Trump raised $11 million in December" by Kenneth P. Vogel.

Article: "Minnesota bill would make convicted protesters liable for policing cost" by Jared Goyette.

Article: "Republicans push anti-protest laws" by Kira Lerner.

Article: "Republican Lawmakers In Five States Propose Bills To Criminalize Peaceful Protest" by Spencer Woodman.

Article: "On the Coming Decline and Fall of the US Empire" by Johan Galtung.

Article: "Johan Galtung" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Read the full transcript of President Trump's unusual Black History Month remarks here", 1 February 2017.

Article: "Trump used a Black History Month speech to talk about himself, how he did with black voters, and CNN" by German Lopez.

Article: "White House ices out CNN" by Hadas Gold.

Article: "Sanders, Cruz to face off in debate over future of ObamaCare" (CNN next Tuesday, Feb. 7, at 9 p.m.) by Jennifer Calfas.

Article: "Donald Trump And A Group Of White Men Just Signed A Policy Affecting 27 Million Women Without Blinking An Eye" by Sadie L. Trombetta.

Article: "Dove blasts Trump administration in new ad" by Hayley Peterson.

Article: "Trump trip canceled; Harley-Davidson wasn't comfortable with likely protests, per source" by Jeremy Diamond.

Clip: Phone conversation between President Lyndon Johnson and Sen. Everett Dirksen (R) 968. "Here's the latest information we've got... This is treason. ... "

Article: "Neil Gorsuch on LGBT Rights: What Are His Views?" by Stephanie Dube Dwilson.

Article: "Trump administration circulates more draft immigration restrictions, focusing on protecting U.S. jobs" by Abigail Hauslohner and Janell Ross.

Law: "Taft-Hartley Labor Act", 1947.

Act: "National Labor Relations Act", 1935.

Article: "Right-To-Work Laws: Designed To Hurt Unions and Lower Wages" by Ross Eisenbrey, March 2, 2015.

Quote: "Less government in business and more business in government" - Warren Harding.

 

Talk Media News Segment:
- Ellen Ratner, Bureau Chief 

Article: "Obama denies last minute pardon to Fmr. Alabama Gov. Siegelman" by Jordan Laporta.

Article: "Document filed in Boston court reveals visas were revoked for people from 7 banned countries" by Milton Valencia and Maria Sacchetti.

Article: "Trump Convenes Black History Month 'Listening Session' With People Who Like Him" by Igor Bobic.

Article: "GOP Senate Finance vote suspends rules to send Price and Mnuchin to floor" by Bryan Renbaum.

Article: "Senate Democrats just stalled Scott Pruitt's nomination to the EPA with a vote boycott" by Brad Plumer.

Article: "Harley-Davidson cancels Trump visit to sign executive orders because of protests" by Carlos Garcia.

Article: "Growth in U.S.-China trade deficit between 2001 and 2015 cost 3.4 million jobs" by Robert E. Scott.

Article: "U.N. chief says Trump travel ban 'not best way to protect U.S.'" by Ned Parker.

Article: "City upon a Hill" by Wikipedia.

Article: "White House Hits Back Against Senate Democrats For Blocking Unnamed SCOTUS Nominee" by Katie Pavlich.

Article: "Ban Ki-moon, former UN chief, drops South Korea presidency bid" by BBC.

Article: "Reeling left takes heart in anti-Trump protests" by Niall Stanage and Mike Lillis.

Article: "Protests against the Vietnam War".

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman 

Hour Three: Crony Capitalism Controls America...Fight Back
- Wendell Potter, Tarbell.org/Nation On The Take/Deadly Spin  

Article: "Ida Tarbell" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Secret recording reveals GOP is freaking out about repealing and replacing Obamacare" by Erin Corbett.

Article: "Trump promises all of America will be 'beautifully covered' under his secret health care plan" by Barbara Morrill.

Article: "Donald Trump: Single-payer "works well in Canada"" by Sarah Kliff.

 

Article: "New study finds 45,000 deaths annually linked to lack of health coverage" by David Cecere, September 17, 2009.

Quote: "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." - John F. Kennedy.

Article: "Wise use movement" by Wikipedia.

Site: DC Report.

Article: "Congress Is Preparing To Give Away Public Land" by Sarah Okeson and David Cay Johnston.

Article: "S.Amdt. 838 - 114th Congress (2015-2016): To establish a spending-neutral reserve fund relating to the disposal of certain Federal land." by Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

Law: "Davis-Bacon Act", 1931.

Article: "McCain: Americans won't pick lettuce for $50 an hour?" by eclecticbrotha.

Site: "Heritage Foundation".

Article: "Blueprint for a New Administration: Priorities for the President" by The Heritage Foundation.

Article: "Joseph Goebbels's secretary who 'knew nothing' about the Holocaust, dies aged 106" by Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith.

Thursday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET 

 

Congressman Mark Pocan (D-WI, 2nd District) will be calling in to talk about the issues of the day.

 

And, the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...

 

The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"

 

And don't forget...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...