Stop Trump's Attack on Animal Welfare and Transparency

[Tobi]

"Under the Trump administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has made a shocking decision to remove public access to animal welfare inspection reports from its website, a move which will allow laboratories, puppy mills and circuses to abuse animals without fear of public outcry."
(quoted from the ForceChange petition page; link below.)

The petition here:

https://forcechange.com/166094/stop-trum...nsparency/

[Libby]

ugh I hope he gets impeached soon. Everyday I think to myself, "what stupid thing will he do today?"

[Catherine]

Quote:ugh I hope he gets impeached soon. Everyday I think to myself, "what stupid thing will he do today?"

You notice that you assume he will do something stupid every day. Of course he does do something stupid. He has made your presidency a laughing stock for the rest of the world and a hated reviled figure.  How can one person do so much damage in such a short time.

I signed. He has set many causes back by decades. Millions of animals will suffer because of him.

Animal activists are going to have to fight like never before. We are going to see some real heroes come out of this. Whistle blowers will have to risk much to bring the truth to light.

Meanwhile trump tweets whatever nonsense come into his head. He thinks his word is law and that he can do whatever he pleases. The constitution is going to come under some serious attack before this is over.

I don't think the world can stand this level of tension for four years.
Can they impeach him? Will they?
Nixon was smart enough to resign, but we know this time it won't be so easy.

[LPC]

Politics is a minefield. However, I do not believe that one person should have so much power, whether democrat or republican. We are fortunate that in the UK (of which I am a citizen), there is no president. Any changes in the law, or even changes in regulations, have to go before Parliament for debate. That means that lots of heads get to think about an issue, not just one head. We have the Queen, but she is a figurehead of the state and remains above politics (thank goodness!) Lots of countries have presidents with political power, but for me that is a mistake. I always think of the famous saying of Lord Acton: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."

So instead of saying, "This president is 100% bad" or "This president is 100% good", it is better to say, "Why do you need one man to have power over others? Why not share the responsibility?"

I do not think that this particular issue (withdrawal of public access to animal welfare reports) is actually political at all. It would appear that the animal experimenters issued law suits against the USDA years before Trump even came on the scene and the USDA has given in under legal threats. This site gives the full background to the story:
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/02/u...it-threats

Of course the public should have full access to inspections of animal experimentation sites, but I think it is a mistake (factually) to politicise this particular issue. It is a long-running battle.

[Tobi]

Autocracy is too much for one person, even if their intentions are good. It is dangerous.

[Catherine]

Two thoughts here:

The presidency is not as absolute a power position as he thinks. The Senate and Congress are a natural check and balance to the presidents power and can veto bills he signs. The Supreme court also can stop his actions if they feel they are no legal or constitutional. Finally there is the constitution and no president can  go against the constitution. That being said, I agree with you that there is way too much power in the hands of one man.

We have the same system as the UK and it works. The party in power can be over turned on occasion and a Prime Minister's own party can oust him and put in a new leader.

Second thought: This may not be an actual political issue and it may have been going on for some time. However the change in political climate has allowed things to move in this direction. Under a different administration things would have happened differently.


Canada is an example. I am not saying we have no racism. We struggle with it. However because of trump, certain elements of society are feeling empowered. We have had a mass shooting and there have been a number of Hate Crimes. Racist groups that normally try to keep hidden and now openly advertising in different ways.

I think we will see lots of things happen because of the shift in thinking from the top down.
Maybe circuses will bring back elephants. They would probably get encouragement. I am betting that a certain person loves to see performing animals and doesn't care how they are treated.

[Catslave]

He's a horrible man,nothing to do with politics but I never liked him any way like him even less now,he's narcissistic,sexist,homophobic,racist and every thing he believes in I hate.

[Catherine]

Quote:He's a horrible man,nothing to do with politics but I never liked him any way like him even less now,he's narcissistic,sexist,homophobic,racist and every thing he believes in I hate.

I think that sums it up pretty good.

Never in my worst nightmares did I think he could become president of anything.
Canada's Prime Minister is visiting him on Monday. He has suggested that they may not agree on everything. I suggest that if they don't disagree perhaps he should not come back. He won't be very welcome. All decent people are repulsed by trump.

They should be repulsed by him. He is repulsive.