@blatham,
blatham wrote:
Ed Kilgore makes a very good point I hadn't thought of (and one I've not seen others make, though I might have missed instances of it) - why didn't Trump and team just hold up on the immigration bill for a week or two when all his principle people (like Sessions and Homeland Security chair) would be in place, thus lessening confusion and discord?
Quote: ... They do not give a damn about respectable opinion; they live to defy it. They will not be shaken by judicial thunder; they view judges as pawns in larger battles involving more powerful political and economic forces. They don’t fear GOP elected officials; they’ve watched Republicans turn tail, roll over, and beg for tax-cut treats and other policy concessions; just the day before Trump started this latest conflagration the entire congressional party assembled in Philadelphia to beg its new master for direction.
...The “Muslim ban” is just one of many signs that the new administration is courting confrontation and encouraging fear and anger among its enemies.
Kilgore isn't arguing that startling incompetence is not a feature here, just that there is another important aspect to what's going on that matches particular goals of this group. If we miss this, I think we make a big error.
Interesting. There are several ways of showing that a political movement doesn't give a damn about respectable opinion or judicial thunder , or the positions of elected officials of either party. One is to stage (and finance) protest demonstrations across the country around the inaugrial process and to similarly object to concrete actions by the incoming administration to act on promises that were key elements of its successful campaign, constantly miscgaracterizing them as part of an authoritarian conspiracy ( forgetful of their own similar behavior in office.
I do agree Trump may have been wiser to delay the application of his new restrictions for a few days after their issue to that people already enroute would not be affected. He appears to have been too interested in his personal and dramatic action to make promised changes, and too little of the uses to which his enemies would put them.
I find it fascinating that the very strident voices being raised against Trump fail to recognize the degree to which their own exaggerated indignation and behavior in reaction to his actions duplicates the same ego centrism and authoritarianism of which they so lavishly accuse him.
