Not sure if you can “see” this, but I felt this was about the best summary of the situation at the border I have seen. I don’t think there is a single, cogent voice on either Cable or network news. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/20/...ackage-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
So Trump signs the EO to keep families together and now the Dems say, they should be released. They don't want to fix immigration. Even Schumer said they wont vote for immigration bill. I freaking hate the Democrats!
The bad thing about this (politically) moving forward is that Trump fell for the 'gotcha!' play. Congress passed the law to separate illegal alien families long before Trump or even Obama became president. Trump enacted the policy not to separate families, but to enforce existing law. Basic high school Civics explanation of the separation of powers: legislative branch creates law, executive branch enforces law. Trump should have stuck to his guns in saying Congress had to reverse the law. Instead, he bowed to the pressure to do it himself. Now the haters have a choice; either go after him for flip-flopping, or use this as proof that (as some of them say) he thinks of himself as above the law. The one thing he, or any of us, should have believed, is that they would cheer him for this. I certainly knew it would happen.
You know many of us feel the same about the democrats and their leftist socialist allies. However that doesn’t mean the only alternative is Trump and the likes of Steven Miller, Scott Pruitt, Steve Bannon and the far right wing who follow and encourage him. Neither is holding to the classical liberal ideas that our country was founded on and followed until the last two presidents. Both Obama and Trump have bent the traditional use of presidential power in ways not intended. Many of Trump’s acts were only possible because Obama set an extra constitutional precedent. Rather than stand on party many of us stand on principle that seems to have been forgotten or rejected by both sides in a rush to achieve narrow partisan victory.
@mctiger while you’re right Congress passed the laws that apply and are the only ones that can fix it, the executive has always had latitude on how to apply. Obama caught and detained over 20,000 while in office. He also had many children separated from their parents. It’s criminal that the MSM said nothing....but we know why. However there was also a qualitative difference in how they were handled. Usually first time offenders were deported quickly and the children kept close and reunited. Trump had the same laws in place for over a year yet just changed how it was implemented to the results we see today. So in fact his excuse is valueless because it was how he enforced the law before during and now after this episode. It was a cruel use of innocent children in an apparently failed effort for political gain not something he was forced into.
I think it was a smart move. If the courts strike it down, Trump can say see, I told you fuckers so and the blame is back on congress. From an optics perspective, the people on the left already hated him. This wont change for them. He is now in control of the message.
