Good Morning.
Last Friday, as a monster hurricane was about to ravage the coastal areas of Texas, the president decided to pardon the former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona. He also issued an executive order banning transgender individuals from serving in the military and parted ways with a staff member named Sebastian Gorka whose job description had something to do with
combating terrorism but who was usually seen hinting around that white supremacy is an idea whose time should come once and for all. There were continued presidential threats about shutting down the government if The Wall isn't funded by Congress, a structure that was, of course, absolutely going to be paid for by Mexico. There was also something about ending the DACA program and rounding up the children of undocumented immigrants. The official term for this end-of-the-week barrage of pronouncements was Friday News Dump, and pundits said the White House probably hoped the items would be drowned out by the howling winds of Harvey. I don't think so. I don't think 45 likes being upstaged by anything, even a catastrophic weather event.
Gorka can go back to his cave, and the military experts, not the continually unhinged commander-in-chief, can hopefully formulate a workable, decent policy for people who wish to serve in the armed forces but who are dealing with complicated psychological and physical issues. Congress will have to decide what to do about this wall business and whether to shut down the government and compromise the good faith reputation of the United States with its debtors in order to placate, for a few moments anyway, a raging bull. I don't see him suddenly becoming pleasant old Ferdinand if Mitch and Paul tell him the federal beat will go on but maybe we can put up some chain link fencing here and there.
The Arpaio thing troubles me a great deal. This guy was charged with criminal contempt for violating an order to stop his pattern of racial profiling. Sheriff Joe, a name that sounds too affectionate for my liking, was famous for terrorizing anyone who looked like his or her name might end in z and throwing many of them in tent camps where they were required to wear pink jump suits and were fed a diet of sandwiches made with bologna that should have been pitched days before. The sheriff was also part of the crowd, headed up by the current president, that went around yelling that the previous president was born in Kenya, not Hawaii. One wonders whether they actually consider Hawaii a real, live state and how they feel about Hawaiians, given their attitude towards anyone who doesn't quite fit the Aryan dream.
There is something called the rule of law in this country and the Arpaio pardon violated it. People seeking a presidential pardon are supposed to go through the judicial process and eventually show remorse for their offenses. They are not supposed to be waved off into the sunset because they're kindred political spirits. The court system clearly doesn't matter to this president, unless, of course, he needs it to file another lawsuit. The odd notion of three branches of government also seems to have escaped him unless he needs Congress to pass a piece of legislation that strikes his fancy, a fancy that can change this hour, this day, or next week. What is it with someone who cannot focus on the millions of people going through hell and high water?
Best regards,
Elisabeth
Comments