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Executive Orders aren’t magic?

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As a friend wrote derisively on Facebook, “what, Executive Orders aren’t magic?”

Trump’s flashy executive actions could run aground (Politico)

The breakneck pace of Trump’s executive actions might please his supporters, but critics are questioning whether the documents are being rushed through without the necessary review from agency experts and lawmakers who will bear the burden of actually carrying them out. For example, there are legal questions on how the country can force companies building pipelines to use materials manufactured domestically, which might not be available or which could violate trade treaty obligations. There’s also the question of whether the federal government can take billions from cities who don’t comply with immigration enforcement actions: Legal experts said it was unclear.

Why Trump’s Staff Is Lying

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From Tyler Cowen in Bloomberg View:

Trump specializes in lower-status lies, typically more of the bald-faced sort, namely stating “x” when obviously “not x” is the case. They are proclamations of power, and signals that the opinions of mainstream media and political opponents will be disregarded. The lie needs to be understood as more than just the lie.

Source: Why Trump’s Staff Is Lying – Bloomberg View

Note that Cowen is a Libertarian frequently associated with the Koch brothers, which makes this analysis particularly interesting.

Why people are afraid: domestic edition

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This comes from Slate today: The Trump-Era Assault on Marriage Equality Has Begun in Texas.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decisions undoubtedly prohibit the government from depriving couples of marriage rights merely because they are gay. Yet the Texas Supreme Court’s inaction prompted outrage from state Republican officials and anti-gay activists, who urged the justices, who are elected, to take the case and allow Texas cities to discriminate against same-sex couples. And on Friday, the court took the first step, caving to Republican demands and agreeing to hear the case in March—a worrying sign that the justices, fearful of a re-election fight, may soon yield to political pressure and roll back marriage equality in Texas.

Source: The Trump-Era Assault on Marriage Equality Has Begun in Texas

Charles Blow: Are You Not Alarmed?

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In the New York Times, columnist Charles Blow goes a little deeper into the foreign relations issues I wrote about the other day.

Toss ideology out of the window. This is about democracy and fascism, war and peace, life and death. I wish that I could write those words with the callous commercialism with which some will no doubt read them, as overheated rhetoric simply designed to stir agitation, provoke controversy and garner clicks. But alas, they are not. These words are the sincere dispatches of an observer, writer and citizen who continues to see worrisome signs of a slide toward the exceedingly unimaginable by a man who is utterl

Source: Are You Not Alarmed? – The New York Times

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