Bad Propaganda Theatre
by digby
GOP lawyers insist that whatever drivel Trump vomits out in person or on his twitter feed is legally irrelevant. But this ridiculous manufactured “crisis” is salient?
Liptak also reports that the lawyers are “looking for other ways to illustrate that an emergency is underway, recognizing a declaration would be challenged by Democrats. That has included hosting lawmakers in the Situation Room, a setting that lends to the sense of crisis.”— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) January 10, 2019
This is getting dumber by the day. I don’t think even Trump’s unqualified judges would buy this nonsense. I guess you never know, but a fake emergency that allows Trump to expressly ignore the most important congressional prerogative — the power of the purse — in pursuit of a policy that is only supported by a minority of the country for what is clearly political purposes is a very, very serious abuse of presidential power.
It’s possible they will let him get away with it in the end, of course. We are in the Twilight Zone. And after all, congress has abdicated their duty many times before, setting up the inevitable moment when a president would blatantly abuse the power he was given. But if the courts can’t bring themselves to check that power in this instance, we are probably permanently on the road to a new, more autocratic, America. God help us when there’s a real crisis.
.