11/21/18: Trump is running out of people to insult. A target of opportunity suddenly presents itself when Chief Justice John Roberts faults him for his attack on an “Obama-appointed judge” who blocked his new policy on immigrants seeking asylum. (See: 11/20/18.)
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“That independent judiciary we should all be thankful for.”
Chief Justice John Roberts
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Knowing that faith in the American system of justice is critical, Chief Justice Roberts releases the following statement:
We do not have Obama judges or
Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary
group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those
appearing before them. That independent judiciary is something we should all be
thankful for.
Trump is not thankful. He believes he should get his way every time he goes to court. “Sorry,” he tweets, “Chief Justice John Roberts, but you do indeed have ‘Obama judges.’ “We need protection and security,” he adds, and “these rulings are making our country unsafe! Very dangerous and unwise!”
One could attempt to explain to Trump supporters why Trump is dangerously wrong. One might note that the Founding Fathers created an independent judiciary to serve as a check on the executive branch. One could point out that “Obama-appointed judges” aren’t against safety, so much as they are against presidents who would love to ignore laws that they find inconvenient.
Trump supporters might not be able to see the forest for the
fat orange sloth in the Oval Office. But the president’s continued attacks on
the federal judiciary are increasingly alarming.
Robert Carlson, president of the American Bar Association, releases a statement condemning Trump:
The American Bar Association is
committed to an independent, impartial judiciary that is free from political
influence. An independent, impartial judiciary is critical to upholding our democracy and our system of government
[emphasis added].
We agree with Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts’s observation that we do
not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges, and that
an independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.
Chief Justice Roberts was right, the ABA concludes, in his defense of the judiciary in the face of Trump’s attacks. “As we celebrate this Thanksgiving holiday,” the ABA concludes, “let us all count our blessings as Americans–free speech; free press; an independent, impartial judiciary; and the ability of every person in our country to stand up and speak out in favor of the rule of law.”
(We’re still safe – for now.)
*
IN THE MEANTIME, President Trump hears weather forecasters predicting the coldest Thanksgiving in nearly a century in the Northeast. The high for Boston is expected to be 21°.
That means Trump has to do what Trump has to do. And that means he puts out a stupid tweet: “Brutal and Extended Cold Blast could shatter ALL RECORDS. Whatever happened to Global Warming?”
(Sadly, when I check two days later this tweet has 103,760 “likes,” a damning indictment of the nation’s education system.)
“A dangerous clown.”
Real scientists are appalled. Michael Mann, an expert on climate science at Penn State, says in an email: “This demonstrates once again that Donald Trump is not an individual to be taken seriously on any topic, let alone matters as serious as climate change. He is a clown – a dangerous clown.”
Bill McKibben, the Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College, provides a map to help explain global trends vs. local weather events. “I know you’re Mr. America-is-all-that-matters,” McKibben tweets, “but climate is actually a global phenomenon. Here’s today’s global weather map (oh, and red=hot.) As a whole, Earth is about 1.2 degrees above preindustrial temps today.”
If you want evidence of the dangers of climate change, it’s not hard to
find.
The president could try not tweeting for a week, turn off the television, and
do a little reading himself. (See:
11/23/18.)
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