The Ban That’s not a Ban — Well Maybe It Is

I think the Melissa McCarthy skit on Saturday Night Live best summed up how silly this ban is. The skit touched on other topics as well but the ban was one of the main themes. It was nothing short of hysterical.



A travel ban from the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. It applies to green card holders. Oh no it doesn’t. Well maybe it actually does. No need to inform Congress about this. OK if it had to be done over maybe Congress would be consulted. But all the confusion has nothing to do with how badly this executive order was rolled out. No all the confusion was because of the protesters at the airport and the law suits that were filed.

The irony is that the refugees from these countries (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen) have been vetted every which way possible. To say that we don’t know anything about is well a lie. That’s something the Trump administration is getting very good at telling lies. The notion that banning people from these countries will make people here in the US safer is silly. In part because not one person from these countries has committed a terrorist act in this country. It is also ironic that Trump doesn’t do any business in these countries. Now people from countries that have actually committed a terrorist act here in the US, well they still get to come in. Funny how Trump does business in all of those countries.

Obviously such a badly crafted executive order (one that wasn’t even bothered to be sent out to the appropriate legal people) was going to be challenged in court. So there were stays and usual reaction from Trump. The “so called” judge. No he’s not so called at all. He is a judge. And he’s doing his job that’s defined in the Constitution. The Constitution something Trump obviously has never read or has any idea what’s contained in it. Trump of course added that any terrorist act that occurred while this was being argued would be the judge’s fault. Actually it would be Trump’s fault for not taking the time to come up with a decent executive order.

Yesterday was the turn of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to hear the case:

Three federal appellate judges on Tuesday lobbed critical inquiries at those challenging and defending President Trump’s controversial immigration order — whose immediate future now rests with the court.

The three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit aggressively questioned a Justice Department lawyer about what he considered the limits on the president’s power and what evidence Trump relied upon in temporarily barring refugees and citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.

But the panel similarly interrogated Washington state’s solicitor general, who is challenging the president’s directive, over what evidence he had to demonstrate religious discrimination and whether a lower-court judge’s freeze on the ban was too broad.

Looks like no matter what happens this will be going to the Supreme Court.