Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents defied the orders of federal judges regarding Donald Trump’s travel bans on Sunday, according to members of Congress and attorneys who rallied protests around the country in support of detained refugees and travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries.I don't think we're there yet. All this shit has happened over a weekend and, as anyone who has ever worked in a large bureaucracy or organization knows, the weekend is when the the adults are away.[1]
On Sunday afternoon, four Democratic members of the House of Representatives arrived at Dulles airport in Virginia on word that people had been detained and denied access to lawyers.
“We have a constitutional crisis today,” representative Don Beyer wrote on Twitter. “Four members of Congress asked CBP officials to enforce a federal court order and were turned away.”
Second, the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) have a long history of working in what they regard as a Constitution-free zone.[2] For a bit of time, they were searching any aircraft, anywhere, that they damn well felt like searching. Those goons claim the right to search any vehicle they want within 100 miles of the border.[3] The adults in the CBP may have to explain to their agents that yes, they work in a country of laws, that the courts interpret the law and they have to follow that.
I think we should see how this plays out over the next few days before we declare it a "constitutional crisis".[4]
This also tells us a lot about President* Trump, and none of it is good. I'll delve into that at a later time.
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[1] Q: What's the difference between the CBP and the Boy Scouts? A: The Boy Scouts have competent adult supervision.
[2] Or freedom free.
[3] So if you're in Haverill and you're heading down to the packie to pick up a coupla nips, the CBP could search you and your Fiat 500 for smuggled diesel engines.
[4] Free tip: Defying a judicial order tends to not go well for one when the matter is appealed.
2 comments:
I suspect that at least one of the judges will take umbrage at the acts when presented with clear evidence of a refusal to comply, and toss someone in jail for contempt. The scholar forced onto a departing plane by agents before finally being released comes to mind.
'Q: What's the difference between the CBP and the Boy Scouts? A: The Boy Scouts have competent adult supervision.'
nono.
'The fish stinks from the head'
It's the White House that lacks adult leadership.
And there's another lovely quote from that noted crackpot and Fascist, Ezra Pound, who did a wonderful translation of Confucius:
"When the head of state, or family, thinks first of gouging out an income, he must perforce do it through small men; and even if they are cleverat their job, if one employ such inferior characters in state and family business, the tilled fields will go rack swamp and ruin, and edged calamities will mount up to the full....
This is the meaning of:
A state does not profit by profits"
Tseng's Comment from Confucius: The Great Digest, the Unwobbling Pivot, and the Analects
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