Judicial Overreach And Other Stories

Late last night, a federal judge in Hawaii stayed President Trump's revised Executive Order temporarily suspending travel into the United States from six countries.  (The original EO included seven countries.  Iraq has been removed.)  Earlier today, a judge in Maryland made a similar ruling.  Naturally, various people and websites on the right quickly published their reactions.  For example, go here, here, here, here, and here.  I would merely add that the judge's decision seems to place an inordinate amount of importance on then-candidate Trump's statements during his campaign, while downplaying the actual text of the EO and the law (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)) under which the EO was made.  This is troubling because while laws and EO's can be amended by the appropriate authorities, campaign statements, no matter how later clarified, will always stand as historical fact from when they are first uttered.  I have also noticed that, generally speaking, the attitude of the left has completely reversed from their opposition to Arizona statute SB 1070.  Back then, they regarded immigration as a federal matter, not a state matter.  Now, it appears that states can sue to undo the actions of the federal government, including the president, on immigration policy.  On the other hand, no one seemed to have a problem when Obama paused the processing of refugees from Iraq in 2011.

In related matters, some have noticed that former President Obama traveled to Hawaii a few days before the decision was handed down, and the judge and Obama graduated together at Harvard Law School.  These things are probably irrelevant, but they still make you wonder what's going on.  Meanwhile, our ambassador to the United Nations gives her opinion.

In other news:

Is it now OK to threaten the president?

Rightwing radio host Michael Savage was allegedly attacked after walking out of a restaurant.

My alma mater is reportedly planning to demolish and replace the student's center in which I had done my fair share of hanging around.

If your jewelry has been stolen, you can look for it on a website.

Some Catholics are still discussing the reason for Pope Benedict XVI's resignation.

To force down drug prices, the U.S. could use its own patent rights.

Yesterday, there was an election in the Netherlands.

Once again, dogs prove themselves to be man's best friend.

In Peru, a woman pulls herself out of a flood.

And finally, watch out for snow when a train comes in.