Trump didn’t declare a national emergency last night and the powers that go along with it, but the logic of what he said and the particularities of the government shutdown make such a declaration very possible. Not only is this wrong on its face; there is no crisis on the border, except for the mistreatment of immigrant families and children.
What is more, it would set a dangerous precedent for Trump to exploit going forward as he gets more and more entangled in legal and political challenges to his presidency.
Don’t buy the idea that because it would end the government shutdown, it’s not the worse thing. It may do that, but in doing so it would open up a very dangerous cans of worms at the border immediately and elsewhere in the not too distant future as well as deeply scar our movement.
Written by
Sam Webb
I'm a long-time socialist and activist, but new to the blogging world. I hope to bring a different perspective on politics, sports, culture, and Marxism. Besides blogging, I also leave plenty of time for swimming, hiking, ESPN, music, reading, drinking good beer, and, not least, my family and friends. I wish I could play basketball, but my knees ruled out that possibility long ago.
While I currently reside in New York, my politically formative years were spent in Portland, Me. and Detroit during the 1970s and 1980s. I graduated from St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia (where I played basketball) and received a MA in economics from the University of Connecticut.
I was the national chairperson of the Communist Party, USA from 2000 until 2014 when I stepped down at the convention. In 2016 I resigned from the Communist Party two years later. We were no longer on the same page.
