Why didn't they use this "evidence" during the appeal before the 9th Circuit?
One of the things the Appellate Court cited in their decision was the government's lack of evidence that these countries actually present a threat, even after being asked to provide that evidence. The government's argument seemed to simply be that the EO was not reviewable by the courts, which is a ridiculous assertion that flies in the face of the way our government works. Bush tried that same argument and got slapped down by the courts; the difference is that although Bush said he disagreed with the decision (which is fine), he accepted it and didn't lash out personally at the judges.
Trump has a habit of tweeting stuff he sees or thinks he sees on the news, sometimes only a few minutes later. I follow his Twitter feed; although he's angry about being shot down by the 9th Circuit, he has yet to mention this 'evidence", which leads me to question whether the report of it is accurate.
One of the other reasons the Court cited: the WH Legal Counsel presented a memo saying that the EO did not apply to green-card holders. The Court's response was basically this - you're not the President and you're not in the chain of command, so just sit down and shut up. Further, the EO was never changed to reflect this opinion, so we basically have a single document that was claimed mean one thing, is now claimed to mean another, and could later be claimed to mean something else altogether because you never changed a single word in it.
Trump's alternate reality - the belief that things mean only what he says they mean, and things he thinks happened actually happened - just ran headlong into actual reality.
I am so thankful that the men who formed this country 240 years ago were smart enough to realize that putting unlimited power in the hands of a demagogue would destroy us. Three co-equal and independent branches of government to provide checks and balances - absolutely brilliant. |
