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You Oughta Know - Too Much

Too Much

Unless you were living under a rock this weekend, you know that a lot happened. So much so that many were echoing my initial thought: “I've never seen Saturday afternoon Twitter on 🔥 like this in the 10 years I've been using it” -Mike Rundle. While that may be true, the news cycle doesn’t stop just because many stop paying attention (and tweeting about it). This weekend was an exception, marking the end of the first week of this administration, during which the president signed six executive orders, eight memorandums, and one proclamation and gave more people than ever before a reason to be both fearful and enraged. Two things stand out the most, however: the immigration ban and the appointment of Steve Bannon (Chief Political Strategist) to the National Security Counsel, something that has never been done before to my knowledge. Dr. Drang had a couple other points about the ban that I found of interest.

The one additional thing I feel necessary to point out is that those who claim reading the original text of Executive Orders is more important than other people’s opinions of the same are naive. While the order itself may be clear in its aim or verbiage, the way an order is carried out is much more important to how it is perceived. The reason why legalese exist is to make the aim and action of an order, court or otherwise, as clear as possible to ensure no misunderstanding. If the administration chose not to be as linguistically clear about its intentions, the order itself is of less value than the ways in which affected departments are executing that order. (In this case, the word is poorly, badly, or terribly)

More Immigration Ban Readings

Getting the News

ProPublica has become one of my favorite sources for all things news related. Well-researched, forward-thinking, and nonpartisan, they are clear about their priorities and use both social media and their website to great effect in disseminating information. Of course, reading the news in not my full time job nor should it be anyone’s, give or take a few specific folks, so having a reputable news source as a go-to for any piece of information is invaluable, especially in the current climate. See the following ProPublica tweets of note:

Today’s Conundrum

Twitter (Head Amry, @LibyaLiberty): The same day the president signed the travel ban, he suggested love and tolerance for Holocaust Remembrance Day.