Another week, another month’s worth of news.
Trump is in Singapore, awaiting his meeting with Kim Jong Un. He just left the G-7 summit in Quebec with all our allies mad at us and a trade war brewing, so mission accomplished there. (It takes real talent to piss off the Canadians; most politicians couldn’t manage it.) The main debate about his G-7 performance is whether he’s destroying the alliance of western democracies intentionally or through incompetence. Presumably, this week he will find the company of an absolute dictator more congenial.
But domestic news doesn’t slow down just because the President is making foreign mischief. The Justice Department has just signed onto a case that would declare the pre-existing-condition parts of ObamaCare unconstitutional. We’re running out of space to store all the immigrant children we’re taking away from their parents. A leak case against a Senate committee staffer is invading the workspace of a NYT reporter in new ways, setting up some First Amendment issues. The Supreme Court issued a murky ruling on the case of the anti-gay baker. The EPA gave a major win to the makers of toxic chemicals.
Plus, there’s stuff that stirs up public debate and discussion, even if it doesn’t have major policy consequences. Trump insulted and lied about the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. Anthony Bourdain, the guy who arguably had the best job on TV, committed suicide. Rudy Giuliani slut-shamed Stormy Daniels.
So here’s how I’m going to handle this week: The featured post will take apart the Supreme Court’s Masterpiece Cakeshop decision, and what the divergent opinions mean for future cases. That should be out by 10 EDT.
The rest of it I’ll discuss in the weekly summary. I’ll try to get that out by noon.
The Weekly Sift 