To me, two stories stand out above all others this week: Senate Democrats deciding not to shut down the government, and the arrest of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil. I’ll cover the first in the weekly summary and the second in a featured post.
The Khalil case raises two fundamental issues: (1) Is freedom of speech a human right that our government should respect for all people under its jurisdiction? Or is freedom of speech a privilege of citizenship that even legal permanent residents don’t have? (2) Do we still respect the famous quote attributed to Voltaire, that we will defend someone’s freedom to say something we disagree with?
The featured post will discuss those issues, and should appear maybe 10 or so EDT.
Chuck Schumer’s acquiescence with the Republican continuing resolution to keep the government open is partly an issue of strategy (Would Trump give up anything to reopen the government, or would he actually welcome keeping it closed?), but also a question of planning: Even if Schumer didn’t expect House Republicans to hang together enough to pass their continuing resolution, he should have had a plan covering that possibility. As it was, Democrats looked weak and discombobulated.
The week also saw a number of developments in the fight against Trump in the courts. And several writers posted discussions of the secondary effects of Trump trashing America’s image overseas. The summary should be out sometime between noon and 1.
The Weekly Sift 