Ukaz

JFK International Airport, photo by Kelly Lunde/Al Jazeera.

Yesterday was Holocaust Remembrance Day, and Trump seems to have decided to celebrate by issuing this edict reminding us of the American shame and failure to respond to the European refugee crisis in 1939, and emulating it. Many of those who opposed doing anything to rescue Germany's Jews had a slogan: America First!

The White House is an Imperial Bunker now, where Bannon and his freaks are writing up crazy orders, not executive orders of the sort Barack Obama and other presidents have issued, but edicts or ukazes, some with no real world foundation at all like the one for the "great rebuilding of the military" (Hey, military! Would you go rebuild yourself, bigleague?), or just completely mysterious, like the command for the Wall. Trump is like the Catherine the Great of the myth (not the real one, who was a smart cookie and an excellent sovereign, but the imaginary one invented by Russians who couldn't stand being ruled competently, by a woman, and a German to boot): His trusted henchmen draft these demands, and the rest of the government scrambles to figure out what he wants and try to deliver it, or wait out the storm hoping he doesn't get too angry.


With the ban on Muslims (that's what it is, in spite of the denials; just not a ban on Muslims Trump does business with, or have some other method of defending themselves), it looks as if the Department of Justice and National Security Council had no role in drafting it at all—

senior Justice official tells @NBCNews that Dept had no input. not sure who in WH is writing/reviewing. standard NSC process not functioning

— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) January 28, 2017

—and of course neither did the State Department, whose entire management has been driven off the job anyway, with the result that the order seems to ban some fairly important Canadians and Brits—

@elonjames I believe this ban would also include two Canadian federal ministers of govt, so yes incompetence is accurate

— Amil Lindsay (@bamil73) January 28, 2017

And so on.

Pleased to announce w/@NydiaVelazquez the release of Hameed Jhalid Darweesh from detention at JFK. pic.twitter.com/AeKDhIPp7k

— (((Rep. Nadler))) (@RepJerryNadler) January 28, 2017

And hopefully more to come:

With - now released - Iraqi Refugee blocked by Trump’s order at JFK. Working w/@NydiaVelazquez to help 11 more refugees still being held. pic.twitter.com/8HF7jmBdvQ

— (((Rep. Nadler))) (@RepJerryNadler) January 28, 2017

I feel so pleased somehow that the two congresspersons I've voted for over the past 20 or so years (Velásquez in Brooklyn and Nadler in Manhattan) are at the forefront of active and successful resistance to Trump's crazed order.

Torn between really just horror at this and the sense that it it could be Trump's step over the cliff and over in days. It's Chinese New Year—Gong hei fat choi!—and we're home observing, but my heart is half at JFK:

Thousands now gathered at JFK's international arrivals gate to protest Trump's executive order — "Build the wall?" "WE'LL TEAR IT DOWN!" pic.twitter.com/3mJZTPt6V6

— Jack Smith IV (@JackSmithIV) January 28, 2017

Young Flynn didn't get the memo that it's not supposed to be a "Muslim ban":

Making America Great Again! #MuslimBan #saturdaymorning #AmericaFirst @GenFlynn @realDonaldTrump https://t.co/fyn6JYpJf9

— Michael Flynn Jr (@mflynnJR) January 28, 2017

Hearing that customs officials in tears because they can't get guidance from White House, DHS not returning calls, etc and crowds growing.

— Juliette Kayyem (@juliettekayyem) January 28, 2017

The NYC Taxi Workers just called for a work stoppage, starting at 6 pm. No pick ups or drop offs to JFK.

— Katrina vandenHeuvel (@KatrinaNation) January 28, 2017