Living in the Era of Trump

I have written that one of the most interesting stories over the next few years is the information put out by the government. There are always issues of trust (think Iraq war) but I believe that most government bureaucrats attempt, in the words of an influential book I read in Graduate School; “Speaking Truth to Power”   To force the Bureaucracy to make up facts or present half-data is, in even the short range, frightening. The blatant manipulation (and still making a poor case) for the Travel Ban is a case in point.  The record of exaggerations; bizarre conflations; and the still obvious lack of any evidence in the DHS report is remarkable.

It is also interesting how effectively Trump has linked separate issues. In a future post I will parse out the differences between immigration, refugees, and immigrants and the spurious links to terror and crime. This is not to say that the threat of terrorism isn’t real — even if it is statistically remote there is no denying that people with funds, time, and motivation are planning events. But this has almost no connection with the travel ban. Sad.