McCain Rips Trump's Failure To Lead
McCain, in speech, denounces 'spurious nationalism'. Politico: "Sen. John McCain delivered a condemnation of 'spurious nationalism' on Monday night in Philadelphia, using his acceptance speech for the National Constitution Center's Liberty Medal to issue a call to American ideals.'To fear the world we have organized and led for three-quarters of a century, to abandon the ideals we have advanced around the globe, to refuse the obligations of international leadership and our duty to remain 'the last best hope of earth' for the sake of some half-baked, spurious nationalism cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems,' McCain said, 'is as unpatriotic as an attachment to any other tired dogma of the past that Americans consigned to the ash heap of history.'"
Florida Declares State Of Emergency Before White Nationalist Rally
Florida governor declares state of emergency in advance of Richard Spencer event. WaPo: "Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency Monday in anticipation of a speech by white nationalist Richard Spencer at the University of Florida. Scott (R) warned in an executive order that a 'threat of a potential emergency is imminent' in Alachua County, where the public university is located... Spencer led hundreds of torch-bearing white supremacists, white nationalists and others on a march chanting, 'You will not replace us' and 'Jews will not replace us' at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville in August. The group fought briefly with counterprotesters, and violence worsened the following day when a man drove a car into a crowd of people protesting a planned 'Unite the Right' rally, killing a woman and injuring others."
Trump Drug Czar Nominee Stoked Opioid Crisis
Marino blocked DEA from opioid enforcement. WaPo: "In April 2016, at the height of the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history, Congress effectively stripped the Drug Enforcement Administration of its most potent weapon against large drug companies suspected of spilling prescription narcotics onto the nation’s streets... The chief advocate of the law that hobbled the DEA was Rep. Tom Marino, a Pennsylvania Republican who is now President Trump’s nominee to become the nation’s next drug czar. Marino spent years trying to move the law through Congress. It passed after Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) negotiated a final version with the DEA."
Trump Judicial Appointees Draw Fire
Trump could remake judiciary for ‘40 years' with controversial picks. Politico: "President Donald Trump has nominated 50 candidates to lifetime appointments to the federal bench — including a man who asserted transgender children were evidence of 'Satan’s plan,' one deemed unqualified by the American Bar Association and a handful of prolific bloggers. And the GOP has unanimously stuck by Trump’s judges. Senate Republicans have cleared judicial nominees at a comparatively rapid clip this year — even as the conservative base has complained they’re not moving fast enough — and are planning to pick up the pace even more in the coming months. Among the more eyebrow-raising judges is Charles Goodwin, who has been nominated to the federal bench in Oklahoma. He is the first judicial nominee since 2006 to earn a “not qualified” label from the American Bar Association, which has screened judicial candidates since the 1950s."
Lawyers Seek Extreme Remedy To Block Trump Travel Ban
Extreme remedy a last resort to block Trump measures. CNN: "As the Trump administration seeks to obliterate Obama-era policies, progressive lawyers are racing to court asking for an extreme form of relief, urging judges to reach deep into their judicial tool kits and issue national - even global - injunctions... experts say the extreme remedy squelches the benefit of having multiple judges consider a question and gives lawyers an incentive to "judge shop" their cases to judges they believe will rule in their favor. Court battles are raging across the country less than a year into the Trump administration. Already, federal judges have issued injunctions on various versions of President Donald Trump's travel ban and his policy toward so-called sanctuary cities. Finding success, liberal lawyers are also challenging - and sometimes asking for similar relief - in the areas of LGBT rights, Obama-era policies aimed at young undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children and the contraceptive mandate."
