It’s no secret that President Donald Trump is not regarded as an intellectual heavyweight. Reports have come out that he finds his new job a bit more difficult than he expected, but the fact that he thought the highest office in the land would be at all easy is really all anybody needs to know about his thought process. Stymied at nearly every turn in his quest to turn the United States into a single rule government, he lashes out like a toddler on Twitter anytime something doesn’t go his way.
Usually, these tweets are directed at political opponents, Saturday Night Live, or private businesses.
But the latest one is directed at none other than the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals following their unanimous ruling that his travel ban is flatly unconstitutional.
An ill-advised policy
The ruling came down following weeks of protest against Trump’s ban that targeted only nations with majority Muslim populations that have never launched an attack on the United States. When the order initially came down, confusion reigned supreme at airports and entry points to the nation, as well as worldwide. Translators who aided the military abroad, students on visas, and people with medical needs in the country were all swept up and held back -- some even dying while awaiting entry.
While the initial rollout of the ban was seen as disastrous by all but the Orwellian Trump administration and a few of his die hard followers, Trump himself considers it a success.
Of course, given his business record, Trump’s definition of success has a much lower bar than the average person’s.
The court cited these issues and more in their ruling, pointing out the confusion at its launch and Trump’s repeated calls for outright bans on Muslim entry into the United States. They also rebuked his legal team’s argument that the executive office has essentially unlimited power with regard to national security -- a very dangerous idea on its face -- and reaffirmed the need for a tricameral government to check against this type of action.
SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2017
SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2017
Trump's simplistic mindset
But since Trump is not used to being told no, his reaction was to throw yet another temper tantrum and lash out in a nonsensical way. For example, telling the court that you will see them in court is sophistry at best.
We can probably safely assume Trump meant that he will appeal the decision, and it seems likely to go all the way up to the Supreme Court at some point this year, but we can’t rule out that the president simply doesn’t understand how government works.
The ruling was 3-0, with the conservative judge joining the two liberal ones in the decision.