President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he arrives at the U.S.-Mexico border in McAllen, Texas, January 10, 2019. (Leah Millis/REUTERS)

I oppose a declaration of national emergency, but it’s pretty galling to see the same people who participated in or supported President Obama’s pen-and-phone governing suddenly concerned that a president might try to make an end-run around Congress (although Trump will at least try to make his case based on duly passed statues rather than just writing the law on his own the way Obama did with his unilateral amnesties). When Obama over-reached on immigration, those of us on the right were outraged, but I don’t remember any significant progressive dissent nor much outrage in the media, let alone serious talk of impeachment.


Andy made the case in his book, but no one was inclined to listen. When I suggested that Congress should not invite Obama to deliver the State of the Union in the Capitol given the contempt he showed for the institution, even Republicans said this would go too far. But here we are with Trump just considering the emergency gambit, which some serious people think would pass legal muster, and we are already hearing suggestions of impeachment. I’m not a what-aboutist, but the hypocrisy is constant, overwhelming, and disgusting.