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PBC News & Comment: United States of Fear and Chaos

Operating with equal parts fear, ignorance and arrogance, Trump unleashes unvetted royal decrees, and innocent people suffer as thousands protest–Trump’s Friday night order, pandering to irrational fears of foreign terrorists, was poorly conceived and implemented without proper vetting, as analyzed by Scott Shane in NY Times  and Kevin Gosztola at Shadowproof
–2 courageous women defy trump: federal judge Ann Donnelly and acting AG Sally Yates
–we only know some of the stories of the innocent people who were harmed by this sweeping action; some green card holders were coerced to give up rights
–Trump names director of deportation unit to interim ICE director
–Trump’s travel ban stokes outrage in UK, where 1.6 million sign petition to block state visit by the Donald, and parliament will debate it
–Trump plays game show host on regulation: you must kill 2 regs for each new one adopted, as if all regulations have equal weight
–Trump’s “stone cold crazy” move to put Steve Bannon on NSC
–draft cybersecurity plan shifts power to Pentagon, which is supposed to be barred from domestic activities
–Putin purges his top cyber spooks, and US corporate media jump to conclusions about connection to alleged Russian interference in elections
–the Trump effect: mosque in Texas is torched, and Canadian white nationalist kills 6 and wounds 8 at mosque in Quebec
–Senate Dems get the message from restive base about confirmations, and boycott committee votes on Mnuchin and Price
–despite organized opposition, Betsy DeVos clears committee on party line vote
–Trump’s first drone strike in Yemen, planned by Obama team, has grisly continuity as 8-year-old Awlaki girl is killed with other civilians
–at The Intercept, an important binge-read on the FBI, as secret documents expose the “vast hidden powers” of the agency
–Trevor Aaronson wrote 4 of the 11 stories, including this one on secret funding for paid FBI informants