June 23 Open Thread: The Cruelty Is Politically Motivated

Anyone who thinks the controversy over Trump’s immigration policies will cost Republicans bigly in November had better sober up. The issue is doing exactly what Trump wants — firing up Republicans so they’ve as motivated to vote as Democrats are. And it’s working.

There are some uncomfortable facts that Democrats who see the issue as an unmitigated win need to face. For starters, hours before he pulled the plug on his Administration’s policy, and after weeks of other controversies, Trump hit his highest approval ratings since his Inauguration. According to Gallup, forty-five per cent of Americans approved of the job he was doing, which is still a low figure by historical standards, but is arguably strikingly high for such a divisive figure. The President’s endless bashing of undocumented immigrants and his vow to toughen “Boarder security,” as he spelled it in a recent tweet, is a key reason.

On Wednesday, soon after Trump signed his executive order, I spoke with a veteran Democratic pollster. “I don’t want to be quoted saying Democrats have a problem,” the pollster said, “but there is a real problem here.” The pollster agreed that it appeared to be a smart move on Trump’s part to keep talking about illegal immigration as much as the economy, even in the midst of the backlash over his tough policies. “On most issues, whether health care or taxes or the general mood, the Republicans are in a bad place,” the pollster said. “This is their one wedge issue that actually works for them.”

Democrats can only hope that Republicans in Congress launch another offensive against health care, which is the issue that polls worst for the GOP.

George Will is the latest conservative who believes the movement’s own bullshit to complain that Trump doesn’t believe it, and therefore Americans should vote for Democrats. This is proof that climate change also affects hell, which just issued frost warnings.

Stephen Miller better watch his back. Someone eventually will take the fall for this, and he’s not only most deserving, he’s disliked by even the Homeland Security people who have to carry out his policies. When your nativist coworkers are calling you “Waffen SS,” it’s not a compliment.

Here’s a French pundit who writes for American publications (many of them right-leaning) advising Democrats that they must convince people Democrats don’t want open borders if they hope to stave off Republicans on immigration.

Sam Rosenfeld looks at the history of liberal agitation within the Democratic Party to argue that those on the left would be better off staying within the Democratic Party than abandoning it for a more purely progressive agenda.

On the impeachment watch — yes, it matters, even if you think it doesn’t — public support for it has crept up to 42%, which was the same level Nixon reached in the Watergate Spring before his resignation in August 1974. It’s a good reminded that support doesn’t have to reach 50% to endanger the president.

Of all the characters in this Boschian administration, Scott Pruitt is the one who seems most like a “Veep”-level caricature. I used to think he actively attacked the environment, but it’s clear he leaves that to industry lobbyists while he spends every available moment looking for ways to stuff his pockets. Now he claims he sent only one email in the past year, which contradicts what he said when Sens. Tom Carper and Jeff Merkley uncovered his four “alternate” email accounts, one of which he claims was for answering constituent email. There’s gonna be a sitcom written about this guy someday.