Comment on Ben Carson in the hot seat as Republican candidates prep for Tuesday night debate

Tara Palmeri: “Still reeling from Donald Trump’s win in November, Democrats seemed entirely flat-footed during the first 72 hours of his presidency while a barrage of executive orders vaporized the ancien régime in Washington. Sure, some of this was ostensibly strategic: In recent weeks, multiple Democratic leaders have expressed their intent to lie low and keep their powder dry until public sentiment inevitably turns.” “But it’s been impossible to ignore the glaring absence of any sort of Democratic standard-bearer, or even a would-be standard-bearer, to bring the fight to Trump and the Republican Congress.

“The gears of government slowed to a halt this week after President Trump axed major federal initiatives across Washington, causing even routine functions to hit the skids,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The Transportation Department temporarily shut down a computer system for road projects. Health agencies stopped virtually all external communications in a directive that risked silencing timely updates on infectious diseases.

“Enrique Tarrio thought he would be in prison until 2040. As he waited to board a plane to Miami, now a free man thanks to President Trump, the Proud Boys leader wasn’t certain what was next for him except for one thing: retaliation,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The 40-year-old Tarrio was among the roughly 1,500 individuals who received pardons for their involvement in the Jan.

Susan Glasser: “Eight years after the first Trump Inauguration, we know the drill. He loves to drown us in outrage. The overwhelming volume is the point—too many simultaneous scandals and the system is so overloaded that it breaks down. It can’t focus. It can’t fight back. The distractions are just too damn distracting.

New York Times: “Mr. Trump did not specify the names of the people who received the pardons, but the order that he held up for cameras to capture included the names of 10 anti-abortion activists who were prosecuted under the Biden administration for their roles in blockading an abortion clinic in Washington, D.

“In the Trump administration’s arguments defending his order to suspend birthright citizenship, the Justice Department called into question the citizenship of Native Americans born in the United States, citing a 19th-century law that excluded Native Americans from birthright citizenship,” Salon reports.