Weaponizing the Shutdown
by Mark Steyn
The [Un]documented Mark Steyn
January 19, 2018
So we're in for another bit of high-stakes shutdown theatre, as evil moustache-twirling Republicans (it's always Republicans, even when it's Democrats) strap the lovely damsel of Big Government to the tracks just as the Friday midnight express is rounding the bend. At his press conference today, however, Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, said that this time round they'd be working to minimize the impact of the shutdown - whereas, last time round, for political reasons, the White House set out to maximize it. Mr Mulvaney called this "weaponizing the shutdown" - which the Obama Administration certainly did, up to the point of seizing and detaining blameless foreigners - which is, oddly, what they now accuse Trump of doing. This 2013 piece is anthologized in my book The [Un]documented Mark Steyn, personally autographed copies of which are exclusively available at the SteynOnline bookstore:
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