Republicans Choose Trumpism Over Property Rights and the Rule of Law

[OfTheCross]

...

Four years ago this month, Trump and the rest of the GOP field engaged in some of the most gruesome restrictionist one-upsmanship American politics had seen in at least two decades. People rightly remember the "rapists" accusation in the president's campaign kickoff, but some of the real crazy came later: Trump telling NBC's Chuck Todd that the U.S. citizen children of illegal immigrants — of which there are an estimated 4 million — "have to go." Vowing to deport legal Syrian refugees. Ending birthright citizenship, Constitution be damned (a stance that, sadly, many of his competitors aped).

That Trump rocketed to the head of a crowded field with such startling rhetoric and policies suggested a conservative appetite for immigration enforcement that would never have been sated by Mitt Romney's "self-deportation" stance (which Trump back in November 2012 called "maniacal") or John McCain's embarrassing about-face on big-picture immigration law reform. Before you knew it, candidate Bobby Jindal was using words like "invasion," Scott Walker was pondering a wall on the northern border, Chris Christie was proposing to track legal immigrants like FedEx packages, and even hapless old Jeb Bush was warning darkly against "anchor babies."

...

Trump is who he said he'd be, minus a surprise or two (including, happily, criminal justice reform). And, having faced not even token resistance from Republicans in the allegedly co-equal legislative branch, Trump is redefining the GOP in ways Ronald Reagan would not recognize: Anti-trade, anti-grace, anti-refugee.

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Donald Trump may very well be the most effective politician we've seen. The way that he's got the Party wrapped around his finger is very impressive.

[GrouchoTex]

From the article:

"You do have a problem with a President demanding the federal government go ahead and seize private land and then promising to pardon those who seized the land. Don't you?"

sure, but....

I haven't heard about this.
What is it referring to?
Has anyone suggested that the private property along the border be taken away under imminent domain?
It's news to me.

True, Trump did call Kelo vs. New London a "Wonderful thing", but I haven't heard about any similar being proposed or tried.

[OfTheCross]

From the article:

"You do have a problem with a President demanding the federal government go ahead and seize private land and then promising to pardon those who seized the land. Don't you?"

sure, but....

I haven't heard about this.
What is it referring to?
Has anyone suggested that the private property along the border be taken away under imminent domain?
It's news to me.

True, Trump did call Kelo vs. New London a "Wonderful thing", but I haven't heard about any similar being proposed or tried.

this is likely what is being referred to in the op-ed:

https://www.texastribune.org/2019/08/28/president-trump-wants-border-wall-painted-black-election-day/

The president has told senior aides that a failure to deliver on the signature promise of his 2016 campaign would be a letdown to his supporters and an embarrassing defeat. With the election 14 months away and hundreds of miles of fencing plans still in blueprint form, Trump has held regular White House meetings for progress updates and to hasten the pace, according to several people involved in the discussions.

When aides have suggested that some orders are illegal or unworkable, Trump has suggested he would pardon the officials if they would just go ahead, aides said. He has waved off worries about contracting procedures and the use of eminent domain, saying, “Take the land,” according to officials who attended the meetings.

“Don’t worry; I’ll pardon you,” he has told officials in meetings about the wall.

“He said people expected him to build a wall, and it had to be done by the election,” one former official said.

Asked for comment, a White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Trump is joking when he makes such statements about pardons.

[Sanguine]

this is likely what is being referred to in the op-ed:

So, the story is a nothingburger?