Interesting Timing

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions gestures during a speech before law enforcement officers in Richmond, Va., Wednesday, March 15, 2017.   (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
US Attorney General Jeff Sessions gestures during a speech before law enforcement officers in Richmond, Va., Wednesday, March 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
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Perhaps the White House had planned all along for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to make an appearance at today’s press briefing to rail against sanctuary cities. But the timing is consistent with what I’ve long feared will be the impulse for the Trump administration: When the going gets rough (failed Obamacare repeal, low poll numbers, etc), it will fall back on appeals to racism and xenophobia to regain political footing.

With so much incompetence taking root, it’s not difficult to envision a scenario where those base appeals must become more amped up, extreme, and scurrilous to be “effective.” It threatens to turn into a vicious cycle the likes of which we’ve never seen in this country.

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