Appetite for Destruction

“Last Friday, in the Great Hall of the Justice Department, the president described his adversaries as ‘scum,’ ‘savages,’ and ‘Marxists,’ as well as ‘deranged,’ ‘thugs,’ ‘violent vicious lawyers,’ and ‘a corrupt group of hacks and radicals within the ranks of the American government.’ No one has any doubt what this means: The department is under Trump’s personal control. As if to underscore the point, Attorney General Pam Bondi, who called Trump ‘the greatest president in the history of our country,’ said she works ‘at the directive of Donald Trump.’ The Justice Department is Trump’s weapon for revenge. And his appetite for vengeance is insatiable.” Peter Wehner in The Atlantic (Gift Article): Trump’s Appetite for Revenge Is Insatiable. (And given the pace of his efforts, revenge is a dish that might not have time to get cold.)

+ One big question: How extensive is his menu. NYT (Gift Article): U.S. Turned Away French Scientist Over Views on Trump Policies, France Says. “The academic was working for France’s publicly funded National Center for Scientific Research and had been traveling to a conference near Houston when border officials stopped him. The U.S. authorities denied entry to the scientist and then deported him because his phone contained message exchanges with colleagues and friends in which he expressed his ‘personal opinion’ on the Trump administration’s science policies.”