The Daly Weekly (1/24)

Biden's executive orders, Trump's pardons, Carrie Underwood at the inauguration, and more!

Hi everyone.

Welcome to this week’s Daly Weekly, where I answer whatever questions you throw at me.

Let’s get right to it…

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What do you make of Biden's last-minute executive orders, especially the declaration of the Equal Right Amendment, temporary protected status on immigrants, and further student loan relief in clear defiance of the Supreme Court? Are these necessary actions to protect our democracy from Trump extremism? Or are they more like the bitter actions of a foreclosed homeowner who smashes holes in the wall and turns the faucets on to flood the house on his way out? — Steve R.

The appropriately mocked “declaration” was only that — a declaration. The Equal Rights Amendment is not the law of the land, and a president can’t ratify it through a press release. Biden (or whoever was behind it) was talking absolute nonsense — I assume as some kind of weird nod to liberal activists on his way out the door. The good news is that actual executive orders can simply be overturned by the next president.

Do you understand what Trump and others are talking about when they say that the Jan. 6 Committee “deleted” all the evidence they found during their investigation? — Ben G.

It’s a made-up claim, Ben — one that’s repeated all the time for political purposes, but isn’t supported by facts. The evidence is all online here, and has been for some time.

What do you think of singers getting criticized for singing at an inauguration? This pertains to Carrie Underwood who got a lot of grief for doing that. I firmly believe that she thought it was an honor and wasn't necessarily supporting Trump by doing it. It always seems to go one way with these criticisms. I never seem to hear it when someone sings at a Democratic President's inauguration. — Eric S.

I think people should leave the singers alone. Presidential inaugurations are an American tradition, not a political declaration.

When Obama was President he was known as the “the deporter in Chief. I don’t remember him getting the political and media vilification that Trump is getting. Is this a fair comparison. — Rob O.

I’m not sure Obama was “known” as that, though I did hear the term used by partisan commentators who were trying to make a specific point. Regardless, Rob, I think your point is valid. There were more deportations going on during the Obama administration than most people realized. This went under-reported by the liberal media because it harmed the diversity, inclusion, and humanitarian narratives they wrapped Obama in. It also went under-reported by the conservative media because it undermined the theme that Obama was for open borders.

While the liberal media is preconditioned to attack any Republican’s immigration plans (the bias is obvious), I think it also needs to be acknowledged that Trump’s ham-fisted, often careless rhetoric on this issue adds to the fire. It also doesn’t help that his recent executive order to end birthright citizenship directly contradicts the 14^th Amendment.

Is it just my imagination or do some people on this website get madder at you for writing about January 6, than Trump for causing it, doing nothing to stop it, and pardoning everyone involved in it (including those, as the WSJ pointed out, who were “convicted of bludgeoning, chemical spraying, and electroshocking police”)? — Alex D.

Unfortunately it’s not your imagination.

Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde gave a rather woke sermon at the National Prayer Service beseeching Trump to “have mercy” on illegal immigrants, trans-genders, and the rest of the LGBTQ+ crowd. Trump found it rather underwhelming and somewhat offensive. I ask you: how did a woke bishop get scheduled to conduct the prayer service for a bunch of conservatives? What do you think of her sermon/actions here? And what do you think about Trump’s response to it? If anyone cares, my own opinion is that Trump’s response was rather tame, but perhaps he could’ve been a bit more diplomatic; furthermore I wonder how Bishop Budde would have responded to Vance or somebody else in HER church quoting proscriptions on certain behaviors from Leviticus, Deuteronomy and St. Paul. Your thoughts? —“WWJD?” regards from The Emperor

I didn’t pay particularly close attention to this, Emperor, and I don’t really feel like taking the time to review the sermon and Trump’s response to it. I’ll just say that there are a lot of people out there who, when given a large speaking platform in a non-political setting, inappropriately take the opportunity to inject their political views into the script. It happens a lot more in religious surroundings than it used to (frankly more on the right than on the left these days), and I find it all very irritating.

What’s your favorite presidential debate moment? — Tommy G.

Of ALL presidential debates? I had to think about this one for a while, Tommy, and it was hurting my head. I decided instead to choose the funniest moment, at least in my view. That would be the below exchange between Andrew Yang and a moderator during the 2020 Democratic primary. As a fiscal conservative, I found it so amusing at the time that I posted my reaction on social media:

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Thanks everyone! You can send me questions for next week by leaving a comment in the comment section.