>And if there ever should be a terrorist incident on US soil or a high-profile crime by an illegal, Trump gets to climb aboard the moral high horse from which he can extend the bone of blame at detractors forever.

Prearranging the blame for the next succeding attack by non-residents is IMO only a side effect. My guess is that the shoddy workmanship of the execution order was a specific anchoring attempt for further/later negociations, giving the "Progressive Side" an empty win for turning back the ban on green card holders and double pasport holders.

>I'm just waiting for the Deplorable movement (or maybe the Russians who are to blame for everything) to scatter-gun freely downloadable versions of Madonna's or Streep's efforts to hit them back where it hurts. "You attack us and you get to perform for free, thanks!" That's assuming that Trump doesn't decide that DMCA regs are an example of extraneous legislative baggage that needs to be done away with, since these people have plenty of resources to maintain their own commercial interests without special protection at taxpayer cost. Watch the scramble when the Hollywood elites (or more particularly, the recording companies) realize that the hornet's nest they insist on poking, is positioned right over their own heads.

As the import/export quota for DMCAed material clearly falls into the region of "not fair", Trump might be "forced" to do just that if EU starts to argue coherently ;-)

OTOH I doubt that the inauguration "alternative facts" debate is a similar plot to keep others targeted at the wrong issues. That one smells to me like actions of a man whose perception is warped by sycophants and his stints in TV reality shows. There is a small chance that Trump is consciously overplaying the role of thin-skinned borderline personality to keep antagonists off balance,