UM Law alumnus Reince Priebus profiled in NYT Mag as Reince Priebus, Normalizer in Chief and in Miami Herald puff, Before making his name in politics, Priebus was a force at Miami law school . The Herald article includes this:
Without exception, more than half a dozen people interviewed for this story who knew Priebus during law school described him as affable, thoughtful and kind.
Andrew Moss, who was in the same first-year section as Priebus, recounted to a Miami Herald reporter an anecdote about going to grab a bite at Wendy’s with Priebus when they were working on a project. A homeless man lay outside. Priebus didn’t have much money, Moss said, but he bought two meals and gave one to the man.
Say what you will, he’s Trump’s least crazy appointee so far — by several miles. Whether he’ll have actual power with alt-right Bannon down the hall remains to be seen.
Saying someone is “Trump’s least crazy appointee so far” isn’t saying much, and it isn’t as if he doesn’t have issues. Hasn’t Reince Priebus been a leader in the effort to disenfranchise voters that Republicans don’t like? The Voting Rights Act is likely to take another hit with his guidance.
This comes directly from the Herald story you just linked to: “‘I’m not gonna rule out anything,’ Priebus said. ‘But we’re not going to have a registry based on religion.'”
What does that mean? Does that mean that “a registry based on religion” was even something considered? That might be the most frightening thing I’ve read thus far. And you want us to root for this guy?
The only acceptable way to handle this issue would have been an unequivocal “NO. We won’t do that. We can’t do that. It’s un-American, unconstitutional, and has no place in this administration.” Anything short of that – any hedging or condition of any kind – is frightening.
Trump said he was for it on the campaign trail. Kris Kobach is pitching it. Surrogate Carl Higbie advocated it a few days ago.
Reince is certainly not a profile in courage here. faute de mieux, though, maybe a moderating force. Remember, it’s compared to what.
Note also that the legal hook is the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System which is still on the books, and provides for country-by-country registration systems for entrants to the US, not (formally) a religious test.