Welcome to another @culturestrike editorial cartoon! Big news of this week (thus far): President Bannon... er... Trump fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates yesterday in what many are now calling Monday Night Massacre (in reference to Nixon's handling of special prosecutor Archibald Cox and the Watergate Scandal). According to the White House, she was fired for being weak on immigration enforcement and refusing to enforce an order to protect U.S. citizens. This came after Yates instructed the Justice Department not to defend Bannon's executive order to ban the entry of U.S. citizens from seven predominantly Muslim nations because she didn't believe that the order was legal. Last Friday's executive order, a brainchild of the overreaching Bannon, has created chaotic ripples in every sense of the word. What we saw was more than the targeting of Muslim refugees: it publicly criminalized EVERYBODY who has ties to those seven Muslim nations, regardless of whether they're U.S. citizens. In addition to the targeting of Muslims, what we witnessed was a test from Bannon's administration to see whether sectors of the executive branch would follow executive orders without questioning the legalities of said EO, and whether they would bow to the orders of the judicial and legislative branches in our government (see "checks and balances"). They didn't. This in itself is very scary; if the president can order something illegal and his subordinates comply with the order without question and ignore the other two branches of the government, this could signify a severe constitutional breakdown. Yates decided to stand on the right side of history, and it cost her her job. In a sense, she became the first high profile martyr against Trump's xenophobic and illegal Muslim ban. And for that, we salute her. Art by @juliosalgado83. Blurb written by @eslvis. #artforchange #socialjustice#racialjustice #immigration#immigrantrights #refugeerights#sallyyates #nobansonstolenlands#nobannowall
