The fallout continues over President Trump’s travel ban and the resulting chaos at airports nationwide. But the President insisted yesterday that his executive order was working out “very nicely.”

Yeah, okay. Whom should I believe — Trump or my lying eyes?

Look, if you comb through the media hysteria and do a little research, you’ll find that this executive order is not the draconian edict which Trump’s detractors would like you to believe. However, information is emerging which shows that this mess amounted to incompetence on steroids.

Consider this:

• The State Department, which deals with immigration and visas, learned of the executive order through the media. There was no consultation or inter-agency coordination. Typically seven agencies are involved in establishing immigration policy.
• The executive order did not undergo the agency review process that is usually overseen by the National Security Council.
• It appears that the order wasn’t written by lawyers or even vetted by by the Office of Legal Counsel, the agency which is assigned to interpret law for the executive branch: the office of the President.

Then there’s the confusion over permanent residents, aka, “green card” holders.

On Saturday, several permanent residents were caught up in the travel ban and were forbidden to re-enter the U.S., despite the fact that these individuals are required to reside in the country as a function of their status. Later the ban was reversed, but these green card holders are still required to undergo additional screening.

Green card holders have already undergone lengthy scrutiny by the FBI in order to obtain their permanent resident status. They are allowed to own firearms, are required to register with selective service, and are taxed like any U.S. citizen.

These people were originally not covered under the first iteration of President Trump’s executive order. Yet somehow they fell into the dragnet.

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus tried to explain the error away on “Meet the Press,” and got visibly flustered and angry as he appeared to contradict himself in this interview:

https://youtu.be/eQO4CtNvG_k

So why the confusion over green card holders? Enter Trump’s Chief Strategist Steve Bannon and Top Advisor Steven Miller. These two overruled the Department of Homeland Security, which originally said that the order did not apply to permanent residents from the seven designated nations. On Friday night DHS sent out guidance to airlines, saying “lawful permanent residents are not included and may continue to travel to the USA.”

That was, of course, until Bannon and Miller interfered.

And speaking of Steve Bannon, guess who now has been invited to sit in on all meetings of the National Security Council? Bingo! Steve Bannon. And guess who has been relegated to attending these NSC meetings only when requested? Oh, just the director of national intelligence and chairman of the joint military chiefs. You know, just the people best suited to advise the President on security.

Who thinks this is a good idea? Anyone, anyone? Bueller, Bueller?

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer explains that away, too. After all, he says, Bannon is a former Naval officer and has a “tremendous understanding of the world.” My son-in-law is an active duty Naval officer and has also traveled all over the world. I love him to death, but would I want him to be the President’s go-to guy for national security? Eh, no.

Look, I absolutely support President Trump’s order to temporarily ban immigration from terror-rich nations, but the execution of this order was an example of utter incompetence. Had the President been more attuned to advice from his legal counsel, members of Congress, and actual experts in intelligence, this order would’ve been carried out more smoothly. Of course there would’ve been hysteria and hand-wringing by liberals and the media. But if he had been less impulsive and more thoughtful, he would be on more solid legal ground and have an efficient framework for executing his order.