Sunday Roundup

This week brought reports that President Obama will soon take executive action to prevent the deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants. The news sparked howls of protests from Republicans, with Speaker John Boehner on Thursday refusing to rule out shutting down the government in retaliation. "This is the wrong way to govern," he said. So in order to prevent the president from exercising the power of government, the right "way to govern" is, apparently, to prevent all government from working. Perhaps when Philae is done probing Comet 67P, it can land on a place even more inhospitable to humans -- the U.S. Congress -- and make sense out of that dormant, non-celestial body. Meanwhile, New York Mayor De Blasio announced that those caught with small amounts of marijuana would be given tickets instead of being arrested. It's a welcome, if belated, step -- but even better would be ending the racial disparities in drug enforcement. That's the real ticket.