what He said

Thiessen is indeed a Trumpist.  He seemed to have his panties in a bunch about some bill Nancy Pelosi brought up to please her base, but which of course had no chance of ever even getting a hearing, so he was using her having that audacity to gin up the Trump base.  So what  else is new?

The Kennedy resignation of Justice Kennedy was the doom I was talking about.  The Republicans will now have complete control over all three branches of government.  Even if the dems take the house in 18, and even the senate, the supremes will be conservative for easily the next 20 years.  If it were my party getting this power perhaps I would not suggest this, but objectively I think we have to acknowledge that the supreme court is broken.  It'used to be presidents would nominate judges who were in the mainstream and who had the respect of the other party, but anymore it is hostage to whichever party has the president and half the senators who can ramrod anyone they want, and these vacancies appear almost at random (though Kennedy appears to have perfectly timed his to occur before the 18 elections) so that one prez may get two or three and another none.

I guess the appointment for life was done so that the justice wouldn't be swayed by poliitcal forces.  That sounds quaint by today's standards.  Wouldn't a four or six year term evenly spaced between justices  make more sense?  I'm surprised that I don't hear anybody talking about  it.  Maybe that's because it will never happen.

MS 13 have been around a long time and they are mostly violent  kids, too violent to engage in a responsible business like drug dealing or anything beyond fighting each other in nasty violent ways.  Certainly less of a danger than Putin playing footsie with the pres right in the white house.

As far as the reps splitting into a 'normal' party and a Trump one that will whither on the vine.  It is not the Trump rump that will whither.  There is really almost no 'normal' party left (Kasich, and Flake and Corker who are both not running for another term).  The republicans used to have things they believed in written down.  Anymore that has all been crossed out and replaced with Whatever Trump said yesterday.

NATO, why it's worse than NAFTA.  Something Trump said yesterday.