Trump's wall

Adam Schiff was on CNN yesterday, questioning questioning congressional Republicans' devotion to Congress as an institution (and the U.S. Constitution) in light of Trump's fake national emergency. "It will not be a separation of powers any more," he said, "just a separation of parties. So this is going to be a moment of truth for my GOP colleagues." When Republicans go on TV to discuss arguments they can't win-- like Trump's blatant lies about this or that or the other and all of the above-- they gravitate to their safe space: Trump TV.

A few days ago, the Cook Report published a piece by Amy Walter about the 2020 prospects of a Blue Wall, basically that "the 'easiest' or least risky electoral path for the Democratic nominee in 2020 is to reconstruct the so-called 'Blue Wall' in the industrial midwest. If the Democratic nominee wins every state Hillary Clinton carried in 2016, plus Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, that Democrat would win 278 electoral votes-- eight more than the 270 needed to win.

No government shutdown today. The Senate passed the compromise bill 83-16 and then the House passed it 300-128 at night. 87 Republicans voted yes and 109 of them voted NO. 213 Dems voted yes and just 19 Democrats voted NO.

UPDATE: Trump caves again-- won't shut down the government. Earlier this morning, beaten like a dog, Trump was reported by CNN to be preparing to sign the bill to keep the government open without any money for his foolish vanity-wall. The deal falls far short of all his demands but he's knows he's been beaten and has no choice, despite the rantings and ravings of Ann Coulter.

by NoahIt didn't take any effort at all to find a dog for tonight's meme that was smarter than Donald Trump or any of the fleas currently working in the White House. What dog doesn't have a higher IQ (and more energy) than Donnie Sleazeball? Also unlike Donnie and his cohorts, dogs have a natural sense of loyalty to their home and those who live in it. The dog may have one thing in common with Trump, though.

Mattis and Kelly by Nancy OhanianA new poll from Morning Consult offered some more bad news for Trump and his congressional enablers-- and for xenophobes in general.

Friday, Michael Bloomberg was campaigning in front of the Democratic Business Council of Northern Virginia when he assailed Señor Trumpanzee for what he called "a complete failure of presidential leadership" and "totally incompetent management." Addressing the Trump-McConnell shutdown, he added that "The whole episode really is a cynical, political stunt, and, unfortunately, we’re the ones paying the price.

by NoahThe fact that the U.S. State Department has shutdown their conference on border security due to the Trump shutdown of our government over the fight about his wall is not only full of irony, it is also a prime example of Republican logic and governance at work.

A new Axios/SurveyMonkey poll found that 74% of Democrats (and people who lean Dem) would consider voting for AOC if she were old enough to run for president. They also asked voters to compare her to the senior senator from her state-- Chucky-Schmucky-- and Dems have a 70% favorable/22% unfavorable impression of her and a 64% favorable/29% unfavorable impression of Schumer. God is good!