Federal judges all over the country block Trump’s racist immigration orders.  A federal judge rules Texas racist voter ID law unconstitutional.  A federal judge confirms marriage equality rights.  This morning, a federal judge blocks Arkansas’ rush to kill 7 death row inmates before the expiration date of the sedative used in executions.  That’s right, some idiot in Arkansas thought it was a good idea to rush up 7 executions because the company that provides the sedative has discontinued selling them to states that use it to kill people.

Trump and his cronies have rapidly pulled the veil down over the WH.  His press secretary lies daily from the briefing room podium, the Secretary of State banned reporters from his trips.  The State Department has halted the daily briefing.  Yesterday, the WH announced that visitor logs are now secret.  And, of course, Cheeto Jesus will never release his tax returns.  Oh, and he’s making millions from those who seek to curry favor from him by their stays in his hotels and resorts.

To add insult to injury, the Congress, cowed by Trump’s twitter account, sit and do nothing, fearful that his drooling knuckle dragger base will unseat them.  They have virtually abdicated their duties of oversight and are just sitting there holding their collective breath hoping all this will go away.

The only thing standing between the American people and an incompetent fascist regime?  The federal courts.  If I’ve learned nothing else from this first several months of the most terrifying presidency in US history, I’ve learned the critical importance of the third branch of government, the judiciary.  Even with the stolen Supreme Court seat, the judiciary continues to fulfill its key role of being the referee, protecting the Constitution and our society which is governed by it.  Conservatives love to rant about the Constitution, touting Scalia’s false “originalist” approach, but ignore the other critical part of Constitutional law – over 200 years of legal precedence.  Those thousands of interpretations of the Constitution form the entire body of law that guards against the radical and illegal activities of a corrupt administration, Congress, and state legislatures.

Trump likes to talk about his “wall”, but the real wall we need is the system of courts throughout the country that is critical to protect Us from Him.

The United States Navy has announced they are building a new warship and naming it after President Donald Trump.

Thanks to Bryan for the heads up.

Learning absolutely diddle squat from the Hitler Festivities hosted by Sean Spicer, North Carolina Republican state representative Larry Pittman just compared Abraham Lincoln to Hitler.

No damn freekin’ kidding, y’all.

As a sophomore letterman on the Facebook Debating Society, Pittman dropped this jewel when a commenter reminded Pittman that gay marriage is now the law and that Pittman should “get over it,” instead of wasting time repeatedly trying to re-introduce it to ban it.

Pittman’s response: “And if Hitler had won, should the world just get over it? Lincoln was the same sort (of) tyrant, and personally responsible for the deaths of over 800,000 Americans in a war that was unnecessary and unconstitutional.”

By the way, Pittman is the pastor of Ridgecrest Presbyterian Church in Stanly County.

Hitler: everybody you disagree with is just like him.

Oklahoma Republican Congressman (you’re already cringing, aren’t you?) Markwayne Mullin had a town hall meeting in his district, where is was reminded that we pay his salary.

That just pissed him off.  He was spitting nails and sawing steel.

“You say you pay for me to do this? That’s bullcrap,” Mullin said at the town hall in Jay, Okla., according to a video of the incident.

“I pay for myself. I paid enough taxes before I got here and continue to through my company to pay my own salary. This is a service. No one here pays me to go,” he added.

After constituents pushed back, Mullin reiterated that being a lawmaker is not “how I make my living.”

When he calmed down and realized a day later that he sounded like a real butthole (plus, he couldn’t explain why he takes the salary we give him), he had his poor little spokeswoman tell everybody …

“The congressman reiterates in the video that his work as the representative of the Second District of Oklahoma is a service,” Lawrence said.

“His aspiration is to be a career legislator and not a career politician. He is not, nor does he ever aspire to be, a career politician. His priority will always be to serve his constituents to the best of his ability.”

And the difference between a career politician and a career legislator would be …. spelling?

The best I can figure is that the congressman thinks he’s doing his constituents a favor by screwing them.

I think he attended the Sean Spicer School of ‘Splainin’ Things.

Welp, no one can accuse this president of being consistent.  In fact, the only consistent trait Trump possesses is inconsistency.  His administration swerves from ditch to ditch worse than a drunk driver on a three day bender at the local watering hole, and this week’s swerving has been epic.  Yesterday, in an interview with Fox Noise Business, Trump reversed himself from putting tax reform cuts first to going back once again to urinate on people who need healthcare.  Then, in an interview with the WSJ, he declared that he’s going to “force” Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi to negotiate by cutting off federal Obamacare subsidies, which will destroy the program for millions of poorer Americans.

Let’s get this straight – Trump who is already holding poor Americans hostage is now threatening to kill those hostages to force the Democrats to the table.  What a dumbass (sorry, Momma).  If the ACA fails on Trump’s watch destroying Trump’s voters’ health insurance, guess what happens in 2018 and 2020?  Yep, you guessed it, ol’ Dandy Don Meredith will be heard singing “Turn out the lights…” to the GOP.

The real tragedy here is that Trump and the Knuckle Draggers have painted themselves into a real corner here by chanting the “repeal and replace” mantra for 7 years.  All of Obamacare’s problems can be solved if only an adult stood up and stopped the nonsense.  For instance, Alaska solved its problem of skyrocketing premiums by diverting some tax revenues to supplement money being paid out by insurance companies to the sickest insured Alaskans.  The result?  This year’s premium increased dropped from 42% to 7%, and Obamacare continues to function.  The state is also setting up a reinsurance fund to stabilize its market.  Alaskan elected officials are considering introducing legislation to federalize the program.  How novel – working to actually fix a problem rather than burning it down.

Holy crap.

The Alabama Senate has voted to allow a church to form its own police force.

Lawmakers on Tuesday voted 24-4 to allow Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham to establish a law enforcement department.

The church says it needs its own police officers to keep its school as well as its more than 4,000 person congregation safe.

The Presbyterians need their own police?  The regular police force doesn’t have enough Tasers for Jesus?

Briarwood Presbyterian Church describes themselves in their mission statement —“For God’s glory, we are committed to equipping Christians to worship God and to reach Birmingham to reach the world for Christ.”

I wonder how excited they are going to be when the mosque forms a police force.

I bet that idea was too big to fit in any of the small minds in the Alabama legislature.

Thanks to AlanInAustin and Ralph for the heads up.