Lots of analysis out there today, both financial and political, of the Republican tax heist. The political angle is covered nicely by Josh Marshall in his response to concern that the bill will help the GOP going into the midterms. If you prefer a more vitriolic take, the Daily Beast is your best bet.
A federal judge dismissed one of the lawsuits alleging that Trump’s blatant pocket-lining violates the emoluments clause of the Constitution. The judge said Congress, not the courts, has standing in the matter, so until Republicans stock up on Imodium, it’s all good.
Can I get a pizza to go, half pepperoni, half karma? “Papa” John Schnatter, whom last we heard from bitching about football players taking a knee, is stepping down as the company’s CEO. Apparently siding with racists on the national stage is not helping sales. Myself, I refuse to buy pizza from a guy named Schnatter no matter what his politics are. Schnattini, maybe. Schnatinos, perhaps. Schnatter, never.
Putting the word “evangelical” in front of the word “Christian” is a way to signal that the Christian in question doesn’t really believe any of that stuff said in the New Testament by, y’know, Christ himself. Today’s example: Roy Moore, yet again. Having lost his election but still refusing to concede defeat, his Facebook page carried an interview from The Advocate with election winner Doug Jones’ son, Carson, who is gay, apparently just to alert his supporters to this fact. Even they weren’t too impressed. “Hey Roy,” one person wrote, “instead of casting your stones at other people’s sons, maybe you should try to get help for your own, before he gets arrested for the TENTH time.”
This is interesting, in a conspiracy-theory sort of way: Why is Lindsay Graham, formerly one of Trump’s loudest GOP critics in the Senate, now sucking up to him? This expert on authoritarianism floats the possibility that Trump is blackmailing him. She notes that the Russians hacked both the RNC and Graham’s personal email, so they might have turned up evidence of Graham’s long-rumored (and long-assumed) gayitude and are using it to bring him to heel. If that sounds far-fetched, remember that even a politician as ham-fisted as Tom Gordon got away with the same thing with Chris Roberts. It also makes one wonder if kompromat has anything to do with Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch starting to waffle about his long-planned retirement. Trump wants him to stay because he doesn’t want the seat to go to Mitt Romeny, who has made noises about succeeding Hatch.
If you have time out from last-minute shopping, add anything else you find interesting.