As one of the last decisions the Supreme Court handed down in this year's term, they upheld the concept of "birthright citizenship" enshrined within the Fourteenth Amendment. Barely.

The stunning thing wasn't the ruling, which was expected. The truly stunning thing is that the decision was partly 6-3 and partly 5-4. It should have been at least 7-2, with the only dissenters being Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas (who always vote the way Republicans want them to vote, no matter how clear the legal evidence is on the other side). Honestly, the decision should really have been 9-0, since the case is so cut and dried. Having it only 6-3 (or 5-4) shows that too many conservative judges are complete hypocrites when they swear up and down that they are "originalists" or "textualists" who only take into account what the Constitution (or any amendment) meant by the people who drafted it. Whenever that lofty principle becomes inconvenient in a case, too many of the conservatives just start making stuff up instead of reading the clear and unequivocal language of a law or an amendment.

Read Complete Article »

It is darkly ironic that we are only a few weeks away from celebrating the 250th anniversary of declaring independence from a king while our own Supreme Court continues to advance a vision of American government where the president has powers that can only be described as kinglike. They don't call it that -- they use the term "unitary executive" instead -- but the upshot is the same.

Read Complete Article »

If anyone needed any further proof that everything that Donald Trump touches turns to schlock (or worse), this week's opening of the Great American State Fair certainly provided some. The initial idea wasn't too bad a concept -- have all 50 states send an exhibit to the National Mall, and it would capture the spirit of state fairs held every year across America. Sounds kind of fun, actually.

But, of course, with Trump in charge of it, things didn't turn out as well as they could have. And that's putting it mildly. The whole thing was supposed to kick off with a big concert, but when the musical artists realized it was a pro-Trump event (rather than a nonpartisan celebration of patriotism), almost all of them immediately pulled out. So Trump, in a hissy fit, said that he'd give a speech instead, with the handful of the few musical artists still willing to perform for him also featured.

Read Complete Article »

At times, I almost feel sorry for John Thune. This is not a normal thing for me to feel, since he is the Republican Senate majority leader. But watching Donald Trump callously make Thune's job a lot harder than it needs to be almost makes me feel sorry for him.

Almost.

Read Complete Article »

Perhaps it is time for some reflection. That (or similar jokes and puns) is now the easiest way to poke fun at Donald Trump's absolute incompetence. Trump subscribes to the Silicon Valley maxim "move fast and break things," which you will note does not include "and fix things" or anything remotely like it. Which is exactly what has happened with the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. This fiasco has now transformed into authoritarian farce, it has all moved so fast.

Read Complete Article »

It's that time of year again. "SCOTUS season" has begun. The end of June is traditionally when the weightiest Supreme Court decisions are handed down, as the high court ends its judicial year and begins a summer break that will last for months. The weightiest of the decisions still yet to be announced will answer the question of whether the Fourteenth Amendment means what it clearly says it means or not, on the subject of birthright citizenship. Other high-profile cases will deal with Donald Trump's expansive view of executive power (including the power to fire anyone he wants for any reason he feels like). But the biggest news from the court this year may come right after their term ends.

Read Complete Article »

It is with a very heavy heart that I sit down to write this column today. This is going to be about my personal experiences and emotions, not about anything happening in the headlines right now, just to warn everyone in advance.

Read Complete Article »

It's pretty easy to see who won Donald Trump's war of choice with Iran -- and who lost. All you have to do is look at the deal both sides just signed, which is obviously heavily tilted in Iran's favor. In fact, it is pretty much impossible to claim otherwise -- to claim that somehow the U.S. won a resounding victory and forced a defeated foe to the bargaining table, where the U.S. would dictate terms of the surrender. In fact, it looks a lot more like exactly the opposite happened.

Read Complete Article »

The reviews are starting to come in, and they're... not good. Not good at all. Donald Trump's "Memorandum Of Understanding" with Iran is not exactly a big hit with anyone, it seems. The emerging consensus is that Trump pretty much threw away any advantage we had gained over the course of his war of choice, while giving the Iranians pretty much everything they had been asking for.

Read Complete Article »

The text of the "Memorandum Of Understanding" between the U.S. and Iran was finally made public today, and it's pretty easy to see why Donald Trump wanted to keep the whole thing under wraps for as long as possible. The deal is incredibly tilted towards Iran's objectives, while America's objectives are barely mentioned in passing. The inescapable conclusion is that Trump got played. Trump was the one who wound up crying "Uncle," not the other way around.

Read Complete Article »