Congress was on the verge of actually debating the 2001 Authorization to Allow Military Force and dealing with the endless state of war we’ve been in since.

Speaker Ryan could not allow that to happen because there’s no rational reason for a Republican to take power away from Trump, of course not.

The Nation allows you 10 articles a month, I think, but is totally worth a subscription in my humble.

Paul Ryan Hands Donald Trump a Blank Check for Endless War

Trump’s recklessness, ill-conceived alliances, and deference to generals and defense contractors has caused Democrats and Republicans to fret about handing him unlimited authority to order military strikes and interventions. To that end, California Congresswoman Barbara Lee secured bipartisan support on the House Appropriations Committee for her amendment to revoke the 2001 authorization for use of military force that three successive administrations have employed as a justification for military adventures abroad. Under the amendment, which Democrats and Republicans agreed to attach to the defense-spending bill, the 16-year-old AUMF would cease to be operative after eight months and Congress would have to debate whether to approve a new authorization…

Then, according to Lee, Ryan intervened. Early Wednesday morning, the House Rules Committee stripped the amendment from the spending bill.

Mitch McConnell stole a Supreme Court seat and also did everything in his power to keep seats open on lower courts as well.  Trump and the conservative base are the undeserving beneficiaries of this premeditated partisan and ideologically based theft.

Trump is nominating unacceptable people to seats like John Bush, who was just approved to sit on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.  There’s a pipeline of such arch conservatives who at best are corporatists and at worst have advocated hate and inequality.

From the Advocate:

Bush, apparently no relation to the two President Bushes, has criticized rulings that struck down antisodomy laws, objected to gender-neutral language on passport applications, and likened legal abortion to slavery, notes the Human Rights Campaign. The Senate today confirmed his lifetime appointment by a vote of 51-47, all Republicans voting for him and Democrats against him, with Democrat Debbie Stabenow and Republican John McCain absent.

Ryan, McConnell and Republicans in general are granting the conservative movement their wet dream of ideological control of the courts.  Notice that every Republican voted for Bush.  Collins, Murkowski, the few so-called “moderates” went along.  They’ve gone along with everything that hasn’t been a firestorm in the press like healthcare.  If people in wheelchairs aren’t being arrested in their offices, they’re pushovers for the conservative agenda.

Republicans have been very organized in regard to the courts for decades now, understanding that if you have the courts, you have society, no matter how elections go. They’re setting up a real conflict between very conservative courts stuck in the 19th century and a society that moves forward.