I encourage you to read the article from the professor to understand the distinction between treaties and ordinary legislation. They are yoked together in the Supremacy Clause as the “supreme law of the land”, but they are listed distinctly for a reason. The fact the House never touches them and the structure of…

Look at the map - it isn’t the worst gerrymandering I’ve seen but tucking most of the Cedar Rapids area into an otherwise rural district and cutting it off from Iowa City and Des Moines is how you make it pretty easy for a Republican to win barring unusual circumstances. A quick look over the history suggests Braley,…

Technically NAFTA isn’t a treaty in the Constitutional sense - which would have required a 2/3 ratification by the Senate under Article II- but a multi-lateral executive agreement that has been implemented by a number of acts of Congress under Article I. NAFTA was set up to skirt getting a 2/3 majority, which is…

There’s probably an instinctual element of that. although Canada was also one of his earliest targets with the soft timber stuff so you think in 2 years he might have learned it isn’t all that easy. He definitely came into office seeing it as a weak country he should be able to bully, which suggests he greatly…

When you conflate the left with unalloyed praise of Obama, you are the one showing a lack of nuance. True far left progressives don’t like Obama that much and never did precisely because he sees the world though a lens of rational compromise and incremental change. They wanted him to be the fire breathing bogeyman…

Bullshit. This is a variation on the “too soon” comment that is used every time there’s a tragedy in our country that briefly focuses are national attention. Tragedies and mourning are a time to reflect, to think deeply about the person we have lost and both their legacy as well as what we want to accomplish in our…

Here’s a outline that the Hollywood Reporter published that is takeing from a bronze life cast and supposed to be his actual hand size - 7 and 1/4" from base of the palm to tip of the middle finger.

Why even that - I’m thinking no one in the family claims the body and he winds up in a pauper’s grave or cremated.  

That was clearly what Omorosa was banking on in her conversation with Kelly where she asked if Trump knew - that the boss would back down to avoid a fight.  Which is also consistent with him after the fact acting all surprised.  He’s truly a coward.

Well I kind of like versions of this line that ask the logical question of what “again” references, but yes this is clunky as it lacks the modifiers such as that it was never great for all people the way our national credo suggests it should be.  

The actual “agreement” is about a marginal shift in car part content - from 62 to 75 percent. It isn’t some grave surrender on Mexico’s part, and they are actually insisting it isn’t binding without Canada. Trump is getting his photo op, but just like the NK “deal” it will only seem like a win to the people already…

The bullshit tactic of “reserve officers” and off-duty/moonlighting cops invoking their police powers as matters of convenience is an issue that hasn’t received much attention but probably should. Using your official position to further your side job or interest is conduct that would violate any other government…

There’s a slight misrepresentation of the impact of Bakke in the article. The case centered on a school that was brand new (UC Davis School of Medicine) so it didn’t have a history of discrimination. The Court held that in the absence of a finding of past discrimination by a particular institution (school, school…

If anything grade inflation pressures are worse at “elite” schools. Both because students are expected to be (and often are) great, and because they are expected to go on to great things, which results in massive pressure on teachers to help make sure they get there when competing with other students - who of course…

Yeah this idea that if is a pleasant reaction is not accurate. It is a reaction - some report it as pleasant, while for others it is strongly unpleasant. Even reading this description is giving me flashbacks to moments where a whispery voice, especially where there was no need for it, made me want to do violence to mys…

He’s a coward and a bully - much better to yell at Sessions and get his fans riled up than actually do it and run the risk of 1) the Dems getting more fired up and 2) the GOP Senate not confirming his replacement. Plus for all of this recent whining, Sessions is very important with another part of Trump’s support, the…

This seems to be the kind of subject specific immunity you give when someone is taking the 5th as to critical but limited issues. This is what the bank execs in the Manafort case got, too. What we all want is for him to get blanket immunity (more like what a truly cooperating witness gets as part of their plea deal) so…

It (along with petty rule breaking of a lot of other things) is also a thing for white guys in the suburbs/exurbs at least through college. Things like vandalizing street signs (or just stealing them), smashing mailboxes from the back of a moving car, swiping stupid stuff from people’s yards like plastic birds or the…

Law firms, medical practices, campaign work all operate the same way - we hired you to get things done, not fill a space during “office hours” (never mind those things are never ending and a lot of the ones that screw up your life the worst are b.s.). Typically with the added bonus that the potential for limited…

Given his statements he will no doubt announce tomorrow that police must no longer attempt to put pressure on defendants to secure plea deals and he’s pardoning everyone in Federal Prison right now who plead guilty to avoid worse consequences (ie virtually the entire prison population). I’m sure that’s what the “Law…