And for tonight's entertainment...

I just abandoned watching the Republican debate because I can't stand it anymore.  The South Carolina crowd is especially rowdy.  I wonder if they let them bring their guns?  And, if not, why not?  Republicans are supposed to be all in favor of such "liberty."

The craziest thing is that the only one making any sense at all is Tr*mp, who was (properly) dissing George W for lying about the weapons of mass destruction.  The crowd, all establishment donor class according to Tr*mp (and Cruz this time) was upset by that, and Jeb! got his panties all in a twist because Tr*mp was "attacking" his brother.  (Well, if he didn't want his brother attacked, he shouldn't have had a brother who got us into a self-destructive war.)  "Knowing what he knows now," would Jeb! still have invaded Iraq?  Tonight, for a while there, it was hard to say.

As for Antonin Scalia, you might think I'd be overjoyed by his death, but I'm not.  For one thing, I'm not overjoyed when anybody less than a decade older than me dies.  The other problem is that his death is bad news for Bernie.  Suddenly, "electability" gets a lot more prominent in the Democratic contest, so I imagine the Hillary people are dancing for joy tonight.  Crap.

Back to the Republicans: based on the hour of debate I was able to tolerate, the only one who might have had a bit of a boost was Jeb! — but then those are his donors filling the house, right?  Mostly, though, the candidates were merrily ripping each other to shreds, and I can't help but think the shredding is likely to take, and that whoever eventually survives the nominating process will not garner much enthusiasm among potential Republican voters, much less independents.

So although McConnell and the Senate won't confirm anybody Obama nominates for the Scalia seat, I still feel quite confident that a Democrat will get to nominate whoever eventually is confirmed.  I hope it's Bernie.  He could amuse me a great deal by nominating Obama.  After that, the Senate just might confirm anybody else.