Suburban Guerrilla. Susie Madrak

The Washington Post’s Robert Costa is describing the new hire at the White House as an enemy of Paul Ryan: When House Speaker Paul D. Ryan’s redbrick Georgian revival in Janesville, Wis., was surrounded last July by women whose children were murdered by undocumented immigrants, conservative writer Julia Hahn published a scathing report and a blurry… Continue Reading →

Listen to Liss, she knows what she’s talking about:

To be clear: I am not suggesting that Trump is stupid. I am observing, based on Trump’s own comments, that he doesn’t care about policy; that he is willfully ignorant about an enormous amount of policy because to be well-versed in it serves no purpose to him, as it does not cater to his grandiose ego and would steal time from the things that do.

Trump explicitly wanted a vice-president who “would be in charge of domestic and foreign policy,” leaving Trump free to “Make America great again,” whatever that means on any given day. Tweeting at SNL on one day; provoking China by calling the Taiwanese President on another.

Everything else belongs to Mike Pence, who was a radically conservative governor and has already made several notable trips to Capitol Hill to meet with Congressional Republicans to see what radically conservative legislation—starting with the repeal of the Affordable Care Act—they can bring to Trump’s desk for his disinterested signature.

In December, Gallup noted Pence’s influence squarely sits on the shoulders of Trump’s lack of experience: “As has been true for previous vice presidents, Pence’s background complements that of the president. But this seems particularly important for the incoming administration, given that Trump will be one of the few presidents without any elected political experience (the last was Dwight Eisenhower in 1952). Pence’s legislative and policy experience may make him the ‘quarterback’ on the White House legislative team who has to deal with complex congressional processes. And his experience as a state governor may make him someone Trump relies on to help navigate 10th Amendment issues.”

Trump’s comprehensive inexperience leaves a void that Pence will be happy to fill.

Trump has almost certainly not learned the details of the Global Gag Rule, nor will he, but he didn’t need to know them. Pence knew them. He is an extreme anti-choicer who, as Indiana’s governor, waged war on Planned Parenthood, defunded clinics, and criminalized miscarriages. You bet he knew the details of the Global Gag Rule. You bet it was one of Mike Pence’s priorities.

This, then, is a perfect and terrible example of why I am the brokenest of broken records about keeping our eyes on our most powerful vice-president ever, including even Dick Cheney.