Donald Trump Has Chosen His SCOTUS Nominee, Please Shut Up About Immigrants Now, Please

You mean it's NOT Merrick Garland? But he's so highly respected!

Not that we'd ever accuse the Trump administration of being a bunch of cynical manipulators of the news cycle for their own ends -- we'd state it as an objective fact, not an accusation -- but you'll be glad to know President Bannon has moved up by two days the naming of "President Trump's" pick to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court. The Hairbeeste took a brief pause from yelling at the media on Twitter to let us all know he'd be making the announcement during Prime Time Tuesday:

Trump held a breakfast meeting -- so he wouldn't have to eat all alone again -- with small business people in the Oval Office, during which he also hinted at who "his" choice for Supreme Court would be, saying "he'd" chosen "a person who is unbelievably highly respected":

<br/><a href="http: //abcnews.go.com/">ABC Breaking News</a> | <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Video">Latest News Videos</a></center> <p>Jesus Heck Jehosephat Christ on a wobbly Segway, we have a President who <strong><em>talks in crayon.</em></strong> </p><p>Get ready for a ton of news analysis of whoever the pick turns out to be -- the New York Times says the shortlist is down to these three federal appeals judges: "Neil Gorsuch of Colorado, Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania and William Pryor of Alabama, who was originally favored to be the pick." Refugees? What refugees? Let's talk about how "Trump's" pick will <a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-trumps-nominee-will-alter-the-supreme-court/" target="_blank">change the court,</a> and also the mechanics of how the Trump administration will <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/trump-supreme-court-234345" target="_blank">approach the confirmation fight,</a> and for godssakes don't waste too much TV time on the refugees who are being sent back to uncertain futures, and possible death. There's a confirmation fight to cover! Also, let's not forget that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/kennedy-not-trump-will-determine-the-supreme-courts-future/2017/01/29/63723374-e66d-11e6-bf6f-301b6b443624_story.html" target="_blank">Anthony Kennedy may decide to retire,</a> which would end that whole "swing vote" thing once and for all. </p><p>And yes, we <em>do</em> have to pay attention to whichever rightwing, gun-humping <em>Roe</em>-hating would-be Antonin Scalia clone Trump says he picked with his own great legal mind, because whoever it is will likely be just terrible on guns, abortion, health care, free speech, and state decisions to legalize marijuna -- for starters. But let's also not be fooled about the timing of this very important announcement -- it's all about taking the heat off the immigration executive order and Trump's elevation of <a href="https://wonkette.substack.com/p/former-naval-officer-steve-bannon-outranking-all-these-generals-on-national-security-council-feel-safer" target="_blank">Steve Bannon to National Security consigliere.</a> Just as he did during the campaign, Trump's throwing shit in nine directions at once so it'll be difficult to focus on any single one of them. The awful thing is, they're all important, and we need to keep the heat on the administration over his immigration order even as we roll our eyes at whatever we find out about the Supreme Court nominee's fondness for homemade pigfucking harnesses, allowing abortion only during the first 24 hours after conception, or legalizing open carry on airliners. </p><p>How many fronts can we fight on? </p><p>ALL OF THEM, KATIE. </p><p>[<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/us/politics/donald-trump-administration.html" target="_blank">NYT </a>/ <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-says-hell-reveal-his-supreme-court-nominee-tuesday/" target="_blank">CBS News</a> / <a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-trumps-nominee-will-alter-the-supreme-court/" target="_blank">FiveThirtyEight</a> / <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/trump-supreme-court-234345" target="_blank">Politico</a> / <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/kennedy-not-trump-will-determine-the-supreme-courts-future/2017/01/29/63723374-e66d-11e6-bf6f-301b6b443624_story.html" target="_blank">WaPo</a>] </p>