Here's the Thing About Donald Trump's Supreme Court Shortlist

From Esquire

One of the more entertaining elements of our politics is the way He, Trump seems to be conducting a fantasy draft for an administration that is not remotely close to existing yet, and likely never will. On Wednesday, it was the Supreme Court's turn, and The New York Times gives us the list of 11 draftees.

Mr. Trump said in a statement that his short list is "representative of the kind of constitutional principles I value and, as president, I plan to use this list as a guide to nominate our next United States Supreme Court justices." Mr. Trump's list includes the names of several judges who are regular favorites of conservative legal scholars and appointees of President George W. Bush.

Ideologically, there are no surprises here. All 11 are straight off The Federalist Society's Christmas list. From Reuters:

According to a list released by the campaign, Mr. Trump's potential nominees include several federal judges: Steven M. Colloton of Iowa; Raymond W. Gruender of Missouri; Thomas M. Hardiman of Pennsylvania; William H. Pryor Jr. of Alabama, Diane Sykes of Wisconsin; and Raymond M. Kethledge of Michigan; and several state Supreme Court justices: Allison H. Eid of Colorado; Joan Larsen of Michigan; Thomas Lee of Utah; David Stras of Minnesota; and Don Willett of Texas.

(To be fair, you have to give He, Trump credit for being open-minded. Judge Willett has been ripping him on the electric Twitter machine for months, and Judge Sykes is the former wife of wingnut Milwaukee radio host, and Ted Cruz dead-ender, Charlie Sykes, who is just about the #Neverest #NeverTrumper of them all. Or maybe that wasn't Trump being nice. Hmm.)

Reaction has been mixed. Senator Charles Grassley-he of the #NeverGarland movement-is over the moon about the list, which should worry any thinking person. Other conservatives seem to be taking the list as another one of Trump's "suggestions," this one more elaborate than most. As you can imagine, the choices themselves are fairly horrifying; Pryor and Gruender are fanatical anti-choicers. Sykes is on the record as supporting the right of organizations to continue to receive government funding.

But, as I said, these are probably just suggestions, as so much of He, Trump's positions are. But the list does serve three purposes: 1.) It gives us something new to talk about 2.) It is a sop to the saps in what we laughingly call the Republican Establishment and 3.) It eliminates any rational justification for the Bernie Or Bust movement.

Bernie Sanders For President is a great idea. Bernie Or Bust is a reckless and stupid one that will get you several of these people deciding what ladies can do with their ladyparts.

And, no, I don't want to talk about it.

Click here to respond to this post on the official Esquire Politics Facebook page.