5 Events in The Emperor's World, February 9, 2017

Honestly, there is enough content, now, to do this on a daily basis. I shall restrain myself, but today was an exception.

1. Conway: Kellyanne Conway ran afoul of a federal law meant to stop federal employees from hawking products (Ivanka's disappearing wares). Spicer said that she was counseled in private; the White House says they stand behind her; the rest of the world is wondering if she (and the rest of the WH staff) skipped her ethics review before she started her job. It's so obvious of a violation of ethics, the OGE's website broke from excessive traffic, apparently fielding a flood of complaints. It's so obvious, Congress sent a bipartisan letter to OGE to investigate ethics violations.
2. Intel / Nordstrom: Today, Intel closed down ~-2.5% and Nordstrom closed up ~+2.3%. So embarrassing for Intel's CEO Brian Krzanich. You kiss the ass of The Emperor and no one rewards your actions -- what has this world come to? /S
3. Jason Chaffetz, Guy With No Balls: Two days ago, Chaffetz told us that The Emperor instructed him not to talk about congressional oversight and that he obliged The Emperor. Today, he faced an angry town hall at home, forced to defend his bill (that he later pulled) to give away federal lands. He's probably wondering why the Bundys didn't show up to defend him.
4. He Said / She Said: The Emperor was very upset when Senator Blumenthal reported back that Neil Gorsuch, The Emperor's nominee for SCOTUS, had told him that The Emperor's attacks on the judiciary were both "disheartening" and "demoralizing". The Emperor was so mad, that he attacked Blumenthal. That's when it came out that other senators from both sides of the aisle and Gorsuch's own GOP handler backed up Blumenthal's account of Gorsuch's feelings on the matter.
5. Appeals Court Says NO: In a 3-0 ruling, the 9th Circuit Appeals Court ruled against The Emperor's demands that the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) be rejected. Having listened in on the oral arguments, it was already clear that, at the very least, the court was headed to a 2-1 decision. For me, it boiled down to this: The DoJ said that not only did the Courts lack the ability to review The Emperor's EOs, but that they didn't have to produce any evidence whatsoever to indicate that the TRO created harm. That was such a Trump thing to do, that it's almost curious they bothered to show up, after all, they don't need to answer to anyone, right?