title:  After Being Handed Yet Another Court Loss, Trump Threatens Revenge In Pure Dictator Style
text: Donald Trump hates losing. Not because it s a loss to his agenda, or a perceived loss to the American people. Trump hates losing because it hurt his paper thin ego and when he does lose, there s hell to pay (or at least threatened hell to pay). Trump suffered another major loss in court after a 9th Circuit Court judge ruled against his attempt at defundng sanctuary cities. Now, like a true dictator, Trump wants to break up the 9th Circuit.In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Trump said about breaking up the court: Absolutely, I have,  Trump said of considering 9th Circuit breakup proposals during a far-ranging interview with the Washington Examiner at the White House.  There are many people that want to break up the 9th Circuit. It s outrageous. He then accused liberal plaintiffs of court shopping for a more sympathetic body. Everybody immediately runs to the 9th Circuit. And we have a big country. We have lots of other locations. But they immediately run to the 9th Circuit. Because they know that s like, semi-automatic,  Trump said.The 9th Circuit, which covers nine western states and Guam, is based in San Francisco. San Francisco is, of course, one of the sanctuary cities, so plaintiffs didn t have go far to land on their docket.While the 9th has had some liberal rulings:Covering a huge swath of territory   nine western states plus Guam   the San Francisco-based court handles far more cases than any other federal appeals court, including some rulings that have invoked furor from conservatives over the years. Among them: finding that the phrase  under God  in the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional, that the  don t ask, don t tell  policy on gays in the military was problematic long before President Barack Obama s administration ended it, and that states can force pharmacies to dispense emergency contraceptives.Source: Mercury NewsThey are far more balanced than right-wingers would let on.But some legal scholars say the 9th Circuit s liberal reputation is overblown and that the court has moved to the middle as some of President Jimmy Carter s appointees   who were considered extremely liberal   have taken semi-retired  senior  status or passed away. A Democratic Congress nearly doubled the number of judges on the court during Carter s tenure, and his appointees faced easy confirmation in the Senate.President George W. Bush appointed six of the court s 25 active judges, but 18 have been appointed by Democrats, though the seven appointed by President Barack Obama are generally considered moderate, said University of Richmond Law School Professor Carl Tobias.Still, conservatives, and especially Trump, would like nothing more than to make California even less relevant in national politics (a vote in California is worth less than 1/3 of a vote in Wyoming).The bigger picture behind Trump s threat is far more disturbing. We have three (supposedly) co-equal branches of government. Trump is trying to use his executive powers to shut down any dissenting views, even from another branch. Even if you are a Trump voter, you should find this very disconcerting.Featured image via Mark Wilson/Getty Images.