For those of you who asked, we're south and east of the Camp Fire as well as on the opposite side of the hills and across a valley (74 airmiles) so in no danger. But we can see the massive clouds of smoke that've formed and are moving south. My son is getting the smoke where he lives (81 airmiles), it's bypassing us to the west. We did have an acquaintance (fell out of touch with him) who lives in Paradise and it appears the town is completely gone.
Back on topic: Heard this AM that a lawsuit may be filed re the Whitaker appt. It was just a passing mention though. What I've heard is that anyone who serves as AG must have gone through Senate vetting. And that means that the successor to an AG is the assistant AG (who is next in chain of command) as he/she has already been vetted. Whether Scrotus bypassing Rosenstein rises to 'illegality' or not, I have no idea. So much of this is in uncharted territory. As is 99% of what's gone on since January 2016!
The protests last night were small, one about 500 and the other around 100. But honestly I don't think that's too bad for mid-week and last moment with very little notice, not to mention that it was getting dark. I think they would have done better to try and organize a bigger protest for this weekend. But I expect there will be more protests as time goes on.
The problem is that this is basically in the control of the Senate as they control the judiciary process. And they're firmly in Scrotus' pocket now that the mid-terms are over. There is very little leverage the electorate has against GOP sitting members of Congress now that the midterms are over. Sitting members know that they're 'safe' until at least 2020. The Dems don't take over the House until January. Any 'damage' Scrotus et al are going to do to Mueller will happen before then.
Congress adjourns on 14 Dec and will not reconvene until 3 Jan. I expect anything really egregious (a direct shutdown and firing) will happen after that date, although I expect 'small' interference such as messing with budget to start quietly right away.