Have you heard?
The sky is falling, the sky is falling, for real this time. You see, every single member of the current Supreme Court is as crooked as a snake, bought and paid for by Donald Trump.
At least, that is what I’m hearing.
When Trump gets his next nominee confirmed before the election, she will only add to the number of unprincipled, dishonest, oath betraying justices that now control our country.
That’s why he knows that when he challenges ballots cast legally in battleground states, their legality won’t matter to 6 out of the 9 justices who will rule on his case. They will just name him President anyway.
It’s all but a fait accompli. Justice is all but dead in America because the conservative members of the court are Republican sycophants who will do everything in their power to undo justice in this country, starting with allowing Trump to use them to get a second term even when he loses the election legitimately.
This is the picture liberal columnists and everybody on MSNBC I have seen in the last week are painting of what is going to happen after November 3rd.
And frankly, it’s making me sick, sick to my heart and close to sick to my stomach.
I am ashamed that liberals have become parrots of the extreme voices among us who want us to believe Trump is going to stay in office because the Supreme Court is going to allow him to steal the election.
Think about what that means.
It impugns the integrity of all five current conservative justices as if they have no allegiance to the Constitution, don’t believe in fair and honest elections, and have no commitment to rendering decisions they believe are consistent with constitutional law.
I just don’t believe that and I am as politically and religiously liberal as a progressive can be. Anyone who knows me personally knows that about me.
But the current political cases being constructed about Senate Republican hypocrisy seem to assume they are doing what they are doing because they believe solidifying the current conservative majority on the court will produce a win for Trump regardless of what actually happens.
That is a bridge too far for me.
Will we see decisions by a conservative majority in the coming months that will make me as mad as hell, will cause me to rant and rave, will make me want to scream bloody murder?
Yes.
But I hope I am sane enough to know that such decisions reflect a difference in what they think the Constitution says rather than the result of them being anti-women, anti-black, anti-democracy, callous, uncaring human beings.
John Roberts did a monumental disservice to our democracy when he said corporations are people. He was inexcusably naïve when he wrote that pre-clearance for states with a history of racial discrimination was no longer needed.
But he wasn’t trying to give corporations a chance to rule our democracy, and he wasn’t supporting states that have been trying to block voting rights since his ruling.
He made two very bad decisions because he believed he was right, end of story.
Has he been proven wrong? I certainly think so. Maybe he now thinks so, too. But I am not going to accuse him of being an unprincipled conservative just like Mitch McConnell because he made decisions I don’t like.
Throughout history we have witnessed the awesome responsibility of being a Supreme Court justice change people in ways that have served our nation. Nothing in our system of government is quite like it.
It is true that the Court has made some awful decisions like Dred Scott of 1857 that were not only wrong, but immoral, but over its long history the Supreme Court has nonetheless earned the respect it currently holds in the eyes of the American people.
That is what makes me believe liberals are playing with fire when we suggest or even hint that Trump will have his way with the Supreme Court and retain power simply because the conservative majority is as unprincipled and immoral as he is.
I see that attitude as offering de factor support for Trump’s efforts to discredit the results of the election we are depending on to end his reign of terror over our democracy.
linnposts.com 
The rich friendship btw RBG and Scalia gave me hope that our justices have deep integrity and commitment to serve the nation
Agree that MSNBC is the polar extreme of Fox and it makes us all more anxious
Heading down to the Supreme Court now to be on hallowed ground with others who honor the great Justice Ginsberg
Dixcy, the same could be said of Reagan and Tip O’Neal. Those friendships used to be common. We need to remember that.
Hear Hear, Rev. Linn. We’ve got to stop the hysteria. Thanks for your thoughtful perspective.
Yes, we do, Barbara. Thank you for your comment.
In Robert Bolt’s play “A man for all seasons”, Sir Thomas More states at his trial for denying King Henry VIII’s title as supreme head of the Church in England: “The World may construe according to its wits; this court must construe according to the Law”. Enough said…
Nigel, thank you for the quote. I truly believe our Supreme Court will follow the law and Trump will be finished.
this talk of trump not accepting the results is nonsense. trump’s term ends January 20, 2021, set by the US Constitution, so in the unlikely event there is no winner declared, then Nancy Pelosi becomes the President. My view is the landslide victory by Biden will make trump look more foolish and petulant if he chooses to interrupt the peaceful transition of power.
I agree, Bro. The landslide is more probable now. He will look like the petulant child he is.
Hi Jan,
Thanks so much for writing this. I am Dixcy’s niece (she shared with me) and I thought this piece was such a beautiful antidote to the toxicity of the news cycle these days. Thank you for bringing this hopeful and honest perspective that we all need!
Thank you, Kate, for taking the time to comment on the blog. I was unsure about posting it, but a response like yours suggests I did the right thing. And I want to add that you have a very special aunt in Dixcy. I wish we could clone her. She is a blessing to my life and to so many, many others. But I am sure you already know how true everything I am saying is. Thanks, again, for writing.
(This comment is from Wilbur Ressler, a regular blog reader., who had trouble posting it for unknown reasons related to the website. I am posting it for him.)
Jan, A little pushback if I may.
I’m reminded of a quote that, “a really bad idea, embraced by millions of people, is still a really bad idea.” Not a perfect application but close enough.
I have probably watched no more than 3 hours of CNN, MSNBC, or FOX combined in the past year, but I have been reading about Frederick Douglass, Malcolm X, and MLKjr and the Black struggle for justice and freedom, and I can’t help but think that there have been many judges in our history who have rendered some really bad rulings despite approaching their responsibility with great sincerity. So is it enough that a Supreme Court isn’t beholden to Trump when their rulings are still in line with his wishes?
I find hope in Dixcy’s example and yours as well. There have also been a number of significant rulings against Trump by this court which I appreciate. But Chief Justice Robert’s vote is about to lose its significance leaving a conservative court whose judgments can set this country back many, many years. And I’m pretty sure that the people hurt by those potential rulings won’t really give a damn how sincere the judges are.
So I appreciate your attempt to remind/convince us of the integrity of Supreme Court justices. I need that reminder, but I’m also very, very anxious about the future.
Wilbur, I think you made my point without intending to. You are right that the SC has made some awful decisions, and also that the people hurt by them could care less what the intentions of the justices were. But their intentions are what is under attack by liberals like me rather than their decisions. But my point is more concise. It is that the presumption that a conservative court is going to give Trump what he wants because he wants it only undermines our democracy even more. I am not naive about the impact of conservative decisions from the SC. I am only suggesting that we don’t assume what they are going to be because we believe the court conservatives have no integrity. I’m not trying to defend them as much as call on liberals to remember that we don’t have a corner on virtue.
Just a note to say that I read your posts faithfully. This last post should help keep our progressive thinking up front and focused. We have had too many side shows distracting our direction as Americans. What and how we say and do reveals who we are -Same applies to POTUS.
Thanks for this comment, Les. It reminds me that the direction we take individually and together is up to us, which means we need to stay focused and not get caught up in the things that don’t really matter.