Not even bothering to pretend anymore

Not even bothering to pretend anymore

The Supreme Court has always been a political institution. It has a history of making horrendous decisions. But this Supreme Court majority has a record of overreach and politicization that is so transparent and so unethical and so intellectually dishonest that it calls to mind a paraphrase of the old Lily Tomlin line about a corporate monopoly: They don't care, they don't have to.

This Court majority was empaneled after members of it and the previous majority overturned a presidential election, brought to power the man who received fewer votes than his opponent in the decisive electoral state, and did so by turning on its head that Court majority's supposed judicial philosophy. That decision was so corrupt and challenged so many of that Court majority's supposedly basic beliefs that the profoundly cynical written opinion specifically quarantined it from being used as precedent in future decisions. It was blatantly depraved partisan politics.

That the new Chief Justice and the other new Justice who were brought to the Court as a direct consequence of that infamous decision would join with the remaining members who made that decision to render a series of further decisions that are also corrupt and blatantly political should not come as a surprise. These justices operate with a wink and a nod. They do not look at the evidence and arguments before making conclusions, they start with conclusions, and then cherry-pick or concoct whatever evidence and arguments can be used to support them. Sort of. Because these justices don't care that their political machinations are so transparent and so dishonest. They don't have to. They don't even respect their own institution enough to care that because of them what was always the most respected branch of the federal government now is held in almost as much contempt as the other branches.

This Supreme Court majority is at war with women, with minorities, with workers, and with anyone who isn't a member of the white, male, theocratic social and economic elite. With demographic shifts rapidly transforming the electorate, it is only a matter of time before this Court majority's already minority constituency is relegated to the political fringe. This Court majority is the last bastion of that political fringe, and its decisions certainly eventually will be overturned. History will remember these justices as it remembers the justices that ruled in Dred Scott. Disgust. Disdain. Outrage. Infamy.

For now, real people will continue to suffer from the blatantly dishonest politicization of this Supreme Court majority. For now, the very functioning of democracy and republic will be undermined and put at risk by the blatantly dishonest politicization of this Supreme Court majority. The older members of this Court majority know very well how they brought the rest of this Court majority to the Court. The newer members of this Court majority know very well how they came to be members of the Court. The corruption of this Court majority started with the corrupt decision that created it. They know it. They know that many others know it. They don't care. They don't have to.