Five Angry Men on the Supreme Court

By JAMIE STIEHM

Is American democracy a match for the Supreme Court? nnThe John Roberts Supreme Court hangs menacingly over the land, with five angry men ready to undo the American people’s verdict on the presidency. The 6-3 Republican majority is truly a force to be feared in 2024: the war within, wearing black robes.

The worst part is their power has no checks and runs amok. There’s no end in sight, because the Court refuses to reform itself.

Congress urges the court to adopt a binding ethics code, but Roberts balks. The public has lost confidence in the court’s legitimacy, but that’s just tough on us.

The angriest men are Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, by common knowledge. They may not care how legally pristine the Colorado State Supreme Court ruling is, finding former President Donald Trump cannot be on the primary ballot.

Those two, joined by the younger members named by Trump, are rocking the bench in their pursuit of raw political power.

Appointed by George W. Bush, Alito waited years to overturn reproductive rights. His Republican majority opinion opened with a snarl: that Roe v. Wade was “egregiously wrong.” He’s openly hostile to constitutional rights for women and girls, and progressive causes in general.

Thomas? Since the day he made it to the court, by a 52-48 vote, 32 years ago, smoke has come out of his ears. He was credibly accused of sexual harassment by Anita Hill, a dignified law professor. He refused to even listen to her testimony, and proved himself a rough coal-slinger, accusing the Senate committee (led by Joe Biden) of a “high-tech lynching.”

At 43, Thomas vowed to stay on the court long enough to get revenge. Chilling. It’s worth noting he was the older George Bush’s gift to democracy.

Ever since, Thomas has been a conservative darling, given lavish gifts and vacations by wealthy donors and the Federalist Society. One gave him a loan for more than $250,000 for a fancy RV, which he never repaid in full.

Thomas’s former law clerks formed a phalanx to defend him from more damage to his reputation, according to the New York Times. His wife Virginia acts as a gatekeeper, organizing reunions, websites and some such.

“Ginny” Thomas actively joined the conspiracy to deny that Biden won the election and was interviewed by the Jan. 6 House Committee. Yet her husband will not recuse himself from Trump cases.

There is no price to pay for all that so far. Alito is also a regular at glittering Federal Society galas.

The “FedSoc” is known in Washington circles as the engineer of the Supreme Court as we know it. In the four Trump years, Leonard Leo (the head) handpicked Neal Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to fill three vacancies.

The three are well-matched in ideology, no questions asked, though all hedged on Roe v. Wade, pretending they would leave it alone.

Gorsuch carries anger against Washington, and the federal government, since his mother Anne made a hash of the Environmental Protection Agency. A Ronald Reagan appointee, she was forced to resign.

Gorsuch and Kavanaugh both studied at the elite Catholic “Prep,” a boys school in Washington.

Kavanaugh, louder and more aggressive, was a Yale fraternity party boy. He was also accused of sexual harassment in his Senate hearing, but a cursory FBI hearing let it go.

He was red-faced, bitter at being called out.

Also bad, Kavanaugh served as Kenneth Starr’s right-hand man in investigating and interrogating Monica Lewinsky for hours. She had no lawyer and committed no crime.

The fifth angry man is Roberts, because it’s not his court anymore.

Kavanaugh is perhaps the most shameless partisan. He organized the infamous “preppie riot” in Florida, during the deadlocked 2000 election, on behalf of George W. Bush.

So, the Supreme court has done it before, in the Bush v. Gore case in 2000, handing the Texan a tied presidential election by one vote, 5-4. It flew in the face of the popular vote, which Al Gore won.

That 2000 Court was less extreme and set the stage for tragedy. American democracy can’t afford to go to court again.

Jamie Stiehm is a former assignment editor at CBS News in London, reporter at The Hill, metro reporter at the Baltimore Sun and public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. She is author of a new play, “Across the River,” on Aaron Burr. See JamieStiehm.com.

From The Progressive Populist, February 1, 2024

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