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babylonsister

(172,421 posts)
Sat May 27, 2023, 08:23 AM May 2023

Liberals Aren't Discrediting the Supreme Court -- It's Discrediting Itself

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/steven-day/106386/liberals-aren-t-discrediting-the-supreme-court-it-s-discrediting-itself

Liberals Aren’t Discrediting the Supreme Court — It’s Discrediting Itself
by Steven Day | May 27, 2023 - 6:12am


To hear Chief Justice John Roberts, liberals have been unfairly impugning the motives of the six far-right justices who make up a majority of the Supreme Court—Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Jr., Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and, of course, Chief Justice Roberts himself. Roberts doesn’t use the words liberal or Democrat. Unlike his bull in a china shop colleague, Samuel Alito, Roberts is far too politically astute to make such an overtly partisan statement. But, everyone knows who he’s talking about when he says the fact some people “disagree with an opinion is not a basis for questioning the legitimacy of the court.”

In a later statement, he adds “you don’t want the political branches telling you what the law is. And you don’t want public opinion to be the guide of what the appropriate decision is.”

Take a moment to roll around in your brain how entitled these words sound. While it is acceptable, according to the Chief Justice, for mere citizens—perhaps even liberals, God forbid—to criticize the legal reasoning behind the Court’s decisions, it is out of bounds to bring their legitimacy into question by exploring a justice’s apparent motives in reaching that decision. In other words, it is acceptable for far-right justices to use their judicial power to engage in a broad ideological crusade. What is unacceptable is for anyone to be so rude as to notice it.



snip//

Right-wing justices on the Supreme Court have opened the spigots of unlimited corporate money being injected into the political process; supported efforts to make voting harder for Democratic voting groups, such as minorities and young people; and approved political gerrymandering, all very helpful to the GOP. Probably the most striking example of the Court majority’s partisanship, however, is the gradual disembowelment of the Voting Rights Act at the very time that the GOP is working feverishly to establish a new Jim Crow for voting rights.

The Chief Justice has good reason to worry about the Court’s reputation, entirely aside from the current scandals stalking the Court. A growing number of Americans are questioning this Court’s legitimacy for more fundamental reasons. Where his logic becomes muddled, however, is in how he tries to assign the blame. Contrary to his statements, the Courts’ dramatic fall from grace with the American public isn’t the fault of people who have criticized the Court’s actions, any more than the Emperor’s embarrassment was the fault of the people who pointed out he had no clothes. Having been given an honor and power most Americans could only dream of, these six far-right justices had a choice. They could strive to become either respected jurists or successful ideologues and political advocates. They couldn’t be both.

They made their choice. They have no basis to complain that people are now calling them out on it.
6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Liberals Aren't Discrediting the Supreme Court -- It's Discrediting Itself (Original Post) babylonsister May 2023 OP
Kick and Recommend. bronxiteforever May 2023 #1
K&R onecaliberal May 2023 #2
Uh, Congress is one of the "political branches", and last time I looked . . . hatrack May 2023 #3
Maybe Roberts is "worried", but I rather doubt that Alito, Thomas et al gives a fuck. msfiddlestix May 2023 #4
The Republican members of the Court ignore the key word inscribed on their building in Washington DFW May 2023 #5
K&R 2naSalit May 2023 #6

hatrack

(63,804 posts)
3. Uh, Congress is one of the "political branches", and last time I looked . . .
Sat May 27, 2023, 09:15 AM
May 2023

Last edited Sat May 27, 2023, 10:50 AM - Edit history (1)

. . . . their job was to fucking make the law, so yeah, it's not all about what's left of your "reputation", Justice Pompous Pilate.

msfiddlestix

(8,143 posts)
4. Maybe Roberts is "worried", but I rather doubt that Alito, Thomas et al gives a fuck.
Sat May 27, 2023, 09:15 AM
May 2023

I do not believe the six Robed Christian Fascists gives fuck all about their reputation as regards how the majority of the citizens view their corruption, their hypocrisy or their christian based extremists ideology.

It feels like to me calling out their stated rational "sanctity of life" would be an easy to lampoon at every opportunity because they have made it crystal clear they do NOT believe in the sanctity of life when it comes to gun control, clean air and water, public health etc.

so many opportunities. I don't watch the "news" so I can't say if we are taking enough advantage of these moments to directly call them out with a full throttled unified voice or not.

If we aren't, maybe it's about damn time we did and continue to do so.

tarnishing their reputation? oh hell let's rip them to shreds with their own corruption and lies.

DFW

(59,164 posts)
5. The Republican members of the Court ignore the key word inscribed on their building in Washington
Sat May 27, 2023, 09:26 AM
May 2023
EQUAL Justice Under Law.

The moment they abandoned that motto as their supreme (term used deliberately) guiding principle, they also forfeited their moral right to object when the people of this country remind them of it, and toss it right back in their bigoted faces.
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