Donald Trump is certain that he knows more than any general about how to fight a war and more than any scientist about climate science. By like token, some of my friends are certain beyond rational argument that the Supreme Court will just bow down to Trump. The professional constitutional lawyers are not so certain, see my post on The Constitutional Crisis, but what do they know?
I have had some challenging conversations in the last few days.
Well, que sera sera. The Supreme Court is going to do whatever the Supreme Court is going to do. Can I predict with certainty what they will be? No, I can’t. And neither, by the way, can the dean at UC Berkeley make a certain prediction.
Certainly, the Supreme Court majority has made some awful decisions, and that’s a strong point in favor of the catastrophists imbued with certain certitude about the impending apocalypse.
On the other hand, if the Supreme Court tells Trump he need not worry about obeying the Constitution, they are telling him it’s OK to ignore the Bill of Rights, imprison anyone he wants to lock up, and declare himself President for Life and Lord of Lords.
Even if you are a very bad person, you might rationally hesitate to give someone that much power. Because—guess what?—you might be next on the list.
There are some other considerations, too. For one, the Federalist Society and its cohorts have been on a 40-year quest to take over the courts and impose their regressive views on society, all in the name of “rule of law.” During the first Trump term, their efforts were crowned with success when they got three additional seats on the Supreme Court. But if, henceforth, a judge’s order isn’t worth the paper it’s written on, then the whole Federalist Society effort—to use its version of “law” to force a right-wing agenda down our throats—goes glug glug down the drain.
And then there’s this. If law no longer matters, then a whole lot of the 1,322,649 lawyers in the United States no longer have a useful skill, and they are going to have to do something else for a living.
And, finally, there is this minor consideration. A whole lot of the crazy stuff that Trump and Elon are doing is not only unconstitutional or otherwise illegal but also economically hurtful—sometimes in disastrous ways—for Trump’s own supporters.
No, ladies and germs, there are a lot of reasons why the Supreme Court may not muster five votes to destroy the constitutional republic.
Facing MAGA 