Here Goes Another Supreme Court Charade
Republicans long ago cemented SCOTUS as a rightwing rubber stamp. Anything short of expanding the court and imposing term limits is a farce.
When Mitch McConnell stole a Supreme Court seat in 2016, Democrats barely lifted a finger to stop him. And when accused sexual assaulter Brett Kavanaugh was muscled onto the bench by the GOP, Democrats timidly played along with the sham proceedings instead of walking out en masse and delegitimizing him.
Now, with Justice Breyer’s retirement, Democrats will make a big show about appointing a Black woman to the highest court. But let’s be real: This is all a charade. The GOP long ago cemented the Supreme Court as a rightwing rubber stamp. The only way to rectify that is by expanding the court and ending lifetime appointments. But Democrats won’t do that, because it shakes up the status quo.
Sure, Biden appointed a commission to ‘study’ the matter, which dutifully returned with this laughable finding:
“The Commission takes no position on the validity or strength” of arguments for or against increasing the number of justices, the report said.
“As a legal matter, we conclude that Congress has broad power to structure the Supreme Court by expanding (or contracting) the number of Justices. The prudential question is more difficult, and Commissioners are divided on whether Court expansion would be wise," the October report said.
For leftists, one of the most infuriating aspects of modern US politics is how easily so many Democrats and liberals fall for performative opposition and theatrics. Instead of demanding that Biden, Schumer, and Pelosi aggressively pursue expanding the court, their supporters will play along with the farce that appointing a single justice will do anything to change the court’s rightwing trajectory.
There’s a universe of difference between the appearance of progress and actual progress. Unfortunately, far too many people mistake the former for the latter.