Take Back the Court

The Supreme Court is not just corrupt, unethical and extreme. It poses a serious threat to American freedoms for decades to come.

This year, I and many others, have been saying that the future of democracy is hanging in the balance.

But that's not really true.

Democracy is not the American way. Because the American system is, at its core, undemocratic.

It's obvious in how we elect Presidents.

Democrats have won the popular vote in seven of the last eight elections. Yet Democrats have only wielded power for five of the last eight presidential terms.

And the Senate is an even bigger problem than the Electoral College.

Wyoming, population 600,000, gets two U.S. Senators, same as California, population 39,000,000.

Washington DC, 25% bigger than Wyoming, gets nada.

Republicans can control the Senate even in times when their elected Senators have received millions of fewer votes than Democrats.

Even when they're in the minority, Republicans can use the filibuster to thwart the will of the people.

Gerrymandering has screwed up the balance of power in the House. A 2022 Brookings analysis estimated that Democrats would need to win nationally by at least 2.5% to retain control of the House.

In other words, it's possible for the GOP to seize power of the "People's House" even if they lose the "People's Vote" by a clear 51-49 margin.

In the state legislatures themselves, it's often far worse. And in recent years, when Republicans have seized power, often despite losing the popular vote, they have used it to cement power and stymie voters in extreme and undemocratic ways.

Democracy in America isn't really a thing. And the Supreme Court keeps hammering that point home.

As Jamison Foser tells friend-of-this newsletter @LOLGOP in a new "How Are You Feeling About Democracy?" podcast:

We have a Supreme Court that is controlled by a super majority, 6-3 right-wing super majority. The Court's been controlled for more than 50 consecutive years by the Republican Party at a time when the Democratic Party has won the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections.

The whole 30-minute podcast is worth a listen (do that here). But if you want to skip ahead to the Supreme Court discussion, that starts at 15:33.

The gist is this: Nowhere is our democracy being thwarted more aggressively and more corruptly than in the Supreme Court.

Four of the six current Justices that make up the nakedly partisan Conservative super majority were nominated by Presidents who came to power having won a minority of the popular vote. The other two—Thomas and Alito—are even worse.

Instead of prosecuting perjury, bribery and corruption, the scandal-ridden Conservative Justices are the poster children for perjury, bribery, and corruption.

What can be done?

"Absent a reform that intentionally rebalances the Court, the Court will remain in Republican hands for 40 more years," Foser tells @LOLGOP.

If you think you're in a bad dream now, that is a total nightmare.

Says Foser:

Court expansion is the most powerful and consequential remedy that we can pursue and I'd encourage people to support it. Contact your member of Congress, urge them to support it.

He's an advisor—along with many major legal minds and thinkers—to Take Back the Court.

But what's actually achievable between now and November?

Foser says:

There's a ton of value to Democrats running against the Supreme Court, of talking about the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is an extremely compelling villain. Clarence Thomas. Brett Kavanaugh. These are really compelling villains, villains that pretty much every Republican who's running is going to support. It's a really excellent opportunity for Democrats to connect their opponent to this really flamboyant corruption that we see.

For the rest of us, I suggest we start talking about the Court (even) more—in real life, on social media, and at the any Midwest diner where you might find a New York Times reporter this election season.

This will be a campaign of chaos and daily distractions.

So let's make sure to remind each other on a regular basis to communicate to all who will listen: The Supreme Court is not just corrupt, unethical and extreme. It poses a serious threat to American freedoms for decades to come.