The Supreme Court Boils a Frog

How we lost our liberal democracy

The Supreme Court has slowly boiled the frog of our liberal democracy as we, the people, sat back and enjoyed the hot bath. How did we do it? How did we do nothing (nothing effective, anyway) as the Court eroded our democracy, our constitutional rights, and our system of government?

You know how it happened. You were there. You read it in the HuffPost or on Facebook or Rachel Maddow told you. But let’s review for the record how it has gone down. Each and every one of these events was an alarm bell, to which we did not respond. Are we no smarter than a dumb old frog being boiled to death?

1991: Clarence Thomas, an extreme right-winger, is seated on the Supreme Court despite credible evidence of sexual harassment in the workplace; this is long before Me Too and Believe Women

2003: Lawrence v. Texas de-criminalizes sodomy (sexual acts that both gays and straights engage in); a victory for liberal democracy, but it doesn’t affect the power dynamic in Washington D.C.

2010: Citizens United allows unlimited corporate contributions to political PACs, truly handing over our government to the corporations. (Really? A corporation is a person?)

2013: The Voting Rights Act is de-fanged by striking the prior review clause.

2015: Federal marriage equality (a.k.a. gay marriage) is guaranteed by the Obergefell decision; again, a victory for liberal democracy, but it doesn’t affect the power dynamic in Washington D.C.

2016: Moscow Mitch holds off the Supreme Court nomination of Merritt Garland for nearly a year, making way for…

2017: Neil Gorsuch, another right-winger, a credibly accused rapist, self-proclaimed beer-lover, is raised to the High Court

2020: Amy Coney Island, a religious right-winger, is raised to the High Court just weeks before a presidential election, despite being obviously unqualified

2022: Down goes abortion! with the Dobbs ruling

2023: We learn that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, known sexual harasser, is also corrupt, having been accepting expensive gifts and trips from supporters with business before the Court, and also not recusing himself from (insurrection) cases involving his wife. Also corrupt: right-winger Justice Sam Alito.

2024: ??? Waiting for the next shoe to drop… Will we respond this time?

Please VOTE in November!