First Draft – Supreme Court to Trump: You Can Be King!
The far-right justices just gave Trump a power that King George III would have loved, while Colorado gets ready for primaries that could put another young democratic socialist on the path to Congress.
On this day in 1982, the Equal Rights Amendment, which would explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, officially failed, three states short of ratification.
Good morning! Andrew here, writing about one of my least favorite topics: the Supreme Court. Sometimes, people seem to forget the high court’s 6-3 supermajority is composed of far-right political operatives who were installed on the court via a pile of billionaire money, and who, underneath the black robes, remain full-on ideological extremists, bestowed with a lifetime of hard power. Unfortunately, the justices remind us of this reality often enough.
In today’s ‘First Draft,’ the Supreme Court gives Donald Trump another king-like power, Colorado primary voters could replace a 15-term Democratic congresswoman with another young democratic socialist, and Michigan progressive Abdul El-Sayed picks up a key endorsement, ahead of his interview later today with Mehdi.
Our Malevolent Rulers
As we have written before here in ‘First Draft,’ Donald Trump is radically unfit to lead the U.S., and should be democratically and constitutionally removed from office, without delay. The right-wing justices in the Supreme Court supermajority see it differently: They want this monstrous man to be king.
That’s not because these far-right justices are all MAGA devotees, though surely some of them are. Some of the justices almost certainly can’t stand the man, with his constant demands of them and his propensity for launching loud personal attacks if they fail to side with him on every single issue, no matter how idiotic.
Fundamentally, Trump and the justices are partners in fascism. With teamwork, a handful of elite, unelected far-right operatives and a narcissistic game-show host can take apart American liberal democracy piece by piece, and replace it with authoritarian rule.
This is not something you’ll hear every day in the mainstream media, but it’s precisely why the right-wing justices, three of whom Trump appointed, have repeatedly granted this president king-like powers – even though they surely know he is out of his mind.
On Monday, the high court gifted Trump, as liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor noted, a new king-like power, one exceeding the powers of King George III.