Posted on September 21, 2020

‘RBG’ and the Death of the Constitution

Gregory Hood, American Renaissance, September 21, 2020

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Friday at age 87. NPR reported that her dying wish was that she not be replaced “until a new president is installed.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will not grant that wish. “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate,” he said.

In recent years, Justice Ginsburg was a cult figure to progressives. Literally a cult. You can buy Ginsburg devotional candles. She is a heroine in movies, children’s books, and even fitness regimens. As I write this, crowds gather at the Supreme Court, lighting candles, leaving bouquets of flowers, and posing for the media. Twitter is filled with accounts of progressives falling into hysteria.

In contrast, President Trump made a gracious, dignified statement.

It probably won’t do him any good. Progressives are threatening “war,” if Mr. Trump puts another justice on the bench. War is almost to be expected after riots, attacks on police and conservatives, a rising murder rate, and open threats of insurrection from “mainstream” outlets. It was just a few years ago that a Bernie Sanders supporter tried to assassinate Republican congressmen, but this is practically forgotten. American Renaissance does not have an account on Twitter. These progressives do, though, and they won’t be censored.

The departed had metastatic pancreatic cancer. A middle-aged office worker would find it almost impossible to perform any job under these conditions, let alone an 87-year-old who was supposed to analyze complex legal questions. Justice Ginsburg hung on as long as she could because she knew she was a political operative.

In theory, we already have a “conservative” Supreme Court. However, most Republican appointees become left-wing once they make it onto the Court. Chief Justice John Roberts voted to save Obamacare and the DACA amnesty. Both decisions have less to do with the law than with protecting the Court’s “apolitical” reputation. The Chief Justice’s job will be harder if President Trump and the Republican Senate can replace the most progressive justice with a conservative.

Still, the fact that millions seem to believe the fate of the Republic hinged on the fate of an elderly, cancer-stricken woman shows how badly our constitutional system has gone wrong. In theory, Congress passes laws, the President enforces them, and the Supreme Court judges their constitutionality. However, for decades, courts have been the most important branch of government, with the purpose of the other two branches reduced to fighting over Supreme Court nominees.

That is why a dying woman clung to her position like the Emperor in Dark Crystal. She clearly feared that without her, President Trump could change the balance of the Court for decades. But there is no “constitutional crisis.” President Trump will nominate someone, the Senate will vote and that will be it. That is how the system works.

Leftists are clearly unhinged, but so are some conservatives. When Justice Antonin Scalia (who had a personal friendship with Justice Ginsburg that transcended politics) died, many conservatives thought he was murdered.

Many conservatives who disliked or even despised Donald Trump in 2016 voted for him because they didn’t want the Democrats packing the courts. Justice Ginsburg’s death may have the same effect on reluctant Republicans this year. It may also make far-left progressives who didn’t want to vote for the Joe BidenKamala Harris ticket decide that President Trump must be driven from office before he can appoint any more justices.

This isn’t the way the Constitution is supposed to work. Alexander Hamilton thought the Judicial Branch would be the weakest of the three branches. The Framers remembered the institutional struggles that fueled the English Civil War. The Framers assumed that the battles between branches of government would drive American politics. They did not predict that party loyalty would be more important than loyalty to an institution.

Arguably, the Constitution failed in 1803, when Federalist Justice John Marshall asserted the power of the Supreme Court to determine the constitutionality of any act by the White House or Congress. Marbury v. Madison’s ruling was a tactical victory for President Jefferson, but the larger principle horrified him. Jefferson had previously written in the Kentucky Resolutions that states could nullify federal laws. However, with the notable exception of Andrew Jackson, few politicians have bucked Supreme Court rulings. The Supreme Court commands no armies, but the litigious system we inherited from Britain endures. A poll last month shows almost 60 percent of Americans think the Supreme Court is doing a good job.

Lady Justice

Image Credit: Wikimedia

Why does the Supreme Court have such powers? Congress could, in theory, impeach judges and justices, but almost never does. The Framers didn’t fail only to see the growth of party politics. They failed to anticipate that the Court would let self-centered, cowardly politicians avoid taking firm stands. When the Supreme Court imposes a new radical policy, the Left wins without having to campaign and persuade legislators. Conservatism, Inc. can throw up its hands and say, “We must respect the court’s ruling.” The grassroots may be mad, but they can blame the Court, not the GOP.

Judicial supremacy has been a terrible blow against race realism. In Brown v. Board, the justices decided to desegregate schools all by themselves. The law itself was irrelevant. Thurgood Marshall may be the “hero” in the desegregation story, but it was former clerk Philip Elman who plotted with Justice Felix Frankfurter to deliver the decision.

Mr. Elman said Marshall could have recited nursery rhymes during the arguments and the justices would have ruled in his favor. Marshall relied heavily on “doll studies” from sociologist Kenneth Clark to show segregation made blacks feel inferior and therefore needed integration. The studies showed the opposite, but the fix was in. Some say President Trump doesn’t have the authority to send in troops or the National Guard to put down disturbances, but President Dwight Eisenhower forced white students into integrated schools at bayonet point.

Brotherhood by Bayonet

The Supreme Court has upheld desegregation, mandated congressional districts be modified so non-whites can win office, invented a right to abortion, discovered homosexual marriage, and read transgenderism into the 1964 Civil Rights Act. During the Trump Administration, federal judges have imposed nationwide injunctions to stop the president from enforcing immigration laws. Federal judge Mariana Pfaelzer was responsible for throwing out Proposition 187 in California, which could have stopped the Golden State from becoming the Third World state it is today. When it comes to the most important issues, Americans’ wishes don’t matter, and neither does the Constitution.

A few months ago, reporters called VDARE.com “anti-Semitic” because it used the word “kritarchy.” It’s a Greek word that means rule by judges. If liberal reporters want to insert Judaism into that, it says more about them than about VDARE. The term is accurate: America is ruled by judges. Thus, Ruth Ginsburg’s replacement has suddenly become the most important issue of the campaign. National policy depends on whether elderly judges can last until a president of their party can appoint successors.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh has been disappointing for conservatives. He ruled with the liberal bloc on immigration. However, who can forget the disgusting smears the Left used to try to stop his confirmation? One Georgetown professor called Justice Kavanaugh a “rapist” and said senators who voted for him deserve miserable deaths and desecration of their corpses. Some opponents held his race against him. Ginsburg’s replacement will probably get it even worse, even if President Trump appoints a woman, as he says he will.

Brett Kavanaugh Sworn In

President looks on as Anthony M. Kennedy, retired Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, swears in Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to be the Supreme Court’s 114th justice Monday, Oct. 8, 2018, in the East Room of the White House. Justice Kavanaugh is joined by his wife Ashley, holding the Bible, and their daughters Liza and Margaret. (Credit Image: Official White House Photo / Joyce N. Boghosian)

The radical transformation of what used to be our country was largely imposed by the Supreme Court. Partly, this is because Republicans usually look at the credentials of an appointee, while the Democrats just want to have justices that rule their way, no matter what the law says.

Journalists and their pet Democrats are already saying they will pack the court with new justices. In recent years, we’ve seen Robert Bork denied a seat because Democrats made outrageous charges. Brett Kavanaugh was smeared. Some leftists want to impeach Justice Neil Gorsuch, despite his soft position on immigration. Clearly, playing fair and showing weakness doesn’t work.

The Supreme Court rules America. It is a kritarchy. Let us hear no platitudes about the “rule of law.” Justices are no different from Congressmen, except they are not accountable to the people.

President Trump and the Senate should recognize the Court as just another political battlefield. The GOP should consider only whether its nominee will vote reliably. The Democrats expect obedience from their judges; the GOP should too. It can’t afford any more Earl Warrens, David Souters, or John Roberts. We can’t either. If there is a progressive majority on the court, say goodbye to our borders, gun rights, and whatever freedom of speech is left. The election just became even more interesting.