Speaking at the 11th Circuit Judicial Conference on Friday, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas observed that if Americans are unwilling to “live with outcomes we don’t agree with,” the entire judicial system is threatened. He was, of course, right; beyond that, more than just the judiciary is threatened. The Left’s furious intransigence and willingness to resort to intimidation and violence threatens the very foundations of the United States as a free society.
Thomas noted that the leak of the draft majority opinion of Justice Samuel Alito striking down Roe v. Wade may have been “one symptom of that” unwillingness to accept unfavorable outcomes. Right again, Justice Thomas: the leak was a naked attempt to initiate protests and even threats that, the leaker hopes, will intimidate one or more Justices into changing their votes and keeping Roe in place. It’s just the opposite of how the American system is supposed to work.
“It bodes ill for a free society,” Thomas added. American institutions must not be placed in the position of having to “give you only the outcome you want, or can be bullied” to do so. Yet Thomas also noted that there is a “different attitude of the young,” and that “recent events have shown this major change.” Indeed, all too many young people have been indoctrinated into Leftism in America’s schools, and have no appreciation for the freedom of speech or any aspect of America’s rich heritage of liberty. The leaker, once he or she is found, will without any doubt be lionized as a hero on the Left. This is the Left that has likened violent and destructive Antifa thugs to the American heroes who stormed the Normandy beaches. This is the Left that has so much contempt for American history that it has torn down or overseen the removal of statues of Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Ulysses S. Grant. This is the Left that has made it abundantly clear that it intends to “fundamentally transform the country,” as Old Joe promised to do in May 2020, echoing Barack Obama’s 2008 pledge.
Leftists today have repeatedly demonstrated their hatred for America’s heritage, laws, traditions, and Constitution. Why would they respect the time-hallowed custom of preserving the secrecy of unpublished Supreme Court documents or punish the person responsible, especially when that person’s actions have helped them further their agenda? A vote to overturn Roe v. Wade would likely be five to four; only one Justice has to be threatened or frightened into changing his or her vote for the Left’s sacrament — the centerpiece of its worship of radical individualism and personal autonomy, and its refusal to accept biological reality — to be preserved. The person who would be responsible for that Justice changing his or her vote would be hailed with more gusto and fervor than the Left hailed even George Floyd, or Huey P. Newton, or Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, or Alger Hiss.
Related: Chief Justice Roberts Issues Statement on Dobbs Leak, Directs Marshal of Court to Investigate
Even Barack Obama, a former president of the United States, has called for protests: “We’re asking you to join with the activists who’ve been sounding the alarm on this issue for years and act. Stand with them at a local protest. Volunteer with them on a campaign. Join with them in urging Congress to codify Roe into law.” The intimidation has begun.
Chief Justice John Roberts, however, has insisted that it won’t work: “To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed. The work of the Court will not be affected in any way.”
Maybe it won’t. But even if no Supreme Court Justice ends up being affected by the intimidation campaign, Thomas is right: a line has been crossed. The Court is not respected any more than the Left respects anything. It is just a vehicle for the fulfillment of the Left’s wishes, until the time comes when it can be discarded.
We are in danger of entering into a period of government by threat and intimidation, in which elected officials are prompted to do the bidding of sinister forces by violent mobs showing up at their doorstep (remember, the Justices likely to vote to overturn Roe have been doxxed). Leftist leaders these days love to warn about threats to “our democracy,” by which they mean the Left’s hegemony. Plato in The Republic identified democracy as the lowest form of government and warned that it degenerated into mob rule. We’re on the verge right now of proving him right.
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