Impeaching Alito and Thomas will not succeed. That’s not the point here. We need to shine a light on their corruption and underscore that no one is unaccountable to society.

For too long, Democratic politicians have approached the Supreme Court with a deep-seated sense of learned helplessness, reacting to each revelation of flagrant corruption and/or partisan hackery with, at most, somber press releases expressing the sentiment that someone (not them) really ought to do something about it.

Even after the Trump immunity decision came down, the only call to action Biden could muster was asking “the American people” to “do what the Court should have been willing to do” by voting down Trump at the ballot box. This is roughly analogous to the fire chief gazing at a building engulfed in flames, glancing at a ladder truck parked next to the fire hydrant, and then turning to the anxious townspeople and urging them to start filling buckets. 

Written on August 5, 2024