Joe Biden worries that the “extreme” US supreme court, dominated by rightwing justices, cannot be relied upon to uphold the rule of law.
“I worry,” the president told ProPublica in interview published on Sunday. “Because I know that if the other team, the Maga Republicans, win, they don’t want to uphold the rule of law.”
“Maga” is shorthand for “Make America great again”, Donald Trump’s campaign slogan. Trump faces 91 criminal charges and assorted civil threats but nonetheless dominates Republican polling for the nomination to face Biden in a presidential rematch next year.
In four years in the White House, Trump nominated and saw installed three conservative justices, tilting the court 6-3 to the right. That court has delivered significant victories for conservatives, including the removal of the right to abortion and major rulings on gun control, affirmative action and other issues.
The new court term, which starts on Tuesday, could see further such rulings on matters including government environmental and financial regulation.
I think one thing that some people seem to miss is that liberal voters didn’t necessarily vote for Biden, they simply voted against Trump.
You’re absolutely right in your assessment. Our system is stacked against us. I wish we had a system that could support multiple parties. But all we have to choose from is one extreme or the other. I’m not exactly pleased with it.
And if you want to see what happens when a politician breaks ranks to get things done, look no farther than McCarthy getting ousted as speaker of the house. I don’t like the guy at all but he did the right thing this one time by getting bipartisan support to get a funding bill passed in order to avoid a government shut down. His party crucified him for it. So yeah, we are fucked.