OWH December 2021 B                                                                      Rick Galusha

Senator Fisher’s recent Op-Ed, opined that seating more than nine judges on the Supreme Court places the blame squarely on President Biden. I agree that stuffing the court is a bad idea. However, it did not happen in a vacuum. Both parties have ‘dirty hands’ in undermining our trust.

For generations, our system of self-governance relied on accepted traditions and the institutions they safe-guarded. The Senate was once the legislative chamber of decorum and well-mannered jousting of ideas. Between Watergate and the modern era, this faded into rank partisanship and succumbed to the strategy of “no.”

Gallup reports trust in institutions has been steadily falling. I recall the pre-political-team era of getting things done, policies addressing shared long-term interests, trusting elected officials to do the right thing over the politically advantageous thing, and, regardless of political affiliation, condemning bad behavior and lying.

In the Federalist Papers (1787) James Madison ponders that the legislative branch may be too powerful, thus overshadowing the executive branch. As the world became smaller and more complex in the late 20th Century, the Presidency became more powerful while the legislature faded. After the Constitutional debauchery of Watergate, the legislative branch made overtures to rebalancing power with the White House.

And the men who spurred us on, sit in judgment of all wrong. They decide and the shotgun sings the song.

However, instead of living within the constraints of rules and traditions, officials moved the goalposts by changing the rules and traditions to assure short-term victories over long-term good governance. Among these bad ideas include the reckless spending of MMT, voter ID, ending the Electoral College, and McConnell’s ideological imbalance on the Supreme Court.

In 2013 Harry Reid (D) lowered the vote threshold for Federal judges in the Senate from 60 to 51. The traditional threshold of 60 meant that judges would have to secure votes from the opposing party. Since Senate majorities rarely achieve 60 sitting Senators, it meant that judges tended towards moderation.

We'll be fighting in the streets, with our children at our feet. And the morals that they worship will be gone.

In order to balance power, governing pits interest against interest. While changing the rules helped Reid’s effort to place Obama’s judges, by lowering passage from 60 to 51, Reid’s short-term gain opened the door for the ideological imbalance we see on today’s Supreme Court.

Take a bow for the new revolution.

Predictably, Republicans flipped the rhetoric of convenience, not once but twice, by stalling Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, and then disingenuously placing three Trump nominees on the Court. No longer does the ideology of the Supreme Court’s justices exist within a narrow range of partisan views. And since judges sit for life, it is a long-term imbalance.

Students of the Constitution, Federalist Papers, or Aristotle know, a long-term imbalance is tyranny.

Smile and grin at the change all around, Then I'll get on my knees and pray…We don't get fooled again.

The moves by Reid and McConnell were good short-term politics but inflicted long-term damage. Eventually, the other party comes into power and, consequently, governance takes a seat on the teeter-totter of hyper-partisanship as “the new boss” undoes the policies of their opposition.

Secondly, the Court has always been modestly partisan. The tradition of compromising on placing judges prevented the Court from becoming politicized. As such, we trusted that over time the courts would balance and be neutral actors addressing complex issues with an even hand.

Meet the new boss: same as the old boss.

Time was when elected officials learned that doing the right thing mattered; LBJ changed his spots and signed the Civil Rights of 1964 and the Voter Rights Act of 1965, George Bush raised taxes, Truman integrated the troops, Reagan tippled with O’Neil, and Liz Cheney stood tall when the nation needed her courage.

In an era defined by mistrust and rewarding noncompromising, traditional governance is being replaced by self-serving ideologues that run roughshod over the rights and interests of you and me. Increasingly, the many are all held hostage by the few.

Not because their ideas are better but because they are willing to damage the nation and cripple democratic principles such as the smooth transition of power or free & fair elections.

No wonder Americans’ willingness to trust others and our institutions of self-governance continue to drop.