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The Roberts Court did Something Wonderful


He will not always say
What you would have him say,
But now and then he’ll do
Something Wonderful.”
 
Lyrics from "The King and I"
 

 
There have been many times the Roberts Supreme Court has let the American People down, as in the case of  the“Citizens United” ruling and  again when they decided against keeping key provisions intact from landmark Civil Rights protections dating back to the 1960’s. And the Supreme Court under Rehnquist and consisting of Scalia and Thomas ruled in the Bush v Gore case where they basically gave the election to a man who did not win the popular vote, nor, it turns out, the state of Florida upon which they ruled in Bush’s favor. So to say that progressives have been unhappy with the Supreme Court in the past two decades would be an understatement.

But then again they do Something Wonderful. Every now and then, they get it right. Perhaps there will indeed have to be legislation passed to eventually overturn the disastrous Citizens United ruling that has unleashed the massive flood of dark money and super PAC’s, along with a tide of billionaire backers of candidates who otherwise would be marginal. But at least with the Roberts Court, to paraphrase Churchill, when all other avenues have been exhausted, they turn around and do the right thing. Every now and again they do…Something Wonderful.

 

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