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Substantial Disruption

Three Words that Explain the Supreme Court

Five justices seated at the  bench. Instead of a head and neck, their robes reveal buttocks.
Three Words that Explain the Supreme Court: Too. Many. Assholes.

The Three Words

The U. S. Supreme Court has gone rogue and analysts have gone ballistic. Every day, politicians, pundits, pollsters and professors share their opinions in print, on the air and online. Everybody has an opinion on the Court, from the lofty prominence of Professor Laurence Tribe to obscure bloggers — which is where I come in. I’ve been a licensed attorney for more than four decades, have taught law courses, and served for a couple of years as a Justice of the Peace. Based on my experience and expertise, I can boil down the Court’s departure from precedent and embrace of divisiveness to three words:

Too. Many. Assholes.

That’s it.  What, you were expecting a lofty and lengthy treatise, replete with legal citations and esoteric analysis? You thought I might discuss history and philosophy? I thought of that, but caved in to the obvious. There are too many assholes on the Supreme Court.

People who lie are assholes. People who believe their opinions should override others are assholes. And people who lie their way into positions of power that enable them to inflict their beliefs on a majority of Americans against their wishes are definitely assholes. Their elegant robes are insufficient to conceal their assholery.

Three of them were appointed by the former president. When Huffpost asked Donnesbury’s Garry Trudeau about his first impression of The Donald, this is what he said: “My first raw impression? Biggest. Asshole. Ever. Must draw.”

So, what happens when an asshole gets to appoint three Supreme Court justices? Work. The. Math.

The Abortion Frontier

The Inglewood Clinic is a nondescript white building in a not-very-elegant area not far from LAX. It’s a humble neighborhood clinic now, but that may change. In the early 1970s, before Roe v Wade, the Inglewood Clinic was a destination for people seeking abortion services who resided in states where abortion was illegal, like Arizona. Now that the Supreme Court has reversed Roe and reinstated the power of states to regulate women’s health care against their wishes, the clinic might see a return to busier times. It’s not in the most refined neighborhood, but it’s convenient to the airport. Business will pick up.

The post-Roe world will see the development of an “abortion frontier” along boundaries that separate pro-choice states from anti-choice states. While the Inglewood Clinic and other current providers will see an increase in business, they’re likely to be joined by women’s health clinics sprouting across the Colorado River from Arizona. Residents of the Grand Canyon State won’t have to drive all the way to Los Angeles. They’ll have options in Blythe, near Parker, and across the river from Yuma. Nevada will also see an increase in patients seeking abortion services from Arizona and Utah.

Since Mexico recently loosened abortion restrictions, the abortion frontier will expand there as well. While not all Mexican states allow abortion on demand, money talks – loudly. Even Sonora, a state with some of the most rigid abortion laws, may decide the prohibition isn’t worth the loss of American dollars flowing into border-area abortion clinics and nearby businesses.

Prohibition always leads to a defiant frontier. Consider Baylor University, which forbids the consumption of liquor. The campus is undeniably dry, but not the neighboring area. Baylor is surrounded by bars and liquor stores, and they all do reasonably well. The dry campus is encircled by a defiant frontier profiting from the pent-up demand that prohibition leads to.

The Navajo Reservation is absolutely dry. Sale, possession and transportation of alcoholic beverages is prohibited. In nearby Gallup, New Mexico, liquor stores thrive and much of their clientele consists of reservation residents. Gallup is a defiant frontier near the Navajo Reservation.  You can see the evidence stumbling along the highway outside town.

Not every provider in the abortion frontier will be in licensed, legitimate clinics. The frontier will include those outside the law, the so-called “back alley” providers. It’s hard to predict if the Court’s decision will lead to fewer abortions. It’s not hard to predict that more women will die at the hands of unqualified back-alley providers.

A Perfect Symmetry

Many legal observers fault the court for inconsistent positions on states’ rights. The same week the Court empowered states to force women to bear children against their wishes, it removed the power of states to require applicants for concealed weapons permits to provide a reason for the permit. On their face, the decisions are inconsistent.

In the context of modern American society, they actually exist in harmony. The Court simultaneously increased the number of firearms on the street and, assuming the abortion prohibitions result in more births, the number of potential victims. What better way to honor the American tradition of mass shootings than to increase the number of weapons and victims?

Now coming to a street near you: a perfect symmetry, brought to you by too many assholes.

© 2022 by Mike Tully


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