THE SUPREME COURT'S REPUBLICANS KNOW OUR SIDE WILL NEVER USE THE POWER THEY'VE POTENTIALLY GIVEN US

As you know, yesterday the Supreme Court ruled that lower-court judges can't protect even fundamental constitutional rights using nationwide injunctions. In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote:

But Justice Sotomayor explains lays plain the dangerous consequences of this decision.

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— Sen. Cory Booker (@booker.senate.gov) June 27, 2025 at 1:24 PM

The six Republicans on the Court aren't worried. Why should they be? They know what Democrats are like. They know what judges appointed by Democrats are like.

It's not clear whether the Court's Republicans intend to spend the next few years working with the Trump administration to create a Hungary-like "competitive authoritarian" system in which the country has the appearance of free elections, but the ruling party rigs the game so the opposition can't really win. That's probably the plan. But even if it isn't -- even if Democrats will compete in future elections on a level playing field, and could be running the country in a few years -- the Court's Republicans know they won't try to push the boundaries of the acceptable the way Trump has.

Taking guns away from the law-abiding? That only happens in the fever dreams of Republicans. Bill Clinton was president for eight years and it didn't happen. Barack Obama was president for eight years and it didn't happen. Joe Biden was president for four years and it didn't happen. It hasn't happened in the bluest of states. Even when there have been restrictions on who can own guns or at what age a particular kind of gun can be purchased, no Democratic administration has even suggested going house to house and rounding up firearms that had previously been obtained legally. "Red flag" laws exist, but no one is being deprived of weapons without a good reason, subject to due process. And even an assault weapons ban wouldn't prevent a would-be purchaser of assault weapons from buying any other kind of gun -- or a dozen guns of other kinds -- instead.

And there simply isn't a strain of liberal legal thought that tosses the Constitution, law, and precedent out the window and says that whatever liberals want is the Framers' intention. No one who'd uphold a statewide gun confiscation program would ever be appointed to the federal bench, even if Democrats held the White House and the Senate.

And I know of no Democrats who want to deprive any religious denomination of the right to worship. Yes, there were restrictions on in-person services in some Democratic jurisdictions at the height of the COVID pandemic, but they weren't efforts to outlaw any particular faith. Again, this is a scenario that plays out only in Fox-addled Republicans' imaginings. (Although it's quite easy to imagine Republicans banning worship by Muslims.)

The Supreme Court's Republicans aren't worried that the shoe might be on the other foot someday because they know the shoe will never be on the other foot. This is why they're willing to give Donald Trump nearly unlimited power: they know that any Republican would use the power in ways they like and no Democrat would ever use it in ways they dislike. They're giving powerful weapons to Trump and future party-mates because they know the enemy -- Democrats -- will never use those weapons.