General Discussion

I know plenty about the Supreme Court, but things aren't the same now as they've been for the past 200+ years. We see it in Congress too. The Republicans have managed to destroy the system because they refuse to play on the field agreed upon. What Karl Rove called alternative reality has been put on steroids. The systems of government in the US depend on both sides actually agreeing on the ground rules, even if they disagree completely on how what to do within these systems. In the last 9 years, that has broken down almost completely. The GOP refuses to cooperate, something the system is predicated upon. Without cooperation across the aisle, Congress doesn't work as intended. And unlike the 1850s, there's no clear geographic divide between those who would harm the Republic and those who want to preserve it

On SCOTUS, we've had horrible justices and great justices, but we've never had justices who do not recognize the Constitution as the highest law of the land before. Whether it is religious law or money law - before the justices have worked within the Constitution to bend it to their will. We are now facing a time when the majority of the Supreme Court will simply disregard the Constitution - they can do it very easily by not hearing cases decided by Trump-appointed lower court judges who set the Constitution aside or willfully break it. SCOTUS won't even have to give their opinions in the more egregious cases, and the law stands for the next 40 years (but we all know that when this happens, the Republic is finished and there will never again be a chance to turn SCOTUS around.)