THE CHIEF: THE LIFE AND TURBULENT TIMES OF CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS By Joan Biskupic


The Supreme Court just voted 5-4 to allow Trump to divert Defense Department funds to the construction of his Border Wall. Sneaky Mitch McConnell stole Obama’s Merrick Garland pick and we got conservative Neil Gorsuch instead. Then Trump stuck us with Brett Kavanaugh for the next 20+ years. When swing vote Justice Anthony Kennedy retired, it has fallen to Chief Justice John Roberts, a kid who grew up in Buffalo, NY, to keep the Supreme Court from completely becoming a Right-Wing extension of the Republican Party.

Joan Biskupic’s analysis of the life and times of John Roberts presents a compelling picture of a deeply conservative judge. Yet, Roberts’s career is rooted in traditional legal precedents. Roberts attempts to keep the Supreme Court somewhat balanced. But, what if Ruth Bader Ginsburg retires and Trump puts another arch conservative on the Court? What if the conservative wing of the Supreme Court repeals Roe v. Wade and the marriage-equality cases? If Trump wins another four years, he could pack the Supreme Court with right-wingers. Then, not even John Roberts could mitigate the damage. What do you think will happen to the Supreme Court? GRADE: B+

16 thoughts on “THE CHIEF: THE LIFE AND TURBULENT TIMES OF CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS By Joan Biskupic

    1. george Post author

      Patti, things don’t look good for the Democrats. They’re divided and “Sleepy” Joe Biden might fold in a debate with Trump like he did with Kamala Harris.

      Reply
  1. Jeff Meyerson

    Ditto. Still hoping Clarence and Alito are hit by lightning in the Rose Garden with Trump, but that is a pipe dream.

    Reply
  2. Dan

    Well that’s gonna light up the old switchboard!

    Seriously George, I enjoyed your review, and I suspect it will draw some vigorous response.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Dan, I think John Roberts is solid conservative justice, but since he’s a Chief Justice that forces Roberts to defend the Supreme Court from plunging into the chaos Trump promotes.

      Reply
  3. Jerry House

    Things do not look good for the home team, George. If future historians have to point to one man who destroyed America, it would be Mitch McConnell and not Donald J. Cheeto. McConnell’s nonsense with Merrick Garland was just one small example of how he wields power for personal glory over the common good.

    It’s hard to think of Roberts as a moderating force but his penchant for thinking about what history may say about his court has tempered him somewhat.

    And don’t get me started on Clarence Thomas! How a man who blatantly lied to Congress ended up on the Supreme Court instead of in jail baffles me.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Jerry, I totally agree with you. Clarence Thomas is the guy Anita Hill testified against…but no one wanted to listen. And Brett Kavanaugh’s still under a cloud, too. John Roberts will try to defend the tradition of the Supreme Court but he knows there’s trouble ahead. The next Supreme Court pick will be momentous!

      Reply
  4. Deb

    It’s an indication of how far to the right we’ve gone politically, that Roberts can now be considered a “mitigating/moderate” voice. I have fully expected Roe v. Wade to be repealed since Reagan was elected (remember my mantra—everything started going downhill when Reagan was elected) and I suspect the next Supreme Court term will be the one where it happens. The fact that the court as currently constituted has allowed the military budget to be raided for Trump’s vanity & grift wall project tells me all I need to know about the future. And wait till Trump & McConnell finish packing the lower-court benches with all those Liberty and Bob Jones University graduates! If you ever wanted to know what it was like living under the capricious rule of the Politburo, get ready—‘cos it’s a-coming. As for Roberts, the only things I remember about him was that neither he nor his wife made any attempt to discipline their badly-behaved children at Roberts’s swearing in and, later, Roberts couldn’t bestir himself to get Obama’s name right during Obama’s first Oath of Office.

    /Dismounting soap box now!

    Reply
      1. george Post author

        Jeff, Deb really speaks her mind on important issues. Too many people hold back and avoid these unpleasant topics.

    1. george Post author

      Deb, you may find yourself on your soapbox a lot in the next 15 months! Everything you say is true. The jettisoning of Dan Coats as Director of National Intelligence (while being replaced with another Trump doofus) continues the erosion of competency in our Government. If this keeps up, nothing will get done and nothing will work in Washington, D.C.

      Reply
  5. Michael Padgett

    It’s really too awful to think about, but that’s life in a country where 43 million people are ignorant and stupid (and racist) enough to support a malevolent piece of slime like Trump. A couple of years ago when Michael Moore said Americans are the stupidest people on earth I was somewhat offended. Now I’m beginning to wonder if he wasn’t right.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Michael, Trump’s base (about 40% in the national polls) show they will stick with The Donald no matter what he says or does. But, there are still plenty of Americans who can vote Trump and Mitch McConnell and the Republicans out of power. But, will they show up on Election Day? Or will voters throw away their votes on Third Party candidates who have no chance of winning…and giving Trump another four years of terror!

      Reply
  6. wolf

    I’m shuddering every time I read news about one of the “ugly obese christian old white men” (How do you like that description?) when all the Americans I personally know are intellectuals, liberals like you.
    Just reading/watching gives me the creeps …
    It sounds crazy to me that so much depends on a few people – or even just one man’s vote in the Supreme Court!
    Sometimes I feel lucky that we’re so far away, but still – the USA are power no 1 in the world (still).
    And of course we have our own problems in the EU like BoJo or the former “Communist” East which marches on the road to fascism, here in Hungary e g.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Wolf, birds of a feather flock together. Most of the commentators on this blog are smart, savvy people. Sure, we have our differences, but on this blog I encourage acceptance and rational debate. What the EU and the U.S. are facing is the breakdown of civility and the rise of cyber-tampering with elections and culture. We need to defend our democracy or we’ll surely lose it.

      Reply

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