I don't think they're scared. They,'ve seemed angry and arrogant to me. I think they've been bought for just this moment. I think they share the imperial tendencies of their backers (and great envy of their riches). Also, I think Alito and Thomas in particular are mad that we, the little people, have dared to publicly rebuke them, and now they're agonna show us.
Being a psychologist with super-rich family members, friends, and social acquaintances, I have observed that once you get to a certain level of wealth, money seems to squelch trust. Once that happens, humans lose the capacity for exchanging intimacy and enjoying loving relationships. They begin to view all social interactions as efforts to exploit them, so they start exploiting back.
They keep buying more and bigger houses, yachts, airplanes, etc. We all have observed that most rich celebrities become serial marriers. Quite often their families disintegrate, abuse drugs, get arrested, and too often, commit suicide. Just look at Trump and his toadies - they are all assholes. Laura Loomer is his friend?
As such, the bought-off SCOTUS members likely start to share the same worldview as their billionaire cronies - Greed is good, life is always dog-eat-dog, and wealth is power to keep the working class working for us. When you have billions, you need to dominate millions - of people.
A few years ago, one of my student mentees, a kid from East Germany, whom I helped find a path to success back in the 80's, is now a tycoon. He told me that he no longer has time "for people like me" when I asked if he wanted to get together this summer. That is not the first time that I have lost friends like that to wealth and power, but it is always sad to see how wealth can pervert worldviews.
Yes, I doubt that many people see the worldview change coming as their businesses skyrocket. Popstar Michael Jackson is a great example of somebody driven to suicide as love became the one thing he could not buy. That might explain the serial marriages among the wealthy. David Brook's essay on ambition versus aspiration would suggest that wealth obtained by aspiration might be less likely to derail love in one's life.
I have several prep school pals who became super-rich, who are still loving and lovable - still married to the same spouse, limiting toys to a second house, a single yacht, no airplanes, etc. They are all aspirational achievers, very generous donors, sponsors, etc. They are not ambitious people trying to beat everybody to the top of the world as the 1940s movie White Heat portrays.
I feel like I've seen that same contact snobbery in the politicians who live to serve the super-rich, adopting their contempt for the ordinary people they were elected to serve.
Tomonthebeach, your sentence "They begin to view all social interactions as efforts to exploit them, so they start exploiting back." is good explanation. I am normally somewhat skeptical of psychological explanations of behavior which is inherently social in nature; which includes virtually all human behavior. But this is a good one. It is Hegelian or even Marxist in nature. Thesis-Antithesis.
In a subsequent comment of yours, you mention the difference between "aspirational" vs "ambition" as pointed out by David Brook. I am afraid I do not understand this demarcation. Can you elaborate?
I think it's a combination of fear and arrogance, and the same with many members of the Republican Congress. At any rate, the prospective victims know that these are not idle threats, for any time Trump mentions unhappiness or discomfort with any situation or individual(s,) one (or more) of his supporters may try to take remedial action.
Owning the libs? Seems incredible when you think of the amount of education these superior beings have. Did Heritage find the weakest links that think that way and put them on their list? You very well may be right, Sheru.
Owning the libs is fodder for the MAGA mules, hampered by an inferiority complex, due to an under developed pre frontal cortex, they chafe at their own ignorance, and like a schoolyard bully, pick on those more educated, smarter and aware than they..
They either grow up or are smacked down. If you befriend a bully, he takes that as win, and will continue to make demands of you.
Sheru,I agree,they feel like they should be sharing in the riches of the billionaire class and may be they are.Who knows how much Trump is paying them to come up with these unpopular decisions. More importantly,could there be the possiblity that they like Trump believe in the " Nazi" model of Hitler,Orban?
Grandiose ideation. Google. In 2017, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito accepted a knighthood from the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, a dynastic order of chivalry led by the Bourbon-Two Sicilies royal family. This monarchist order bestows knighthoods as a vestige of historical royal power, and Alito received the rank of Knight Grand Cross of Merit, the highest rank for non-nobles. The investiture took place at a mass in St. Matthews Cathedral in Washington, D.C..
God and "The Order" made them do it? They are channeling Napoleon and royalty? Any damn thing is possible, because I swear, it is almost like they cannot read laws or the The Constitution. Still wondering who or what has taken over their minds. Were they profiled and nurtured for this?
Consider them interchangeable. At least Mephistopheles was intriguing, way more interesting than Faust, at least as far as Marlowe saw him. Goethe, not so much.
It is obvious to a blind man, with a functioning pre frontal cortex, that the grand conspiracy is a Catholic conspiracy, and they deflect, as they did during the Inquisition by blaming the Jews.
Then again there are too many Jewish facilitators and hanger ons. Starting with Stephen Miller.
Not that all Catholics and Jews are facilitators, members and backers of Trump and MAGA, but so many, too many.
Out of curiosity I did a cursory check of the Trump Administration, while it is ecumenical (Kash got sworn in on the Baghavad Gita, a Hindu holy scripture,
and Kristi Noem is Evangelical, (Charlie Kirk was Pentecostal),
Tulsi Gabbard is a practicing Hindu and a follower of the Vaishnava tradition and also took the oath on the Bhagavad Gita, Tom, Homan and Dan Bongino are radical Catholics.
Jared and Ivanka Kushne, Stephen Miller, David Friedman, Steve Witkoff, Miriam Adelson, Boris Epshteyn,Howard Lutnik, Ruth Pipko, Laura Loomer,Lee Seldon, Sod Rpsemberg. Sid Scharf, Marc Rowan are all part of Trump’s inner circle.
Catholics are JD Vance, Marco Rubio, John Ratcliffe,John Duffy, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Robert F Kennedy, JR, Kelly Loefler.Linda McMahon, Elise Stefanik,
Kristi Noem, Pete Hegseth and Scott Turner are all Chrisian nationalists.
Paula White-Cain: A prominent televangelist and longtime spiritual advisor to Trump, she leads the White House Faith Office.
Russell Vought: Appointed as White House budget director, Vought is known for advancing Christian nationalist views.
Everyone has an agenda, for most it is race, religion, social status, money a combination of all, and for some it is simply live and let live, freedom, the ability to make personal decisions about one's own life, that do not harm others.
The latter is me, and those like me but we are not allowed to exist in this fearful world of insecure bullies.
We must conform, resistance is futile, social communism or oblivion.
I think their backers have already rewarded them more than we know. I suspect our discoveries of trips, "loans," etc, a few years ago are not the full information. And once they're off the bench? I'm betting the sky's the limit.
There should be some law that if a justice makes a ruling opposite of what they said they would do during their hearings they are automatically impeached....
I have another question to add to Thom's many--because of their affinity to the rich and powerful, will these six Republican sold-outs continue to favor trump even if the next president is a Democrat?
Or will we then be able to DO something to investigate and expose? We have to impeach, even if we can't convict. Ruining their legacy isn't enough, but it is something. They have caused destruction and death.
I think they’re all thoroughly committed to making that NOT happen. In this case, there is a huge danger in being all in, but they must believe that danger is not only worth it, but necessary.
This to me means that they have been bribed, are being bribed, but they are also being threatened if they break formation. Carrot and stick. If a Democrat should get into the oval office a lot of the legislative, executive, and judicial branch people will not only be disgraced but could also spend time in prison. If their lives and their families are being threatened also, they are damned if they do AND if they don’t.
So, who are the ones pulling all the strings? It ain’t the clown who appears to be on top. In fact, I’m pretty sure the string pullers are in the process of ousting and replacing him. He’s definitely getting to be an uncontrollable liability. For every promise he keeps to them he gets deeper in the well of his own making and creates a bigger mess to be cleaned up later.
In answer to your title question, I’m persuaded it’s all of the above. Six corrupt ideologues living in fear of the monster they helped create. If we survive this era and elect a Democratic president, they’ll still be corrupt idealogues. We must not again fail to expand the Court, otherwise the current majority will continue to freely trash our manifestly fragile democracy.
Tom,good post,but I think the fragile democracy you comment upon is gone.Trump is a " Neo Nazi" whose heros are Hitler,Orban,Putin.He governs like a "Nazi" ,threatens anyone who does not agree with his :Fascist ideology.The FCC termination yesterday of Rebecca Slaughter is just another example of overreach by a demented,dangerous,rouge " Nazi" sitting in the White House.Such a shame that such a small# of people who voted for Harris are unwilling to particpate in rallies,demonstrations,blow back against this " Cancer" called Trump.
Top U.S. health officials urged pregnant women not to use acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, claiming it could cause autism, though studies have been inconclusive. -- NYT.
Someone needs to report on who holds the shorts on Tylenol stock. KVUE stock price: Kenvue plummets as Trump announcement expected to tie Tylenol to autism, tout leucovorin. Trump told reporters he believed Tylenol was ‘a very big factor’ in autism risk. He also claimed the administration may have an ‘answer’ to treating the disorder.
Kenvue (KVUE) [Tylenol] has a short interest of 43.96 million shares, representing 2.29% of the float (the number of shares available for trading by the public). This marks a -0.97% decrease in short interest from the previous month. The short interest ratio (days to cover) is 2.1, indicating that it would take 2.1 days of the average trading volume of 27.95 million shares to cover all short positions. https://www.marketbeat.com/stocks/NYSE/KVUE/short-interest/
A couple of people tell me that autism has been around longer than Tylenol and that MAGA Dr. Oz’s company iHerb sells leucovorin. As of April 2025, Dr. Mehmet Oz is the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in the Donald Trump administration.
SOMETHING or several somethings is kicking it into high gear. Genes get "switched-on"; it's called gene regulation. Scientists know the genetic link holds true from studying identical and fraternal twins.
From AI overview:
Epigenetics and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Epigenetics refers to changes in gene expression that occur without alterations in the DNA sequence itself. These changes can play a role in the development and function of the brain, and they have been implicated in a number of neurodevelopmental disorders, including ASD"
That said, research is in its infancy, and clearly RFK Jr ,TRump and OZ lack impulse control. Like most Republicans, rather than paying for real research, they do their psycho thing thinking they are smarter.
So glad you explained what they may be up to concerning stocks.
The recent command for the military to use lethal force in Portland OR is seriously meant to terrify. The Life photo of a girl putting a daisy into the barrel of a gun at a Pentagon demonstration comes to mind as a practical response to the military aggression. If protesters engage in the practice of mass non violent civil disobedience like sit-ins, lie-ins, die-ins it would hopefully belay the blood Trump obviously wants to shed.
"Or is it because they’re so ideologically extreme, wed to a 21st century form of neofascism, that they’re enthusiastic to overturn 249 years of our constitutional order?"
I say yes to that. I disagree that they are afraid. Just like the Republican senators and congresspersons who are in the cult and believe the garbage about Trump being sent by God or the person who will expedite the Second Coming and who also believe the crap about a CEO/unitary executive as well as free market fundamentalism, all six of the right-wing justices are cultists or religious fanatics. That's why they accept bribes, as well. They are doing God's work, don't you know? I couldn't find post cards anywhere but finally ordered them online from the P.O and just yesterday sent a postcard to each of the six radicals with my definitive opinions about their anti-American, unconstitutional decisions. I recommend that others do the same. If they were afraid, they would retire and they would not be able to come up with the nonsensical arguments such as they gave for overturning Roe and for many other rulings which stretch credulity and logic beyond any ordinary limits. Do not give them an excuse for what is unforgivable and for irrational superstitious beliefs.
I don't represent anybody. Have to have an actual case.
Also probably requires that the lawyer who files it file an affidavit under penalty of perjury.
This is common at every other level except SCOTUS. Roberts opened the door by adopring the Code. By analogy, herre's the rule for federal trial judges.
28 U.S. Code § 144 - Bias or prejudice of judge
"Whenever a party to any proceeding in a district court makes and files a timely and sufficient affidavit that the judge before whom the matter is pending has a personal bias or prejudice either against him or in favor of any adverse party, such judge shall proceed no further therein, but another judge shall be assigned to hear such proceeding.
"The affidavit shall state the facts and the reasons for the belief that bias or prejudice exists, and shall be filed not less than ten days before the beginning of the term at which the proceeding is to be heard, or good cause shall be shown for failure to file it within such time. A party may file only one such affidavit in any case. It shall be accompanied by a certificate of counsel of record stating that it is made in good faith."
Well, your essay provides lots of things to ponder. As usual, sir. That’s quite the statistic: that the SupCt has handed down more shadow docket unexplained decisions in 9 months than in the 16 years of Bush and Obama. If they’re afraid, that would be eminently sensible, because the guy is a mob boss. If they’re want what he’s selling, they’re sure helping him push it. I’m pretty sure the two openly maga guys are on the take. The other conservatives seem to love conservative, backward ideals. They also want to take America backward. I am relieved to learn that the shadow docket unexplained decisions are easier to overturn in the future. We have to get to the future. They might all very reasonably be very afraid of him. And yes, Vance and musk just don’t care what they say. Vance is a dictator in waiting. And Thiel and musk will help him.
Vance and Musk are shape-shifters that are working toward that Technocracy from Canada and Greenland all the way down to Venezuela. Sickos just like Thiel.
I call the USSC "Mommy and 5 Daddies." The 5 males are just bagmen. On the take.
Whenever Putin's Ed McMahon, his tangerine-dream of a sidekick in the WH, does not get his way, he runs and tells his over-indulgent "Mom 'n' 5 Dads," who [like 6 berobed genies] grant him his most febrile, gangster-esque, misogynistic, anti-American wishes.
Next for the USSC to grant Smelly Cat? No more toilets in the US. Every grownup must wear adult Pampers, so that Putin's pathetic Ed can feel a "could-be-anyone kind of comfort" whilst literally stinkin' up any given joint he happens to be in.
It’s too bad the justices cannot be held in contempt for lying during their confirmation hearings. Remember they all swore to abide by stare decisis?That laws like Roe v. Wade is settled and that they’ll all follow precedent? Bottom line they lied to get their jobs. The six conservative judges love to hide behind their robes to stick it to the people. Now, they’re hiding behind the shadow docket to do harm. There certainly ought to
be term limits for these unelected activist judges!
I suspect Roberts did a small favor for trump years ago and trump won't let him forget it. One can NEVER appease a Dictator. I also suspect that there are some names on a certain client list that would personally AND professionally scandalize a certain SCOTUS justice. Or more--and trump knows it and they know he KNOWS it. Fear and arrogance are part but not all why the shadow docket has been used so much.
It would seem that the next democrat president needs to pull a FDR and threaten to expand the court to balance things out more. Of course, any president will also need a democrat majority congress as well to enforce the issue. Something that will likely happen next year, given how angry people are with the MAGA republicans now. Once the new congress is sworn in, the impeachment indictments are sure to start. If adjudicated before the next presidential elections, Vance would be just a seat warmer until a new president is elected.
The bottom line is that some of these six justices need to be replaced with new ones who will bring more balance to the court. That then becomes a issue before the voters. Do the voters have the political will to demand change? Even a supreme court justice is not immune to angry voters who want change.
The next Democrat to become POTUS must not just threaten to expand the Court, he must do it. (I used "he" because it's clear that the U.S. won't vote for a "she"). There are 13 circuits, so expand to 13 Justices. Just Do It!!
As I read it, it's ideological extremism. The 6 republicans, all Catholics, all self-described Federalists, support the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025. Their support for the unitary executive theory has been clear from the jump. They are arming a madman just when they should be protecting us from him, unleashing brute and ignorant force onto US communities. What better reason to begin withholding federal income tax so we're not paying Trump to dig our own graves?
I say BOTH - the 6 SC justices are both bribed by the Heritage Foundation (and others) and also frightened that Trump will set the MAGA extremists on them.
They need to read the "Independent Media" to realize they are killing Democracy
A cabal of the willing? All compromised? This is HUGE whatever it is!
If it were fear of the single radical right-winger, it seems to me that one or more would have simply resigned and left public life. The fact that they have stuck it out as a block indicates larger force(s) behind the intimidation. Roberts is leading this pack of wolves.
The tech-bros are a separate issue. They are hoping to assist in the forming of a Technocracy where information rules. Their agenda is right out of science fiction.
The universities have opted to simply keep the money flowing. The law-firms too. Who would understand the power structure better than those institutions?
Corporations know that being part of a fascist regime is the best way to assure tax breaks and lobby for the resources that they steal from we the people.
One of the Epstein victims said fear of the rich can make anyone do anything. They all have families. See you in the streets.
Street fighters will note that the vulnerable undebelly of MAGA is in Trumpepstein. Patel perjured himself last week, and we have yet to see the fruits of the Acosta depositions.
Need to continually press Republican Congressionals.
According to the Dems' pressers during their Acosta session, they said he is either lying or delusional about the damage Epstein caused under his watch. He is all three monkeys, hear no, see no, speak no.
Scalia said it best: "The Constitution is dead. Dead, dead, dead." So they can make up whatever they want to align with Project 2025. Christian White Supremacy.
Great summary Thom. Perhaps there is an element of fear as well, although that is not stopping dissent from our great liberal justices.
Question: "Why are these six Republican appointees deferring to Trump in such an obvious violation of precedent and the Constitution they’ve sworn to uphold?"
Answer: -sound of cash register till closing, while bell sounds, *cha-ching!*-
These people are Opus Dei. Leonard Leo, Opus Dei, has appointed every conservative Supreme Court justice since Scalia. JD Vance has was recruited by Peter Thiel. Why has this secretive organization within the Catholic Church continued to be ignored ? Pay attention!
Another possibility for the failure of our current Supreme Court is that some of the justices are being swept away with the giddy and wild-eyed excitement of being, for want of a better word, groupies. They lack the socio-emotional perspective to realize that they are not fulfilling their oaths of office, that their decisions on court proceedings are formulated prior to any contemplation of the actual merits of the case, or of precedent, or of its implications relative to the Constitution itself. Rather, they are happy slaves to the conservative zeitgeist and as such are totally unable to perform their duties as members of the highest court of the land. They are automatons.
Either we leave their legacy or OURS by leaving the truth.
That Bondi message TRump accidentally posted shows his dismay about the impeachments and indictments. We gotta get busy reminding all of them of what we're going to do---three years of misery for THEM.
Old and slow, but since retirement, the library, and the internet it's OMG everyday.
I don't think they're scared. They,'ve seemed angry and arrogant to me. I think they've been bought for just this moment. I think they share the imperial tendencies of their backers (and great envy of their riches). Also, I think Alito and Thomas in particular are mad that we, the little people, have dared to publicly rebuke them, and now they're agonna show us.
Being a psychologist with super-rich family members, friends, and social acquaintances, I have observed that once you get to a certain level of wealth, money seems to squelch trust. Once that happens, humans lose the capacity for exchanging intimacy and enjoying loving relationships. They begin to view all social interactions as efforts to exploit them, so they start exploiting back.
They keep buying more and bigger houses, yachts, airplanes, etc. We all have observed that most rich celebrities become serial marriers. Quite often their families disintegrate, abuse drugs, get arrested, and too often, commit suicide. Just look at Trump and his toadies - they are all assholes. Laura Loomer is his friend?
As such, the bought-off SCOTUS members likely start to share the same worldview as their billionaire cronies - Greed is good, life is always dog-eat-dog, and wealth is power to keep the working class working for us. When you have billions, you need to dominate millions - of people.
A few years ago, one of my student mentees, a kid from East Germany, whom I helped find a path to success back in the 80's, is now a tycoon. He told me that he no longer has time "for people like me" when I asked if he wanted to get together this summer. That is not the first time that I have lost friends like that to wealth and power, but it is always sad to see how wealth can pervert worldviews.
He's still on the other side of the wall, only he built this one.
Thank you for still using your knowledge and empathy to help, Tom.
Yes, I doubt that many people see the worldview change coming as their businesses skyrocket. Popstar Michael Jackson is a great example of somebody driven to suicide as love became the one thing he could not buy. That might explain the serial marriages among the wealthy. David Brook's essay on ambition versus aspiration would suggest that wealth obtained by aspiration might be less likely to derail love in one's life.
I have several prep school pals who became super-rich, who are still loving and lovable - still married to the same spouse, limiting toys to a second house, a single yacht, no airplanes, etc. They are all aspirational achievers, very generous donors, sponsors, etc. They are not ambitious people trying to beat everybody to the top of the world as the 1940s movie White Heat portrays.
I feel like I've seen that same contact snobbery in the politicians who live to serve the super-rich, adopting their contempt for the ordinary people they were elected to serve.
Wow. That is just so informative and insightful, really helps me better understand this widespread mindset of these super rich folks. Thank you!
Tomonthebeach, your sentence "They begin to view all social interactions as efforts to exploit them, so they start exploiting back." is good explanation. I am normally somewhat skeptical of psychological explanations of behavior which is inherently social in nature; which includes virtually all human behavior. But this is a good one. It is Hegelian or even Marxist in nature. Thesis-Antithesis.
In a subsequent comment of yours, you mention the difference between "aspirational" vs "ambition" as pointed out by David Brook. I am afraid I do not understand this demarcation. Can you elaborate?
Give it a read, whynot? https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/opinion/ambition-self-improvement.html
I think it's a combination of fear and arrogance, and the same with many members of the Republican Congress. At any rate, the prospective victims know that these are not idle threats, for any time Trump mentions unhappiness or discomfort with any situation or individual(s,) one (or more) of his supporters may try to take remedial action.
Owning the libs? Seems incredible when you think of the amount of education these superior beings have. Did Heritage find the weakest links that think that way and put them on their list? You very well may be right, Sheru.
Owning the libs is fodder for the MAGA mules, hampered by an inferiority complex, due to an under developed pre frontal cortex, they chafe at their own ignorance, and like a schoolyard bully, pick on those more educated, smarter and aware than they..
They either grow up or are smacked down. If you befriend a bully, he takes that as win, and will continue to make demands of you.
Ignorant people don't know that they are.
Thus the complex and the fuel for MAGA
A rich vein to mine.
Sheru,I agree,they feel like they should be sharing in the riches of the billionaire class and may be they are.Who knows how much Trump is paying them to come up with these unpopular decisions. More importantly,could there be the possiblity that they like Trump believe in the " Nazi" model of Hitler,Orban?
Grandiose ideation. Google. In 2017, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito accepted a knighthood from the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, a dynastic order of chivalry led by the Bourbon-Two Sicilies royal family. This monarchist order bestows knighthoods as a vestige of historical royal power, and Alito received the rank of Knight Grand Cross of Merit, the highest rank for non-nobles. The investiture took place at a mass in St. Matthews Cathedral in Washington, D.C..
God and "The Order" made them do it? They are channeling Napoleon and royalty? Any damn thing is possible, because I swear, it is almost like they cannot read laws or the The Constitution. Still wondering who or what has taken over their minds. Were they profiled and nurtured for this?
Consider Faust.
Who needs the devil when you have Harlan Crow, Leonard Leo, and the Heritage Foundation?
Consider them interchangeable. At least Mephistopheles was intriguing, way more interesting than Faust, at least as far as Marlowe saw him. Goethe, not so much.
It is obvious to a blind man, with a functioning pre frontal cortex, that the grand conspiracy is a Catholic conspiracy, and they deflect, as they did during the Inquisition by blaming the Jews.
Then again there are too many Jewish facilitators and hanger ons. Starting with Stephen Miller.
Not that all Catholics and Jews are facilitators, members and backers of Trump and MAGA, but so many, too many.
Out of curiosity I did a cursory check of the Trump Administration, while it is ecumenical (Kash got sworn in on the Baghavad Gita, a Hindu holy scripture,
and Kristi Noem is Evangelical, (Charlie Kirk was Pentecostal),
Tulsi Gabbard is a practicing Hindu and a follower of the Vaishnava tradition and also took the oath on the Bhagavad Gita, Tom, Homan and Dan Bongino are radical Catholics.
Jared and Ivanka Kushne, Stephen Miller, David Friedman, Steve Witkoff, Miriam Adelson, Boris Epshteyn,Howard Lutnik, Ruth Pipko, Laura Loomer,Lee Seldon, Sod Rpsemberg. Sid Scharf, Marc Rowan are all part of Trump’s inner circle.
Catholics are JD Vance, Marco Rubio, John Ratcliffe,John Duffy, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Robert F Kennedy, JR, Kelly Loefler.Linda McMahon, Elise Stefanik,
Kristi Noem, Pete Hegseth and Scott Turner are all Chrisian nationalists.
Paula White-Cain: A prominent televangelist and longtime spiritual advisor to Trump, she leads the White House Faith Office.
Russell Vought: Appointed as White House budget director, Vought is known for advancing Christian nationalist views.
Google AI is not up to date.
Thanks for the run-down, William, we can all use it to keep things in perspective when we hear them talk.
Everyone has an agenda, for most it is race, religion, social status, money a combination of all, and for some it is simply live and let live, freedom, the ability to make personal decisions about one's own life, that do not harm others.
The latter is me, and those like me but we are not allowed to exist in this fearful world of insecure bullies.
We must conform, resistance is futile, social communism or oblivion.
T
White-Cain... Coincidental? Maybe not.
You lost me Robert.
Well, I am an odd lot, I confess. White, as in all the good people, Cain as in he who slew his brother. Sorry. (slinks off, dejected...)
That’s effed up.
I think their backers have already rewarded them more than we know. I suspect our discoveries of trips, "loans," etc, a few years ago are not the full information. And once they're off the bench? I'm betting the sky's the limit.
There should be some law that if a justice makes a ruling opposite of what they said they would do during their hearings they are automatically impeached....
I have another question to add to Thom's many--because of their affinity to the rich and powerful, will these six Republican sold-outs continue to favor trump even if the next president is a Democrat?
Or will we then be able to DO something to investigate and expose? We have to impeach, even if we can't convict. Ruining their legacy isn't enough, but it is something. They have caused destruction and death.
I say yes.
I think they’re all thoroughly committed to making that NOT happen. In this case, there is a huge danger in being all in, but they must believe that danger is not only worth it, but necessary.
This to me means that they have been bribed, are being bribed, but they are also being threatened if they break formation. Carrot and stick. If a Democrat should get into the oval office a lot of the legislative, executive, and judicial branch people will not only be disgraced but could also spend time in prison. If their lives and their families are being threatened also, they are damned if they do AND if they don’t.
So, who are the ones pulling all the strings? It ain’t the clown who appears to be on top. In fact, I’m pretty sure the string pullers are in the process of ousting and replacing him. He’s definitely getting to be an uncontrollable liability. For every promise he keeps to them he gets deeper in the well of his own making and creates a bigger mess to be cleaned up later.
In answer to your title question, I’m persuaded it’s all of the above. Six corrupt ideologues living in fear of the monster they helped create. If we survive this era and elect a Democratic president, they’ll still be corrupt idealogues. We must not again fail to expand the Court, otherwise the current majority will continue to freely trash our manifestly fragile democracy.
Tom,good post,but I think the fragile democracy you comment upon is gone.Trump is a " Neo Nazi" whose heros are Hitler,Orban,Putin.He governs like a "Nazi" ,threatens anyone who does not agree with his :Fascist ideology.The FCC termination yesterday of Rebecca Slaughter is just another example of overreach by a demented,dangerous,rouge " Nazi" sitting in the White House.Such a shame that such a small# of people who voted for Harris are unwilling to particpate in rallies,demonstrations,blow back against this " Cancer" called Trump.
This morning, the big financial news involves Tylenol -- https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/health/kennedy-autism-tylenol-trump.html
Top U.S. health officials urged pregnant women not to use acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, claiming it could cause autism, though studies have been inconclusive. -- NYT.
Someone needs to report on who holds the shorts on Tylenol stock. KVUE stock price: Kenvue plummets as Trump announcement expected to tie Tylenol to autism, tout leucovorin. Trump told reporters he believed Tylenol was ‘a very big factor’ in autism risk. He also claimed the administration may have an ‘answer’ to treating the disorder.
Kenvue (KVUE) [Tylenol] has a short interest of 43.96 million shares, representing 2.29% of the float (the number of shares available for trading by the public). This marks a -0.97% decrease in short interest from the previous month. The short interest ratio (days to cover) is 2.1, indicating that it would take 2.1 days of the average trading volume of 27.95 million shares to cover all short positions. https://www.marketbeat.com/stocks/NYSE/KVUE/short-interest/
A couple of people tell me that autism has been around longer than Tylenol and that MAGA Dr. Oz’s company iHerb sells leucovorin. As of April 2025, Dr. Mehmet Oz is the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in the Donald Trump administration.
SOMETHING or several somethings is kicking it into high gear. Genes get "switched-on"; it's called gene regulation. Scientists know the genetic link holds true from studying identical and fraternal twins.
From AI overview:
Epigenetics and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Epigenetics refers to changes in gene expression that occur without alterations in the DNA sequence itself. These changes can play a role in the development and function of the brain, and they have been implicated in a number of neurodevelopmental disorders, including ASD"
That said, research is in its infancy, and clearly RFK Jr ,TRump and OZ lack impulse control. Like most Republicans, rather than paying for real research, they do their psycho thing thinking they are smarter.
So glad you explained what they may be up to concerning stocks.
Autism first diagnosed 1911. Tylenol first hit the market in 1955. Go figure.
David, they haven’t crushed dissent (yet). Hope springs eternal.
The recent command for the military to use lethal force in Portland OR is seriously meant to terrify. The Life photo of a girl putting a daisy into the barrel of a gun at a Pentagon demonstration comes to mind as a practical response to the military aggression. If protesters engage in the practice of mass non violent civil disobedience like sit-ins, lie-ins, die-ins it would hopefully belay the blood Trump obviously wants to shed.
"Or is it because they’re so ideologically extreme, wed to a 21st century form of neofascism, that they’re enthusiastic to overturn 249 years of our constitutional order?"
I say yes to that. I disagree that they are afraid. Just like the Republican senators and congresspersons who are in the cult and believe the garbage about Trump being sent by God or the person who will expedite the Second Coming and who also believe the crap about a CEO/unitary executive as well as free market fundamentalism, all six of the right-wing justices are cultists or religious fanatics. That's why they accept bribes, as well. They are doing God's work, don't you know? I couldn't find post cards anywhere but finally ordered them online from the P.O and just yesterday sent a postcard to each of the six radicals with my definitive opinions about their anti-American, unconstitutional decisions. I recommend that others do the same. If they were afraid, they would retire and they would not be able to come up with the nonsensical arguments such as they gave for overturning Roe and for many other rulings which stretch credulity and logic beyond any ordinary limits. Do not give them an excuse for what is unforgivable and for irrational superstitious beliefs.
Two corrections. I meant to say the Dobbs decision overturning Roe and I ordered postcards online from Walmart, not the U. S. P.O.
No doubt.
I'm still waiting for someone to file motions to recuse for Thomas and Alito.
If the 3 Dems on the court have first hand info about bribery, they have had a duty to come forward since Roberts issued the ethics order in Novemner 2023. https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/Code-of-Conduct-for-Justices_November_13_2023.pdf
Can't you file a motion to recuse?
I don't represent anybody. Have to have an actual case.
Also probably requires that the lawyer who files it file an affidavit under penalty of perjury.
This is common at every other level except SCOTUS. Roberts opened the door by adopring the Code. By analogy, herre's the rule for federal trial judges.
28 U.S. Code § 144 - Bias or prejudice of judge
"Whenever a party to any proceeding in a district court makes and files a timely and sufficient affidavit that the judge before whom the matter is pending has a personal bias or prejudice either against him or in favor of any adverse party, such judge shall proceed no further therein, but another judge shall be assigned to hear such proceeding.
"The affidavit shall state the facts and the reasons for the belief that bias or prejudice exists, and shall be filed not less than ten days before the beginning of the term at which the proceeding is to be heard, or good cause shall be shown for failure to file it within such time. A party may file only one such affidavit in any case. It shall be accompanied by a certificate of counsel of record stating that it is made in good faith."
I understand, One must have a case before the court before a motion to recuse can be filed. Is that correct?
Well, your essay provides lots of things to ponder. As usual, sir. That’s quite the statistic: that the SupCt has handed down more shadow docket unexplained decisions in 9 months than in the 16 years of Bush and Obama. If they’re afraid, that would be eminently sensible, because the guy is a mob boss. If they’re want what he’s selling, they’re sure helping him push it. I’m pretty sure the two openly maga guys are on the take. The other conservatives seem to love conservative, backward ideals. They also want to take America backward. I am relieved to learn that the shadow docket unexplained decisions are easier to overturn in the future. We have to get to the future. They might all very reasonably be very afraid of him. And yes, Vance and musk just don’t care what they say. Vance is a dictator in waiting. And Thiel and musk will help him.
Vance and Musk are shape-shifters that are working toward that Technocracy from Canada and Greenland all the way down to Venezuela. Sickos just like Thiel.
I call the USSC "Mommy and 5 Daddies." The 5 males are just bagmen. On the take.
Whenever Putin's Ed McMahon, his tangerine-dream of a sidekick in the WH, does not get his way, he runs and tells his over-indulgent "Mom 'n' 5 Dads," who [like 6 berobed genies] grant him his most febrile, gangster-esque, misogynistic, anti-American wishes.
Next for the USSC to grant Smelly Cat? No more toilets in the US. Every grownup must wear adult Pampers, so that Putin's pathetic Ed can feel a "could-be-anyone kind of comfort" whilst literally stinkin' up any given joint he happens to be in.
It’s too bad the justices cannot be held in contempt for lying during their confirmation hearings. Remember they all swore to abide by stare decisis?That laws like Roe v. Wade is settled and that they’ll all follow precedent? Bottom line they lied to get their jobs. The six conservative judges love to hide behind their robes to stick it to the people. Now, they’re hiding behind the shadow docket to do harm. There certainly ought to
be term limits for these unelected activist judges!
I suspect Roberts did a small favor for trump years ago and trump won't let him forget it. One can NEVER appease a Dictator. I also suspect that there are some names on a certain client list that would personally AND professionally scandalize a certain SCOTUS justice. Or more--and trump knows it and they know he KNOWS it. Fear and arrogance are part but not all why the shadow docket has been used so much.
All roads lead back to Epstein and Putin. Made me think, Jan.
It would seem that the next democrat president needs to pull a FDR and threaten to expand the court to balance things out more. Of course, any president will also need a democrat majority congress as well to enforce the issue. Something that will likely happen next year, given how angry people are with the MAGA republicans now. Once the new congress is sworn in, the impeachment indictments are sure to start. If adjudicated before the next presidential elections, Vance would be just a seat warmer until a new president is elected.
The bottom line is that some of these six justices need to be replaced with new ones who will bring more balance to the court. That then becomes a issue before the voters. Do the voters have the political will to demand change? Even a supreme court justice is not immune to angry voters who want change.
The next Democrat to become POTUS must not just threaten to expand the Court, he must do it. (I used "he" because it's clear that the U.S. won't vote for a "she"). There are 13 circuits, so expand to 13 Justices. Just Do It!!
I'm with you.
As I read it, it's ideological extremism. The 6 republicans, all Catholics, all self-described Federalists, support the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025. Their support for the unitary executive theory has been clear from the jump. They are arming a madman just when they should be protecting us from him, unleashing brute and ignorant force onto US communities. What better reason to begin withholding federal income tax so we're not paying Trump to dig our own graves?
I don't know about the last part.
I say BOTH - the 6 SC justices are both bribed by the Heritage Foundation (and others) and also frightened that Trump will set the MAGA extremists on them.
They need to read the "Independent Media" to realize they are killing Democracy
A cabal of the willing? All compromised? This is HUGE whatever it is!
If it were fear of the single radical right-winger, it seems to me that one or more would have simply resigned and left public life. The fact that they have stuck it out as a block indicates larger force(s) behind the intimidation. Roberts is leading this pack of wolves.
The tech-bros are a separate issue. They are hoping to assist in the forming of a Technocracy where information rules. Their agenda is right out of science fiction.
The universities have opted to simply keep the money flowing. The law-firms too. Who would understand the power structure better than those institutions?
Corporations know that being part of a fascist regime is the best way to assure tax breaks and lobby for the resources that they steal from we the people.
One of the Epstein victims said fear of the rich can make anyone do anything. They all have families. See you in the streets.
Street fighters will note that the vulnerable undebelly of MAGA is in Trumpepstein. Patel perjured himself last week, and we have yet to see the fruits of the Acosta depositions.
Need to continually press Republican Congressionals.
According to the Dems' pressers during their Acosta session, they said he is either lying or delusional about the damage Epstein caused under his watch. He is all three monkeys, hear no, see no, speak no.
The big thing is whether they can get the documents prepared by the state and his AUSAs in 2006-2007, and if so whether they can be made public.
Scalia said it best: "The Constitution is dead. Dead, dead, dead." So they can make up whatever they want to align with Project 2025. Christian White Supremacy.
Great summary Thom. Perhaps there is an element of fear as well, although that is not stopping dissent from our great liberal justices.
Question: "Why are these six Republican appointees deferring to Trump in such an obvious violation of precedent and the Constitution they’ve sworn to uphold?"
Answer: -sound of cash register till closing, while bell sounds, *cha-ching!*-
These people are Opus Dei. Leonard Leo, Opus Dei, has appointed every conservative Supreme Court justice since Scalia. JD Vance has was recruited by Peter Thiel. Why has this secretive organization within the Catholic Church continued to be ignored ? Pay attention!
Another possibility for the failure of our current Supreme Court is that some of the justices are being swept away with the giddy and wild-eyed excitement of being, for want of a better word, groupies. They lack the socio-emotional perspective to realize that they are not fulfilling their oaths of office, that their decisions on court proceedings are formulated prior to any contemplation of the actual merits of the case, or of precedent, or of its implications relative to the Constitution itself. Rather, they are happy slaves to the conservative zeitgeist and as such are totally unable to perform their duties as members of the highest court of the land. They are automatons.
We are not men, we are DEVO.
Might be right about another aspect, Robert. Truly fits, because under this SCOTUS and Administration we have devolved.
So you're not nearly as old as you claim.
God, we're so fucked if we, en masse, don't go after them all,. especially El Presidente. What a schmuck.
Either we leave their legacy or OURS by leaving the truth.
That Bondi message TRump accidentally posted shows his dismay about the impeachments and indictments. We gotta get busy reminding all of them of what we're going to do---three years of misery for THEM.
Old and slow, but since retirement, the library, and the internet it's OMG everyday.
It also shows he actually believes his BS, which ratchets up my fear-o-meter a few notches.
Yep, we're definitely at that point where, at least for a little while longer, our bones act older than our minds. Carpe diem!