Bully Pulpit

 Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas insisted, "We can't be an institution that can be bullied into giving you just the outcomes you want. The events from earlier this week are a symptom of that." Clarence was referring to the protests outside many of the Justices' homes. Protests about the leaked memo regarding the possible overturn of Roe v. Wade. So, the Judicial Branch since it's "Supreme" and all, is above being bullied. I'm an elementary school teacher, and I know when I hear that word "bullied" tossed around there's probably some more complex dynamics going on. 

Let's begin at home, where Clarence Thomas' wife Ginni was in direct text contact with Donald Trump's chief of staff on January 6, encouraging any and all efforts to dump the 2020 election results in favor of returning the twice impeached former game show host "president" to the Oval Office. She was there on the site of the "Stop The Steal" riot that sought to decertify the electoral college's vote. Texts like this one: “Biden crime family & ballot fraud co-conspirators (elected officials, bureaucrats, social media censorship mongers, fake stream media reporters, etc) are being arrested & detained for ballot fraud right now & over coming days, & will be living in barges off GITMO to face military tribunals for sedition.” Not so much her plan as a "wish" she was passing along to Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Nothing truly terrify8ng there, if it were just the nonsensical ravings of a disappointed wearer of a red baseball cap, but since this is the wife of a Supreme Court Justice who will potentially find himself overseeing decisions on cases brought to the highest court in the land by the litigators who drank the same Kool-Aid, this might be a little more than a sticky sitcom type situation. 

"Honey, is it okay if I used your position to gain access to the White House inner circle in order to support insurrection?"

Face palm, "Oh, Ginnie!" Fade out. Roll credits.

Meanwhile, a group of Supreme Court Justices, most of whom were appointed by the aforementioned twice impeached game show host, have taken upon themselves to overturn a decision that has been in place for fifty years, and is supported by a majority of Americans. Confounded by this action, many of these Americans have chosen to exercise their First Amendment rights and assembling in front of Supreme Court Justices' homes so their free speech could be heard. Republicans, who seem to be most keen on this limitation of a woman's right to choose, are calling this "mob rule." The current and rightfully elected President of the United States, Joe Biden, discouraged those protesters from using "threats, violence, or vandalism." This comes from the guy who Ginni Thomas hoped to send to Guantanamo Bay. Six people died on January 6 when the Capitol was stormed. One hundred thirty-eight police officers were injured. 

Bullied? They keep using that word. I do not think it means what they think it means.