Democrats have been experiencing recent difficulties.
My colleague Susie Moore earlier reported that inflation reached 8.3 percent in April. In Europe, Russia continues to wage war against Ukraine, despite earlier proclamations that sanctions would bring down Putin’s regime. We don’t talk much about the border anymore but it is a terrible humanitarian and security catastrophe. The country is also suffering from a shortage in baby formula and diesel fuel. It is enough to make one long for Jimmy Carter’s days.
It is Democrats that hold both the White House and Congress, and the hits keep coming, with Roe v. Wade being likely overturned by Supreme Court. This year is the worst in recent history for the Democrat Party. It’s hard to say, but I think it must be.
This is leading to the next level of despair for Democrats, who are desperately searching for a way out. They think they have found a possible savior in Chief Justice John Roberts.
Chief Justice John Roberts could persuade another Supreme Court conservative to back down from overturning Roe v. Wade, legal experts say https://t.co/cXiXzxcMzf
— Politics Insider (@PoliticsInsider) May 11, 2022
There is cope and there is maximum cope. The latter is what we are seeing, and it’s quite a sight to see pro-abortion extremists running around, hoping for some Deus ex Machina to save them.
Let’s begin with the notion that “legal experts have any special insight” here. It is technically possible for Roberts to persuade someone else to vote. Yes, it is possible. It’s also possible for Obergefell to be overturned by the Supreme Court. It’s possible, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s likely. There are many reasons to believe that Roberts won’t be able to get one of the five Justices to reverse Roe.
As previously reported Justice Samuel Alito’s leaked majority ruling is still the only draft that has been circulated. This draft has been available since February. Roberts would have made an alternative majority decision to keep Roe intact if he believed he could change the mind of someone. It is quite telling that he hasn’t done so. He doesn’t have a sense of urgency or knows that it is a futile effort.
You should also consider Roberts’ stated desire to keep Roe but to abolish the viability standard, which would thereby uphold Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban. Roe/Casey’s entire enforcement revolves around this viability standard. While Roberts may wish to appease the left by technically not overturning Roe legally, I don’t see conservative justices agreeing to something so flawed. The main argument for overturning Roe is not about abortion. It’s the fact that it was written poorly and poorly reasoned. It’s not possible to replace one nonsensical, bad decision with another.
The credibility of the court is also something to be considered. The legitimacy of the Supreme Court will be ruined if a justice changes his vote in the face of the full-court press of an intimidation campaign from the left. Roberts, however flawed, has always considered the legitimacy of this court his main concern. Roberts must be careful about the court being blatantly politically if it responds to left-wing political pressures.
All that being said, I don’t see Roberts succeeding in convincing any of the conservatives to vote differently. At this point, I don’t think he is even trying. These media headlines suggest otherwise, which seems like wishful thinking at best.
