The Skeptic Tank

I’m searching for the right word to describe the Supreme Court’s reaction to Colorado’s citing of the 14th Amendment to remove Trump from the ballot. Dubious? Doubtful? Incredulous? Mistrustful? Suspicious? Unconvinced? Wait, I think I’ve got it: Skeptical. I saw that word in nearly every headline covering Thursday’s oral arguments. “Their main concern was whether Congress must act before states can invoke a constitutional provision that was adopted after the Civil War to prevent former officeholders who ‘engaged in insurrection’ from holding office again. There also were questions about whether the president is covered by the provision. Without such congressional legislation, Justice Elena Kagan was among several justices who wanted to know ‘why a single state should decide who gets to be president of the United States.'” The Supreme Court seems poised to reject efforts to kick Trump off the ballot over the Capitol riot. In the face of all this skepticism, a little cynicism is in order. So allow me… There’s today’s SCOTUS hearing on the 14th Amendment, there are the Jack Smith Cases, there’s the Georgia Case, there are the NY cases, but in the end, the big, horrific problem facing America is that one political party still massively supports a treacherous, deranged, criminal. No court case can undo that reality.

+ Trump’s reaction to the hearing? He said there were no guns used by insurrectionists on January 6th and that the insurrection was caused by Nancy Pelosi. Here’s the latest from CNN.

+ The Atlantic (Gift Article): Welcome Back to the Chaos of the Trump Era. Can we stomach much more of this? I’m skeptical.