Ah yes—the Supreme Court, that gallant knight in polished white armor, galloping up the hill on a noble steed to plant the banner of liberty and save us all from the latest bout of political lunacy. Charming image. Almost poetic. And almost entirely useless as a strategy for survival.
Relying on the Court as the last line of defense is little more than wishful thinking dressed up as civic faith. Because let’s be brutally honest: we’re putting our fate in the hands of a tiny, insulated priesthood—yes, that’s what Supreme Court justices effectively are—whose track record for siding with entrenched power against the public is long enough to wrap the Capitol dome twice. What could possibly go wrong?
Sure, there are flickers of hope now and then. A ruling here, a slapdown there. Brief sparks in the dark. But banking the future of the Republic on these flickers is the political equivalent of heating your home with birthday candles.
There’s something better than flimsy, soft-chested hope. There’s blunt reality. Bear certainty. Judges are there to apply the law—not to play philosopher-kings. Legislators exist to make the law. And if we genuinely care about building a future that won’t make our children curse our names, we cannot sit around waiting for robed arbiters to rescue us.
We must do the work ourselves. Legislators must stop hiding behind judicial robes and start crafting statutes that are clear, sharp, and robust—laws that end the endless weaponized litigation clogging the courts. And they must have the backbone to attach real, crippling consequences to those who abuse the legal system for political warfare. Lawfare only exists because it’s allowed to.
Is it hard to find the right words for such statutes? Of course it is. That’s why they’re paid salaries funded by people who actually work. But difficulty isn’t an excuse. Congress needs to stop dithering and start legislating like adults.In short: stop praying for the Supreme Court to save us. Pick up the shovel and dig the trench yourself.