Book Review: Joan Biskupic’s Nine Black Robes…
Nine Black Robes. Joan Biskupic (2023). “No one should be confident that this majority is done with its work.”—Dissenting opinion, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Thus begins and ends this excellent expose of the fascist takeover of the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) written by CNN commentator and SCOTUS expert Biskupic.
Yes, fascist SCOTUS! Unlike the author, I’ll call a spade a spade, and the SCOTUS’s new majority are rabid fascists who conspire with the Good Ole Piranhas, which include fanatical evangelicals and Catholics, Putin lovers, racists, and bigots, along with many other far-right elements in government. And they are out to destroy democracy in America by whittling away at individual rights, enabling mad-dog gun enthusiasts, etc. by arguing that’s what the Founding Fathers wanted!
Too strong? If you believe that, read this excellent book, and then let’s talk. (Probably too much to ask of MAGA maniacs that they actually read something worthwhile of course. Their fuehrer doesn’t like to read.) It’s a toss-up which group in America represents the most existential problem for American democracy, the climate-change deniers (let them die in the three-digit heat waves and other extreme climate events that will continue to plague the country and the world!) or the idiots out to destroy America by other means. (Of course, these groups have a lot of members in common!)
Here the author knows the law, SCOTUS history, and the ins and outs of the legal issues. She presents the story of how Trump, McConnell, McCann, and other fascists over decades created today’s fascist majority in the court…and she does it well. Although the story is comparable to how Mein Kampf led to Hitler’s takeover, it’s been a much slower one in America compared to Germany, aided and abetted by every conservative president since Reagan. (Of course, “conservative” morphed into “fascist” during that process in American government and elsewhere!)
Today we have the following in that SCOTUS fascist majority: Thomas, who’d be welcome in the Ku Klux Klan; Alito, who’s more fascist than Scalia ever was (and that’s saying a lot); Chief Justice Roberts, who has turned hypocrisy into a fine art; and the two new lackeys of the far right, Comey Bryant and Kavanaugh—all of them rabid Catholic fundamentalists except for Thomas. (Beyond fascism, he just goes along with his colleagues fundamentalism, but you can bet he’d never receive the support of the BLM or #MeToo movement.) These fascist judges will be around a long time, and they’re out to ruin American democracy by legislating from the bench.
The author doesn’t dwell on the obvious solutions required to weaken these fascists’ powers: age and term limits plus increasing the number of judges. The Dems had better control both houses of Congress and the presidency in 2024 so these solutions can be implemented. Of course, the way things are going (SCOTUS doesn’t protect the integrity of elections!), maybe the Dems will never win another election in America if they can prevent it!
So, in brief, this book is a good portrayal of the current SCOTUS, doesn’t use the appropriate word “fascist” to describe the six judges who form the junta basically in charge of the country now, and doesn’t consider the obvious solutions. Perhaps it needs a second volume to do that? Or the author simply accepts that American democracy is dying and doomed, and we can do nothing about it? In this sense, this book is a depressing yet very informative read.
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The Klimt Connection. I don’t write legal thrillers. The nearest I’ve come is this eighth novel in the “Esther Brookstone Art Detective” series where Esther backs an old Austrian Jewish man who is conned into selling his Klimt painting, complete with trial. There are a lot of other things going on, including the introduction of readers to Inspector Steve Morgan who has a secondment with MI5 to bring down a far-right terrorist group. (He soon has his own series!) This is a complex mystery/thriller that has Esther in a case that harks back to her days in Scotland Yard’s “Art and Antiques” Division. Available wherever quality ebooks are sold (but not on Amazon). Enjoy.
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
