Three word slogan: "The Supreme Court"

ILLUSTRATED: JUDICIAL Opinions are what ultimately count.

THE LAW- OK I admit, I’ve only skimmed the 185 page decision and read some reports, as the opinion is less than 4 hours old. Basically, it seems to gut minority rights as a groups, without overturning Grutter (the 2003 U. of Michigan case) that race can be a factor in sizing someone holistically. All affirmative-action is now threatened, indeed largely dead I think. I look forward to lawsuits on how boys now have preferential treatment at many liberal arts colleges.

THE POLICY- More continued structural segregation. Education, housing, and economic opportunity will now be calcified in different social-economic groups. The court may ban racial integration, but not racist real estate agents, home sellers, loan officers, and others that contribute to continued segregation patterns. We need a federal reformation of education, a national healthcare risk pool, and more civil rights enforcement.

THE POLITICS- Where do I start?

1) The parties are indeed different. For all sophists and demagogues who play off of people’s alienation from the system, and claim the two major parties are the same: just say “The Supreme Court! 5-4 one way before the Roberts and Alito, 5-4 the other way now”.

2) Elections matter. Many young lawyers, other professionals, and wealthy people think they are above licking envelops and knocking on doors. First, I’ve licked envelops with a lot of such people because they know that’s how close elections are won and money is raised. Compare to football. Most pre-game shows talk about strategy and the star players. Any game within a touchdown going into the fourth quarter is won on the line of scrimmage. Any election within the margin of error in the final week is won by volunteers in field offices. As I alluded to before, when Alito was being vetted by the Senate, there were several smart young Democratic staff-attorneys searching in vain for some terrible decision Alito wrote. They were not as powerful as a bunch of average Americans licking envelopes in a GOP headquarters before the 2004 election.

3) Judicial opinions are what count. For a more sophisticated audience, remind them that the real way to describe the difference between Democrats and Republicans is not brochures or convention speeches. It is in the court decisions written by Democratic-appointed judges and Republican-appointed judges.