The Republic Has Fallen
In one of the more chilling scenes in the Harry Potter movie “Deathly Hallows, Part 1,” followers of the evil wizard Voldemort have successfully staged a coup and Kingsley Shacklebolt sends a warning message to those gathered at a wedding celebration where Harry is in attendance: “The Ministry has fallen. The Minister of Magic is dead. They are coming.” Moments later, the wedding is attacked and devolves into chaos.
I was reminded of that quote this week when the U.S. Supreme Court essentially legalized racial profiling by Trump’s ICE goons. The ruling means ICE can stop and arrest people based on where they work, how they speak, and what they look like. If you have dark skin, you’re now officially a legal target and it doesn’t matter if you’re a U.S. citizen or not. The Legal Defense Fund notes that “Racial profiling is not only ineffective, it is antithetical to the guarantees of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause to treat people equally regardless of their race, ethnicity, or national origin. The Court’s decision to stay a lower court’s ruling runs counter to the rule of law and equal protection under the law.”1 In other words, the Supreme Court, which is supposed to be the last line of defense of the U.S. Constitution, no longer cares what the Constitution actually says. The Supreme Court has fallen. Liberty is dead. They are coming (for you).
This has been brewing for a while now. The Supreme Court has refused to hold itself ethically accountable. Justices Alito and Thomas have been at the center of scandals because they accepted expensive gifts and didn’t disclose them. Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett are believed by some to have committed perjury in their confirmation hearings and were at least “deliberately misleading” in their testimony.2 The question of political bias is also very real and disturbing.3 Alito’s integrity has particularly come into question in the past.4 In general, the court has become ever more blatant in its support of Trump and the fascist Republican agenda. It began with it’s granting of almost unlimited presidential immunity and continues with its increasing use of emergency rulings to swat down lower court rulings and allow Trump and his sycophants to run amuck.5
Some of the Justices, including Justice Sotomayor on this latest ruling, continue to dissent.6 I am grateful to them. If nothing else they have an important voice that leaves a public record of how cruel and corrupt the court majority has become. Realistically, however, the overall court has been lost to fascism along with the administration and congress. All are now firmly controlled by the Republican Party. While our nation once claimed to stand for liberty and equality we’re now left with a white nationalist administration that rules with lies and intimidation. Corruption and making personal profit from the power they hold is the order of the day. While a few Democrats and others have been vocal opponents, the Republican controlled congress has been complicit from the start. And now the Supreme Court has abandoned the Constitution.
Have you ever wondered how the Nazi’s were able to take over Germany? Did you ever wonder what you would have done as a citizen of that country in the 1930’s? Now you know. How we are reacting to Trump today is exactly how we would have reacted to Hitler then. I have mixed feelings about my own reactions. For those of us who are horrified by what is happening to our nation, we have to remind ourselves not to give in to the very real feelings of despair and powerlessness. I know I battle those emotions every day. I have to continually remind myself that resistance is not a sprint but a marathon. If we give into despair it’ll be nothing more than a lost race as we stumble and fall in the starting blocks.
Perhaps we can be empowered by the words from another movie franchise. In the Star Wars universe, Obi Wan Kenobi leaves a warning message to surviving Jedi: "I regret to report that both our Jedi Order and the Republic have fallen with a dark shadow of the Empire rising to take their place. This message is a warning and a reminder for any surviving Jedi. Trust in The Force. Do not return to the Temple... that time has passed. And our future is uncertain. We will each be challenged. Our trust. Our faith. Our friendships. But we must persevere. And in time, a new hope will emerge. May the Force be with you, always."
Maybe we have to be like Jedi. Trust in the Force (God, the power of love, the arc of justice, whatever you want to call it) and persevere. Channel our anger into actions of resistance. Continue to do what we can when we can. And so I write essays, cancel subscriptions to businesses like Amazon and Paramount that acquiesce to fascist demands, attend demonstrations, and write my congressman even though they don’t seem to listen or care. Sometimes I wonder if any of it makes a difference. Sometimes I get depressed and don’t speak up as much as I believe I should. And then I have to forgive myself and renew my commitment to love, to justice, and to hope.
Be a Jedi. Trust in the Force. Persevere.
May the Force be with you, always.
1. https://www.naacpldf.org/press-release/ldf-condemns-supreme-court-decision-permitting-continuation-of-racial-profiling-in-immigration-enforcement/
2. https://news.northeastern.edu/2022/06/26/roe-v-wade-conservative-justice-perjury/
3. https://afj.org/article/how-the-supreme-court-is-destroying-its-own-legitimacy/
4. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/05/30/alito-scotus-flag-00160450
5. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-trump-cases-federal-judges-criticize-rcna221775
6. https://newrepublic.com/post/200140/sotomayor-supreme-court-dissent-racial-profiling-ice