Monday Morning

Well now. The Supreme Court has slapped down the folks in Texas who, under the guise of "protecting women's health" passed laws that closed down an awful lot of places where abortions were performed…and SCOTUS did it 5-3, meaning that the vote would probably have gone that way even if Antonin Scalia were still with us.

A lot of folks are (of course) upset about this, especially in light of polls that now show Hillary Clinton with a double-digit lead over Donald Trump. That's a double-digit lead for a person who would appoint at least one new justice who'd vote the way they don't like. There are rumors that Clarence Thomas — the most reliable right-wing vote on the High Court — is talking about retirement and that's gotta ratchet up the worry even more.

I dunno if I've mentioned this here before but I've long thought the way we replace Supreme Court Justices is screwy. It isn't based directly on the will of the people. It has to do with when sitting justices die or get too old to serve. Hinging it on something so unpredictable and out of anyone's control doesn't seem so bad as long as each elected president gets one pick or at most two picks if they serve two terms. One of these days though, this country is going to have a moment when three or four justices die or otherwise need to be replaced in a very short time. Then, the Court could skew wildly left or right and for a very long time. Everyone on both sides will then agree the process needs to change but it'll be too late. We'll be stuck with what we're stuck with for a long time.

By the way: I'd be pleased to think Ms. Clinton has a twelve-point lead over Mr. Trump but unless I'm misreading polls, that's only true in some of these when those who are polled are asked to imagine a ballot with only those two names on it. It's unlikely that in November anyone will be handed a ballot without Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party and probably also Jill Stein of the Green Party and other names, as well. When you give people other options, the Clinton/Trump race gets a lot closer.

This is above and beyond the obvious caveat that it's 133 days until Election Day, these candidates don't have running mates yet, issues will change, scandals will be charged, debates will presumably occur, everyone will say or do a couple of really stupid things, etc. I continue to think/hope Hillary will win big but the evidence is not there yet to think this thing is even close to over.