1/5 For liberals & even moderates, the instinctive response to a terrible law, policy, or example of corporate abuse has long been, "See you in court." I don't think it has really sunk in yet how profoundly things have changed. That recourse, that last hope, is disappearing...

2/5 Apart from the Supreme Ct., 30% of appellate judges (& a whole bunch of district court judges) are now Trump/McConnell-appointed right-wing ideologues. Get used to feeling a stab of fear when you see the headline "Court agrees to decide whether..."

3/5 In fact, now when legislation is passed to protect workers, consumers, minorities, the environment, church/state separation, voting rights, reproductive rights, immigration, public education, etc., it's the right who will say, "No problem; we'll get it thrown out in court"...

4/5 Decades ago, political theorist Michael Walzer warned that the left grows lazy when it wins victories in the courtroom; we should be outside on the street, organizing & mobilizing. Well, that's about to be our *only* recourse...

5/5 The trouble is, even hard-won mass support for progressive policies runs into structural barriers like the Electoral College, composition of the Senate, gerrymandering... What happens when the judicial escape value is gone & a conservative white minority locks in its power?