Paul Rosenzweig, who I’ve quoted before, is pissed off at some of fellow spirits in the legal profession. Identifying himself as a conservative lawyer, he’s puzzled at their acceptance of Trump. It’s a substantial post, full of the criticism of fellow travelers which I always find more interesting than criticism from the opponents:
Just a random mushroom. Might be poisonous. Draw a parallel with this post at your own peril.
What I can’t understand today is how my fellow members of the conservative legal movement don’t change their minds, even as the evidence of their error mounts. The malignant deviancy that is the Trump presidency continues its steady erosion of core American principles. …
To take one aspect that is particularly striking, America First (itself a phrase with pro-Nazi resonance) is not American exceptionalism. Indeed, it is the opposite of our tradition of exceptionalism—a foundational set of ideals that has defined our country. America First rhetoric says that America is just like every other country in its selfishness and self-regard. This diminishes our nation and society in ways that are incalculable. In Trump’s eyes, we are no Reaganesque “shining city on a hill,” no Emersonian “poem in our eyes.” …
The argument, of course, is that a good Supreme Court justice is worth all of the policy pain and political embarrassment that come with it. Say what you will, but at least these conservative lawyers (unlike those seeking Obamacare’s repeal or a taxcut) have collected on their wager: Neil Gorsuch has demonstrated that he will be a formidable conservative jurist, of that I have no doubt (and I think the same would be equally true of the others President Trump has suggested he would nominate). In a narrowly focused way, this pleases me personally—as I believe in the efficacy of conservative jurisprudence.
But seeing victory in this narrow area of public policy requires conservative lawyers to disregard the broader context and to, in effect, sell their souls. The movement I joined more than 30 years ago stood for something real—a reality that Trump traduces every day of his presidency.
If you march shouting “blood and soil” and “Jews will not replace us,” you are an anti-Semite. If you threaten a Charlottesville synagogue, you are an anti-Semite. If you march with any of these Nazi racists, you are not a “very fine” person; you are an enabler of racism and anti-Semitism. If you excuse these acts by saying there is violence on both sides, as President Trump did, you are an enabler of racism and anti-Semitism and unfit to lead this great nation.
I do not see how any conservative lawyer can, in good conscience, stay the course with this president. If you continue on this course—if you voluntarily choose to support Trump or to join his administration—you too are enabling the destruction of American values. In many ways, you are worse than Trump. For while he is a petulant man-child without any sense of right or wrong, you know that this is wrong. You know that you have sold your soul.
The taint of Trump also taints Justice Gorsuch, who I will always think and write with the modifier IJ, Illegitimate Justice. But it’s more than a bit of rhetoric, to be honest, it’s an actual suspicion that Justice Gorsuch operates with the same lack of principle as does the President. This is really unjustified, since Gorsuch was not an obscure backwater judge before his elevation, nor did he lack a reputation. But his path to SCOTUS, smoothed by the unprincipled Senator McConnell, has left a majority of the citizenry dissatisfied with the performance of the Senate in that sad incident.
The damage that does to the organs of government should be of primary concern to the members of the conservative legal movement; without those organs, they’re just ditch diggers, watching over their shoulders.
You’ll have to read Paul’s post on Lawfare to understand the Wales reference.
