As a general rule, we all like to pretend (or pretend to believe) that the Supreme Court justices are above and beyond politics. We know that is a lie and we know that everyone else knows it is a lie but we do like pretending.
Normally, we like to assign the absence of politics to the specific rulings that they make. I wonder though, if recently we have not seen another aspect of politicization of the Supremes. Inside Congress, sometimes a representative that is in a seat that could be vulnerable in an upcoming election will wait to see if their vote will actually change anything before casting it. They might even vote against the stated desire of their party once they know for sure their vote is meaningless. In that way, they get to claim they did not support a position that is unpopular with their constituency.
I hate that that is a thing. I hate that the polity continues to fall for it. It is an ongoing source of irritation for me. I wonder if it isn't about to get worse.
Specifically, I wonder if Alito and Thomas were not simply polishing Felon47's knob once they were sure nothing would come of it. I have not read the dissent(s) (or the decision for that matter) but, I am aware of the Felon's predilection for revenge against those who politically oppose him. I wonder if they were just playing politics as the court continues to move away from the original intent (as I understand it).
In truth, the fact that it might be a reasonable suspicion is almost as bad for the court as would be proof that is what happened. I doubt we will ever know for sure but, I have not observed a reason to believe it could not have happened that way.
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