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naraburns  nihil supernum  2yr ago (text post)   32902 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 31, 2022

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Your response is like many here, that the anger was over unfairness and judicial process and the "other side" playing dirty, etc. (We still don't know who the leaker actually was and I've seen arguments for clerks from either side being responsible.)

I don't doubt many people felt that way, but what I saw predominantly in conservative circles was not "This is a violation of the integrity of the Supreme Court" but "This is meant to hurt us in the midterms."

That claim doesn't even make sense. Yes, the Dobbs leak happened before the midterms, but so did the release of Dobbs itself, as everyone was aware. How was the draft release supposed to affect the midterms in a way that the actual decision release would not?

Also, you are sliding right past the claim that the Dobbs leak was intended to affect the eventual decision reached in Dobbs itself, by leveraging public pressure into swaying votes on the Court. That was a central concern, as one of the longstanding beefs that conservatives had was with Justices "growing in office" and abandoning their earlier principles.

Edit to add: If the claim was rather "I expect Dobbs to harm Republican chances during the midterms," I would not object. Perfectly plausible claim, in my opinion. But I do object to the claim that the Dobbs leak would have a direct impact on the midterms beyond the decision itself.

I'm not making the claim. I am describing what I saw other people claiming.

Also, you are sliding right past the claim that the Dobbs leak was intended to affect the eventual decision reached in Dobbs itself, by leveraging public pressure into swaying votes on the Court.

I'm not sliding past anything. If I were forced to speculate, I'd agree that that is the most likely motive for the leak.

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