“in Vino veritas.” The Roman proverb – “There is truth in wine” – reflects the fact that people are often most honest when they have drunk wine.
For some people, the effect of elections can be like intoxicating with the prospect of power. Biased people can reveal their inner thoughts with shocking frankness.
That was the case this week when Democratic veterans discussed a plan to reclaim power and then fundamentally change the constitutional system to guarantee they never have to give it up again.
It turns out that winning votes in an off-year election in three blue states and one blue city can be quite intoxicating. It is easy to dismiss this as chest-beating, bar-room brawlers talking about whose chest they were going to beat. But there is a truth in bravery.
Citing the election results, Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) started jumping with joy Declaring that “the Democratic Party is looking powerful for the first time all year.” In a moment of remarkable candor, Murphy expressed his desire to continue the shutdown, acknowledging deep concerns about the midterm elections if Democrats reopen the government.
“If we surrender without accomplishing anything, and we cause a lot of people in this country who started out believing in the Democratic Party to turn away again — I worry that it will be difficult to get them back in time for the election next fall,” he said.
This is the logic of randomly pushing people into bars to impress one’s date.
Of course, extending the shutdown would harm millions and cost billions. But if some of these partisans are to be believed, there are more permanent plans afoot.
Others were announcing their plans not only to regain power but to never lose it again. This means weakening the greatest check on power: the Supreme Court. Talk of court-packing died down after Democrats lost both houses of Congress and the White House. Now, after last week’s elections, such things are back with a vengeance.
Former Attorney General Eric Holder was telling anyone who would listen this week that once Democrats take control, they intend to keep it permanently.
Holder explainedA podcast:,[We’re] If there’s a Democratic trifecta in 2028, it’s going to be about the acquisition and use of power.” Asked about the priority in wielding that power, Holder declared that the court is hopelessly broken and must be fundamentally changed: “This is something that, I think, should be a part of the national conversation in ’26 and ’28, ‘What are we going to do about the Supreme Court?'”
In other words, as we know, one has to go to court. while some are on the leftQuestioning the need for a Supreme Courtor calling for it to be directly challenged or “dissolved,” Others want it to be filled with political activists, like some state supreme courts are.
This problem has long been the focus of liberal academics planning sweeping changes to the system. Many have called for eliminating the Senate filibuster through measures that would make Puerto Rico and DC statehood by adding four new senators. Others want election and immigration “reform” to be seen as favoring Democratic campaigns.
However, this takes them inconveniently back to the Supreme Court.
year agoHarvard professor Michael Klarman laid out a radical agenda to change the system to guarantee Republicans “never win another election.” However, he warned that “the Supreme Court may invalidate everything I have described.” Therefore, the court must be packed in advance to allow these changes to occur.
This week, Democratic strategist James Carville laid out a step-by-step process for how the pack-to-power plan would work.
“I’m going to tell you what’s going to happen,” He said“A Democrat is going to be elected in 2028. You know it. I know it. The Democratic president is going to announce a special transition advisory committee on Supreme Court reform. They’re going to recommend that the number of Supreme Court justices increase from nine to 13. It’s going to happen, folks.”
Carville returned to explain that court-packing would now be as inevitable as the Democrats taking power. “It’s going to happen to you,” he said. “They’re going to win. They’re going to create some blue ribbon panel of distinguished jurists, and they’re going to recommend 13, and a Democratic Senate and House are going to pass it, and a Democratic president is going to sign it, because they have to intervene so that we can create a Supreme Court that the American people can trust again.”
So, by taking over the legislative and executive branches, some Democrats are planning to dismantle the Judicial Branch just in time for the 250th anniversary of our Revolution.
After all, as Holder explained, it’s all about “the acquisition and use of power.”
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at The George Washington University. He is the author of the best-selling book “”.Inalienable Rights: Free Speech in the Age of Anger,
