Dear Mr. (or Ms.) Leaker:
I have to say, you really know how to take command of a news cycle. There we were, steeped in a dozen stories about various crises from the economy to borders to the radicalization of our schools, and then, boom! Now all we talk about is you.
Not you alone, but this historic stunt you have pulled off, and the ripples it has sent through the nation, energizing pro-lifers who sense their desired moment is at hand, and enraging abortion-rights activists who have shrieked as if the Earth were spinning out of its orbit.
Since we don’t know who you are, we don’t fully know whether or not you are a denizen of the Supreme Court’s liberal wing. That’s the most popular theory, since it seems the release of this Samuel Alito draft opinion would be designed to create a firestorm that might intimidate constitutionalist justices into collapsing on core principles. Until proof to the contrary surfaces, I’ll go with that.
You are surely enjoying the collateral effect of your mischief—the sidelining, for the moment, of a long list of Biden administration nightmares. But when the hubbub wanes, there will once again be room for coverage of crushing inflation, unchecked illegal immigration and the ongoing war on American energy.
And in fact, there is a growing likelihood that your entire caper is in the process of backfiring.
Chief Justice John Roberts, in announcing the investigation tasked with catching you, made clear that “the work of the Court will not be affected in any way.” If he is right about this, at least five justices will indeed vote to return the issue of abortion to the states, as the Tenth Amendment requires.
You may have noticed that you have some Republican allies. Senator Susan Collins of Maine seems mightily perturbed that the two Trump justices she voted for, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, will not fall in with the liberal wing to keep the federal abortion right fiction alive. They told her Roe v. Wade deserved proper examination as precedent. They have apparently engaged in that scrutiny, finding it sorely wanting.
So here we are. Roe is flatlining, and the expected apoplexy is breaking out across the leftist landscape. This actually grants conservatives and constitutionalists an unexpected gift. We were always going to have to deploy truth squads to respond to the deceptions that would accompany constitutional clarity after nearly 50 years. But now we get an extra head start.
By the time the ruling is set in judicial concrete, we will have already extinguished the scare tactic that the end of Roe spells a nationwide abortion ban. We will have already exploded the myth that abortion was ever a fundamental right. We will have delivered to the nation a glorious crash course in constitutional law, informing millions of low-information citizens that if an issue is not addressed in the Constitution, it is left to the states to sort out for themselves.
You have fast-tracked these necessary lessons with such efficiency that even the expected Democrat adrenaline is more likely to subside by November. Because let’s face it, for a party hobbled by rampant Biden failures, a flareup of abortion rights angst was a last-ditch effort to gin up something resembling passion six months from now.
Sorry, Sir or Madam, that won’t be happening. Will there still be some residual liberal bad blood spurring voters to the polls to try to claw the party back into some form of relevancy? Sure. But they will be met at the polls by at least an equal number of conservatives fueled by their gratitude for what happens when we win-- gratitude toward the justices who made things right, gratitude toward President Trump for giving us those justices, and gratitude toward candidates who show their willingness to continue the fight.
I have every expectation that you will be found. The community of clerks and others privileged to see such documents is a small circle. Once we know your identity, I would love to relish the sight of a proper consequence for such a towering breach of ethics.
But I know better. Sure, there will be a moment of public scorn, and a corner of shame carved out in our history for the first such abrogation of trust within the realm of our highest court. But you will soon bask in the healing glow of adulation from those who will have considered your treachery to be the height of heroism.
This is the hallmark of today’s left. When you people think you are right, rules don’t matter. If you were driven by the goal of wrenching justices away from their constitutional duty, there will be an appreciative, even worshipful crowd of the like-minded to run interference for you.
Their adulation will come in the form of TV appearances, book deals, speaking engagements and other rewards for having fought the good fight.
Except the fight was not good. The leak was not good. You have stained the history of the Supreme Court with this subversive escapade. But the bottom line contains good news for America. Long after you fade into distant memory, the Constitution will still stand repaired. You may be driving Bentleys bought with the dirty money of your fans, but those of us who value the rule of law will enjoy a reward of even greater value—the moral, legal and political victories of a half-century battle won at last.
Enjoy the dark fruits of your duplicity, but look around. In the country you betrayed, our founding document will be once again honored. Citizens will once again enjoy the right to determine the fate of a vital issue in the states where they live. While you enjoy the warm glow of praise from college campuses to Democrat fundraisers, the inevitable truth will always attach to you.
You failed.
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