The D.C. Supremes
The “hits” just keep on coming for the Supremes — not the ’60s singing group created by Berry Gordy with a big assist from Smokey Robinson but the 2022 judging group created by Donald Trump with a big assist from Mitch McConnell. In fact, the D.C. Supremes recent “hits” correspond to ones from the Motown group:
“Dobbs” eliminated the right to abortion and will make for a lot more babies to love like “Baby Love”.
“New York State Rifle & Pistol Association” will allow more chances for pistol-packing folk to shout “Stop In The Name of Love” to fleeing criminals.
It’s the full body of their work, even the lesser-known “hits”, that confer greatness on a group. The Motown Supremes never made it to #1 with my personal favorite “Come See About Me”. The D.C. Supremes showed their true conservative colors with their “Kennedy” decision this week.
The case concerned a high school football coach who knelt and prayed on the 50 yard line after games. He was suspended by the school district citing separation of church and state. Public schools are an extension of the state and the state cannot favor one religion over another.
That, of course, is not the way that Fox News saw it. The same crew that feared the end of the world as we know it because sales clerks were instructed to say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” gave this “constitutional crisis” lots of coverage. Deep-pocketed conservatives paid for expensive lawyers to take the case all the way to the Supreme Court. The Diana Rosses of the D.C. Supremes, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, were busy sending American women back to the 1850s with “Dobbs”, so Neil Gorsuch, the Mary Wilson of the D.C. Supremes, wrote the “Kennedy” opinion:
“Here, a government entity sought to punish an individual for engaging in a brief, quiet, personal religious observance doubly protected by the Constitution,” he wrote. Who could disagree with that? The first amendment grants even high school football coaches Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion.
Unfortunately, it was not really a “brief, quiet, personal religious observance”. The coach “took a knee” and prayed after several games. It became a big deal on local news and conservative talk radio. The homecoming game was the culmination. Kennedy was joined in his postgame prayer by members of the public, a state legislator and the media. Spectators jumped over the fence to reach the field. People tripped over cables and fell. School band members were knocked over. That’s when then School Board suspended the coach.
The next week, a group of Satanists demanded equal access to the field. I wonder how the D.C. Supremes would rule on that case.
More to the point, what if a Muslim coach spread his prayer rug on the 50 yard line, faced Mecca, prostrated himself, and prayed after a game. Muslims are citizens, too. Muslims have Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion just like Christians. In fact, Muslim tax dollars paid for that stadium just like Christian tax dollars did.
The Supreme Court blew this decision, too. The Motown Supremes were consistently good. The D.C. Supremes are consistently bad.
By Ed Dufton
