The Midfielders

by Douglas G Logan

Crisis brings out different things in different people. Adrenaline, (or epinephrine) is the human hormone that stokes both the fight and flee responses. Who fights; who flees? Why? Mysteries of human behavior.

Some politicians unexpectedly meet the moment. Harry Truman, the Missouri haberdasher, stepped up and pushed the apocalyptic buttons that ended WW II. George W. Bush, the Texas frat boy, was exceptional in the days after 9/11. Rudy Giuliani, the glib prosecutor, became America’s Mayor in the same crisis. All three exhibited courageous leadership, resoluteness and aplomb. Unexpectedly.

There is a school of thought that the Supreme Court’s current makeup will deliver to Trump a validation for all of his legal woes. He is certainly stretching the fabric of jurisprudence. Conventional thinking is that he is forcing issues to his friendliest venue, SCOTUS. There he anticipates favorable rulings on all his extreme expansions of Executive Branch power. A safe 6-3 margin.

I’m not so sure.

We soccer junkies are frequently obsessed with strategies that are executed by formations. Generally lineups are stated in numerical fashion: 4–3-3, or 4-5-1. The first digit indicates the number of defenders; the second, the midfielders; the third the forwards, the attackers. I see the current court as 3-2-4.

Three liberal women, united in defending progressive left-of-center values. Four men devoted to supporting the challenges to the status quo ante by the administration. That leaves the two midfielders, the unpredictable center of the court.

Now, I don’t suggest that Justice Roberts bears any resemblance to Zinedine Zidane. Or that Justice Coney Barrett is the second coming of Michelle Akers. But these two jurists really hold the key to outcomes of the current Trump/Musk purges. At one time both were thought as predictable votes of support for Federalist Society orthodoxy. Today that is not the case, and for different reasons.

Roberts’ name is on this court. For him it’s legacy. He appears to be appalled by the public’s suspicion of politicization. By the historically low approval ratings. For him it’s optics. He knows his bench is walking into a trap. Any pro-Trump decision will be seen as further corruption. I believe he will be a moderating vote to save his court’s reputational scalp.

Coney Barrett is, in my opinion, motivated differently. She came on the court portrayed by the left as a character from the dystopian “Handmaid’s Tale”. I have seen her in a different light. A brilliant Notre Dame professor who finds time for prayer in her life. She appears to approach issues with her faith at her right hand. In recent months she has taken positions that have surprised and angered her right-wing sponsors. A recent post from a MAGA zealot was shocking.

“Amy Coney Barrett was a DEI appointee.”

Both Zidane and Akers are known for far more than their football skills. I consider them, respectively, the toughest and most courageous midfielders I ever saw play. May their Supreme Court avatars posses the same qualities.