Time and Temperament

   If SCOTUS is the media catchword for Supreme Court of the United States, and POTUS stands for President of  the United States, would SPOTUS be used for Supreme President of the United States?
   A more crucial question then becomes, is that where the nation is heading, and if so, how worried should we be?

   But the historic reality is that warnings like this have been sounded before, and the nation has survived.
   For example, Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, was accused of trying to expand and stack the Supreme Court to stop it from overturning many of his economic recovery programs on constitutional grounds.
   And Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, was accused of trying to become a dictator.
   Between and since, other presidents have been accused of these and many other things, ranging from incompetence to insanity, partly depending on how angry the opposition party was at the time.
   The current president is facing many similar criticisms, but whether any are true and whether he will face impeachment and removal from office as well as criminal or civil charges while in office or after he leaves is something that only history can record.
   It's no secret that government leaders try to appoint federal judges -- up to and including justices on the Supreme Court -- who will follow the conservative or liberal guidelines preferred by their political parties. But it's also true that members of the Supreme Court, while they may show certain political leanings while on lower court benches, often go in directions unexpected and unanticipated by those who nominate and confirm them.
   It's an odd thing to consider, but it seems that once they reach the pinnacle of success in the legal world -- a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court -- they adhere to the ethics of their profession and follow the best principles of the law.
   This is not always true, of course, but there have been occasions when a conservative nominated to the Supreme Court by a conservative president moved in a direction unexpected by the president who chose the justice. This reflects a presidential attitude that the chosen nominee will follow the directions indicated by the occupant of the Oval Office.
   So far, it has not happened that SCOTUS appointees have bent themselves to the will of POTUS. 
   It's enough of a problem that members of Congress have played follow the POTUS leader, and have forgotten their constitutional mandate to remain a separate and co-equal branch of government.
   However, if SCOTUS falls into the POTUS line, then we may well have a SPOTUS governmental system.
   And that smacks too much of a dictatorship.