To me, the Supreme Court is the canary in the coal mine of democracy. It's very fragile. It's the last line of defense against tyranny. As I've said before, I do not believe the justices themselves are political actors. But the people who are responsible for putting them there certainly are. That is why Mitch McConnell dying a very painful, very public death would not bother me in the least. When Republicans started treating politics like a bloodsport, with a win at all costs attitude and the belief that it's okay to impose your will on others no matter what (hey, that's what winners do!), that is when our democracy was in serious jeopardy. We haven't reached the end or the bottom, I don't believe, but we're close. The outright theft of a seat on the Supreme Court put us close to the end. The pendulum is either going to swing back the other way or the U.S. will become a fascist state. True freedom, the way the Constitution actually means it, will no longer exist if the far right wins. There will be no justice, no due process. There will be persecution. There will be lots and lots of suffering and death.