Left to my own devices

In the wake of a leaked draft opinion showing the United States Supreme Court could be set to overturn Roe v. Wade, I've heard some renewed talk from folks on the left about how we need to increase the number of Supreme Court justices. This is something Democrats have looked into doing before and, perhaps naively, I find it perplexing. Not, at its core, the idea of changing how many justices sit on the SCOTUS bench, but the reasoning. Those on the left who have broached the notion have done so as a sort of remedy for the court becoming more conservative. I'm just not seeing what the numbers have to do with it. What matters is the who, not how many.

It is my contention that trust is overrated. We as a society seem to put a lot of faith in the concept of trust, whether it be in our business dealings, interpersonal relationships, or political leaders. I'm not saying that it is meaningless, or useless, just that we tend to rely too heavily on it. Trust, in and of itself, is not necessarily a good thing. Allow me to explain.

The ad popped-up on my Facebook sidebar, and I both smiled and rolled my eyes. It was an ad for some Obama apparel, specifically a jacket and t-shirt, both deep blue in color, with the words:  "I know, I won both of them"  spelled-out in very big letters. It's a reference, of course, to President Obama's zinger during the most recent State of the Union address, when he mentioned that he has no more campaigns left to run. When Republican members of Congress applauded his 22nd Amendment limitation, the president shot back a reminder to them that's because he had, of course, bested their candidates in 2008 and 2012. I smiled at the wording on the apparel because I liked the zinger at the time. Damn right Obama beat McCain and Romney. 'nuff said. It would be a lie to say that I didn't holler at his comeback line to the applauding GOP. I rolled my eyes, however, that folks would take it beyond that -- a one-line, one-time zinger. It may seem odd, bu...