Divining the Court

Divining the Court

Our best legal brains are still scratching their heads about the Supreme Court decision in the Pledge of Allegiance case (see Elisabeth Sifton, “

Facebook
Twitter
Email
Flipboard
Pocket

Our best legal brains are still scratching their heads about the Supreme Court decision in the Pledge of Allegiance case (see Elisabeth Sifton, “The Battle Over the Pledge,” April 5). Rather than deciding whether the words “one nation, under God” recited in public schools breached the wall between church and state, the Court ruled 8 to 0 that the plaintiff had no standing to sue for his daughter. So God wins on a technicality? Was the Court following the “iliction returns,” in line with Mr. Dooley’s adage, hedging against the defeat of a faith-based presidency in November? Or were the Justices making a stealth recusal because of the Court’s daily invocation of the protection of the Deity–“God save the United States and this Honorable Court”? God only knows.

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.

Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

Ad Policy
x