[Coat]hanging judge

The confirmation of Coathanger Coney to the Supreme Court by Moscow Mitch and his gang was so predictable that saying the Sun will rise in the east seems like a mere wild guess by comparison.  There was nothing the Democrats could have done to stop it.  Republicans remain almost totally unified in their subservience to Trump and McConnell and in their mania to cram the courts with as many wingnuts as possible while the cramming's good -- and no matter how you slice it, 47 votes is fewer than 53.

Since this could not be prevented, it must be undone.  Electoral-Vote suggests a range of options, of which enlarging the Supreme Court is the most-discussed recently and offers the most clear-cut remedy.  Vox and Crooks and Liars make the case.  Democracy itself is at stake.  Republicans will screech that we're "politicizing" the Court, but they themselves have already politicized it beyond repair.  The option of a non-political Supreme Court doesn't exist any more.  The Republicans have taken it off the table, probably forever.  And now they demand that we pretend to not notice they've done that.

If the Court is left as Trump and McConnell have re-made it, then the Republicans -- even after being massively repudiated by the voters -- will be left holding a power base from which they can block all efforts at reform and at repairing the massive damage the last four years have inflicted on the country.  Not only abortion rights and gay marriage but also medicare expansion, economic stimulus, any serious covid-19 response, DC and Puerto Rico statehood, action on climate change, separation of church and state, legislation to end gerrymandering and vote suppression -- all could be doomed at the whim of a Court majority put in place specifically to entrench minority rule and roll back progress.

It would be inexcusable for Democrats to allow this once they gain the power to stop it.  And that's why we, the majority of American voters, will still have work to do after the election.  To enlarge the Court, the House and Senate will need to pass legislation and Biden will need to sign it.  We all know some lawmakers will balk at what they see as radical action.  They will need to hear from us, vociferously and in great numbers, to encourage them to do their duty.  A theme to emphasize:  Don't worry about upsetting your Republican "colleagues".  Worry about upsetting us, your voters, the people who put you where you are and expect you to get this done.

(The same goes for abolishing the filibuster, which is necessary to avoid leaving the Republicans another base from which to block reform, including Court enlargement.)

But before we can tell Democratic legislators how to use their new power, we need to ensure that they get that power in the first place.  We've got six days left to do that.  We need to elect Biden by the largest Electoral and popular-vote landslide possible, to place the result beyond the reach of any Republican shenanigans, and we need to bring in the largest possible Democratic Senate majority, so that things can still get done even if one or two members balk.

Democracy or theocracy, individual freedom or life constrained by ancient religious taboos codified into law -- it's up to us to decide.