Being an institutionalist does not mean tolerating the corruption of a cherished institution. It does not mean you ignore the unethical and/or destructive behavior that will cause a mistrust of or contempt for that institution. As I keep saying, we no longer have a legitimate supreme court. What we have is Moscow Mitch's politicized abomination. We have a squatter in a stolen seat (Neil Gorsuch). We have the certifiably unethical and I would even argue corrupt supreme court justice (Clarence Thomas). We have at least four justices (Thomas, Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, and Coney Barrett) who lied at their confirmation hearings. And we have a chief justice that is returning us to the bad old days of jim crow by overturning laws that protect voting rights.
Do not try to legitimize this court by calling it conservative! What we now have is a corrupt, misogynistic, fascist court that is hell bent on ignoring precedents and undoing a century of social progress that has expanded freedom and made our country a fairer, more equitable place for all of our citizens. I find it almost impossible to believe that there is anyone with a triple digit IQ and a conscience that has anything but contempt for this supreme court. I would say that that contempt is a crime but the real crime is the politicization and corruption that warrants our contempt. And the consequences of this destruction of the court's reputation are dire. If the citizens cannot respect the highest court in the land how can we expect them to respect the rule law? Without a respectable supreme court our whole judicial system is a sham. It does not take a genius to figure this out. If you treasure the supreme court as an institution you must make it respectable again! This court must be expanded and reformed!
Pull your head out of your ass, Joe! The days when both parties believed in democracy and were capable of acting honorably and in the best interest of this country are no more. There is only one party that now believes in democracy and the rule of law! If Moscow Mitch has taught us anything it is that there is no tradition or precedent the Republicans will not discard whenever they find that rule or precedent inconvenient. Expanding the court now will not make it any more likely that the Republicans will try to expand it later! One look at how the Republicans have corrupted this court should tell you that. Do not wait for a bloody reformation! We are fast approaching a time when we must reform the court or strip it of its power. The constitution does not provide for judicial review. If the court can discard well established precedents why can't the people discard Marbury v. Madison? I know that is a radical statement, but desperate times make people seek desperate solutions. We must act before the people feel that desperate.