Daily Herald opinion: Between the lines of individual controversies, a larger threat eats at our politics

As reasonable as it may be, as defensible and appropriate to the interests of constitutional democracy and the faith of the electorate, there is something embarrassingly ironic in the letter sent to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts last week from Democratic Senators Sheldon Whitehouse, of Rhode Island, and, especially, Richard Durbin, of Illinois, citing ethics concerns about the court.

To be sure, the flag controversy involving Justice Samuel Alito has compromised the appearance of objectivity for him, if not its actuality, on matters related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. And the high court’s stubborn refusal to adopt an actionable code of ethics for itself continues to wear away the public’s faith in the impartiality of the institution.

But Durbin, whose home state legislature has just as stubbornly settled for cosmetic illusions over unqualified determination on matters of ethics, should be well aware of the rank disregard the public holds toward complaints by one political party against the other, and its justification.

In their letter, Whitehouse and Durbin cite an “ethics crisis” facing the court. Their concern would hold so much more force if they would acknowledge the ethics crisis in their own party and, indeed, facing all of politics.

That crisis has taken many forms in Illinois over the years. Its most recent illustration is the Democratic Party’s unnecessary abuse of power with a hastily approved law prohibiting parties from slating candidates in races in which they were not represented in primary elections. Last week, a Springfield judge held up enforcement of the law while an appeal brought by four would-be candidates works its way through the courts.

This follows on more than a decade of the Illinois Democratic Party blocking citizen-driven efforts to create an equitable and transparent system of drawing election boundaries that would reduce the ability of political parties — in Illinois’ case, the Democrats — to shape political districts in ways that keep themselves in control.

And that issue was cynically upheld, also ironically, in favor of Republicans by a conservative-majority Supreme Court decision last week that creatively parsed the meanings of “racial” and “political” in supporting a gerrymandered election map in South Carolina.

Durbin and Whitehouse are right. There is an ethics crisis facing the Supreme Court today. What neither they nor activists on the other side seem to acknowledge — or perhaps are merely comfortable overlooking — is that there is an ethics crisis facing all of government. Former President Donald Trump is exploiting it to full advantage in his own race for the presidency and has managed to create such a confused muddle of discontent that doubt and distrust have infected nearly every institution of American government and society, right down to our trust in the election process itself.

So, yes, while we are dismayed that Samuel Alito sees no conflict in the flying of controversial flags on his property … and that Clarence Thomas seems to have no concerns about his wife’s participation in the events of Jan. 6 … and that Donald Trump has no misgivings about any of the numerous ethical questions and factual distortions that comprise his political persona … and that Illinois Democrats feel no need for strong ethical standards and have no shame about flexing their muscle selfishly throughout all levels of government … and that, nationwide, both political parties are happy to exhibit contradictory attitudes toward gerrymandering depending solely on who it benefits, despite all these complaints and more we could list from Hunter Biden and beyond, our greater concern is that none of these leaders seem to recognize that the individual issues they condemn and write letters about are not just little isolated crises. They are indicative of a much broader systemic threat.

It’s a threat they have the ability to address and control. Until they collect some of that “sacred honor” the Founders held so dear and rise above the partisan glee of manipulating the system to their advantage, instead of using it to the public’s, the divisions and mistrust that boil within our politics will only grow hotter and more destructive.