"Stench" | Reviewed by Bill Schwab

David Brock skewers the conservative bloc of the Supreme Court in a stridently partisan denunciation of the justices in "Stench: The Making of the Thomas Court and the Unmaking of America."

Brock directs his vigorous criticism toward the politicians who enabled the appointment of the hardline justices, the Federalist Society that initiated the systematic effort to establish the right-wing court, and the GOP megadonors who funded the turnover.

Brock begins with a well-known memo written in 1971 by future Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell, ordered by Richard Nixon, who outlined a plan to boost U.S. business and the political right by appointing conservative judges to the court.

The author was a former conservative political insider who was once a staunch Republican and a loyal supporter of Clarence Thomas. Over many years, he concluded that the people he trusted on the right were "bald-faced liars." He realized the right was quietly and misleadingly taking steps to secure a court that would benefit their personal and political interests.

The book focuses on the ethics scandals of Clarence and Ginni Thomas. It also offers blistering disapproval of Justices Neil Gorsuch, Scott Kavanaugh, and Samuel Alito that extends beyond their court decisions to include their character and ethics.

It claims that the Federalist Society and secretive groups like Opus Dei were systematically working for years to stack the court.

Brock maintains that the court became Thomas's court when Amy Coney Barrett succeeded Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the bench in 2020. He maintains John Roberts could no longer preside over a conservative court that did not respect precedent. This made room for 33-year member of the court, Clarence Thomas, to ascend in power and authority.

The author recounts the decades-long strategy to weaponize the judicial system. He includes the dubious intervention of the court in the Bush v. Gore presidential election and provides examples of conservative judicial candidates lying under oath during Senate testimony. In addition he points to GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell's unethical blockade of President Obama's candidate for the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland.

"Stench" is a full-throated indictment of the right-wing Supreme Court. It is a book that only a former GOP insider could write. Brock's argument, while clearly partisan, is coherent and a well-evidenced exposé of the "conservative regime of corruption."  Brock closes by presenting a convincing case for impeachment.

About the author: David Brock is a Democratic activist and widely published author. In 2004 he founded Media Matters for America, a progressive media watchdog group. Brock founded the super PAC American Bridge 21st Century, which works to elect Democrats. His books include his memoir "Blinded by the Right,” "Killing the Messenger,” "The Republican Noise Machine," and the "The Fox Effect." Politico deemed him one of the thirty most powerful people in Trump's Washington.

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