"If there's one figure in American history who would not stand for any of the present nonsense, it'd be Thomas Paine. The revolutionary pamphleteer hated the idea of monarchs trampling on people behind the veil of absolute immunity so much that he followed up the American Revolution by rolling over to France and getting elected to the revolutionary government without knowing how to speak French."
"Roberts will discuss none of those topics. While not as far afield as his 2023 report, which devoted several pages to the advent of typewriters, the 2025 Annual Report provides an equally empty Temu history lesson, with Roberts hiding behind the sort of phony portrait of Thomas Paine's life and work that only a true #Originalist could concoct. Two hundred fifty years ago this week, a recent immigrant to Britain's North American colonies put the finishing touches on a manuscript"
Thomas Paine embodied uncompromising opposition to executive power and intolerance for leaders who claim immunity. The piece contrasts Paine's radical commitments with contemporary misuse of his image to justify troubling political actions, including references in major legal cases. Chief Justice John Roberts's 2025 Year-End Report is portrayed as evasive and superficial, avoiding urgent issues such as violent threats to judges, federal lawyers' misconduct, and declining public trust in the Supreme Court. The report is characterized as offering shallow historical anecdotes rather than confronting concrete judicial problems. The narrative also notes Paine's immigrant origins and his effort to articulate "plain truths."
Read at Above the Law
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