Last week Rob Schmitt Tonight took to the streets with a simple, devastating question for everyday Americans: can you name more Supreme Court justices or more Kardashians? The segment captured the kind of civic illiteracy that has become routine and uncomfortable to watch, and it was right there on a prime-time Newsmax show exposing the rot.
The data behind those street interviews is grim but not surprising — multiple surveys over the years show that a large share of Americans can’t name even one current Supreme Court justice. Serious polling from outlets like FindLaw and C-SPAN has repeatedly found that half or more of respondents either say they can’t name a justice or give the wrong answer, underscoring how disconnected citizens are from the institutions that shape their lives.
Meanwhile, the Kardashian brand is a household name, amplified by blockbuster streaming numbers and endless tabloid coverage that the left-wing media and celebrity industrial complex refuse to ignore. The Kardashians’ shows and business ventures dominate entertainment headlines, which explains why passersby can rattle off celebrity names while blanking on the people deciding constitutional questions.
That contrast is not merely amusing — it’s dangerous. As reporting has noted, large majorities of Americans agree the Supreme Court affects their daily lives, yet most cannot name a single justice, a contradiction that should alarm every patriot who cares about self-government. When people are more fluent in pop culture than in the institutions that preserve liberty, the nation drifts toward rule by celebrity and elite bureaucrats rather than informed voters.
Conservatives aren’t the problem here; we’ve been warning about cultural decline and the collapse of civic education for years. Left-leaning schools, woke curricula, and a news ecosystem obsessed with outrage and entertainment have gutted rigorous civics and shoved celebrity worship into the classroom where facts used to live. It’s time to stop apologizing for calling this out and start rebuilding a culture that prizes citizenship over clicks.
There is a conservative solution that actually works: restore serious civics instruction, require graduation-level competency in constitutional knowledge, and support media that treats the Constitution with the gravity it deserves. Studies of civics surveys show that focused education improves understanding of branches of government and rights, so this is not a hopeless problem but one of priorities and will.
Rob Schmitt’s street segment should be a wake-up call for every American who loves this country: demand better from our schools, from our media, and from ourselves. Turn off the endless celebrity feed, teach your kids the text of the Constitution, and hold politicians and journalists accountable when they substitute spectacle for substance. The future of our republic depends on a citizenry that can name its guardians, not just its celebrities.
