Europe Is Baffled by the U.S. Supreme Court

The Atlantic Wire ^ | 4.5.2012 | John Hudson

[TexasNative2000]

Europe is scratching its head over possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court will strike down President Obama's signature legislative achievement. As the judiciary and the Obama administration trade legal barbs over the high court's authority, the idea that health care coverage, largely considered a universal right in Europe, could be deemed an affront to liberty is baffling.

"The Supreme Court can legitimately return Obamacare?" asks a headline on the French news site 9 POK . The article slowly walks through the legal rationale behind the court's right to wipe away Congress's legislation. "Sans précédent, extraordinaires" reads the article. In the German edition of The Financial Times, Sabine Muscat is astonished at Justice Antonin Scalia's argument that if the government can mandate insurance, it can also require people to eat broccoli. "Absurder Vergleich" reads the article's kicker, which in English translates to, "Absurd Comparison." In trying to defeat the bill, Muscat writes, Scalia is making a "strange analogy [to] vegetables."

[gitmo]

So the purpose of this article is to shame us into agreeing with the Euros? Sorry but it didn't work.

I didn't read it that way. I thought the purpose was to demonstrate how ignorant most Europeans are.

[SaraJohnson]

Great description of your observation. Thanks. :)

[onedoug]

Tell that to the muslims in a shorter time than you think.

[FlingWingFlyer]

I can understand this. Europeons aren’t very bright and prefer the cradle to grave nanny state over freedom.

[packrat35]

Göring also banned commercial animal trapping, imposed severe restrictions on hunting, and regulated the shoeing of horses. He imposed regulations even on the boiling of lobsters and crabs. In one incident, he sent a fisherman to a concentration camp or cutting up a bait frog.

[loveliberty2]

To bigoil: Thank you, here's another attempt.
To Katana: Your final paragraph is such a great summary of the truly revolutionary idea which distinguishes the American concept of true liberty!

Reprinted below, with permission, is an essay which, I believe, illustrates the idea.

The Unique Idea Of America's Constitution

"Our Constitution embodied a UNIQUE IDEA. Nothing like it had ever been done before. The power of the idea was in the recognition that people's rights are granted directly by the Creator - not by the state - and that the people, then, and only then, grant rights to government. The concept is so simple, yet so very fundamental and far-reaching.

CREATOR

People

Government

"America's founders embraced a previously unheard-of political philosophy which held that people are "...endowed BY THEIR CREATOR with certain unalienable rights.." This was the statement of guiding principle for the new nation, and, as such, had to be translated into a concrete charter for government. The Constitution of The United States of America became that charter.

"Other forms of government, past and present, rely on the state as the grantor of human rights. America's founders, however, believed that a government made up of imperfect people exercising power over other people should possess limited powers. Through their Constitution, they wished to "secure the blessings of liberty" for themselves and for posterity by limiting the powers of government. Through it, they delegated to government only those rights they wanted it to have, holding to themselves all powers not delegated by the Constitution. They even provided the means for controlling those powers they had granted to government.

"This was the unique American idea. Many problems we face today result from a departure from this basic con­cept. Gradually, other "ideas" have influenced legislation which has reversed the roles and given government greater and greater power over individuals. Early generations of Americans pledged their lives to the cause of in­dividual freedom and limited government and warned, over and over again, that eternal vigilance would be required to preserve that freedom for posterity."

---

Footnote: Our Ageless Constitution, W. David Stedman & La Vaughn G. Lewis, Editors (Asheboro, NC, W. David Stedman Associates, 1987) Part III:  ISBN 0-937047-01-5

[Chgogal]

Europeans in general (99.9% of the population) don’t have a clue about their closest and strongest ally, the United States of America. They have no clue how important the U.S. Constitution is to We the People. But they needn’t feel bad, most of the liberals on the SC prefer foreign constitutions as well.

[aquila48]

“Over in Britain, the opposition is more direct. The Guardian’s Kevin Powell called the debate “surreal” in his Monday column. “Wasn’t the point to make sure the richest and most powerful nation on the planet could protect its own people, as other nations do?”

The above from the leftist Guardian explains their confusion. Replace “nation” with “government” and the fog starts to lift. Ask “protect its own people from whom?” and things become clearer still.

[snowsislander]

They seem to not understand that their views of the relationship between citizen and government is one of the reasons their ancestors came to America.

BTTT. That's an excellent observation.

Constitutionalism begins in Article VI:

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land;

with the simple statement the Constitution is the supreme law of the land.

Any law enacted that is contrary to the Constitution is unconstitutional. Unconstitutional laws are null and void.

Somehow, this simple progression seems to be beyond so many Euros. But this progression is at the very heart of limited government: our government is limited by its very design. Our Constitution lists the structure and explicit powers of our federal government.

I suspect that the Euros also have just as poor comprehension of the equally important 9th and 10th amendments:

Amendment IX: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

[octex]

It is, of course, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that are the object of governments instituted among men as proposed in the Declaration of Independence, but there is nothing in it, or in that pesky Constitution, that details a “right” to healthcare, and only an ignoramus would reason that there is.
*******************************
I agree with your entire posting; especially the above excerpt!

[octex]

They should go back and find a vid of Alistair Cooke’s series America from 40 years ago.
*********************************
I agree. It would be fantastic if the History channel could acquire and digitize Cooke’s series. I watched every episode and it was phenomonal.

[driftless2]

Apparently, many Euros agree with the liberal nostrum that government does things “for your own good.” They cannot understand that no one entity knows whats good for everyone. They tyranny of the majority is something else many of them can’t grasp. Interestingly enough, even a number of the commenters who appeared to be English did not agree with article. Obviously though, many Brits and Euros have no concept of the U.S. constitution.

[FreedomPoster]

I saw her speak about 8-10 years ago. I didn’t know much about her or her history at that time, but knew enough to go see her from references here. Very impressive lady. She was speaking at a women’s college full of young Marxists and lesbians, had a group of College Republican males from another college as a security detachment, which was probably pretty smart on someone’s part. She dealt with her questioners very effectively. Using logic, something you don’t see from our Leftist “leaders”.

[hal ogen]

We’ve been to europe several times to see the sites. It is kind of like going to a museum...albeit often a dirty, broken-down one. The euroweenies don’t “get” many things. For God’s sake, they can’t even give you ice in your drink. Just what kind of civiization is that?????

[FreedomPoster]

We went to Italy in June several years ago. Had a great time, but my observation upon returning was that it was really, really nice being back in a land where people honor the memory of Willis Carrier by installing massive air conditioning systems and using them.

[Erasmus]

My Stuttgart business colleague expressed a dim view of those welfare-sucking immigrants as we drove through certain neighborhoods.

[xkaydet65]

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=alistair+cooke’s+america

Try the above link. If it doesn’t work, search Bing. It’s there. Quality is not great but it looks no worse than on a 15” Zenith 40 years ago.

[ops33]

“...is there not a constitutional right to affordable healthcare?”

No, there is not.

[Rides_A_Red_Horse]

“Freedom to have the State supply all your need”

---

The State also decides exactly “What” you need.

Remember the government that has the power to give you what you need also has the power to take away everything you have.

[Vision]

Sadly, freedom is not understood by Europe.

Especially if you have a king and queen.