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Posted on 02/13/2013 6:59:48 AM PST by SeekAndFind
I'm sure it's happened before, but I can't recall any previous State of the Union speech where justices refused to attend based on disagreements with the president.
From Politico:
"The conservative wing of the U.S. Supreme Court was absent from President Obama's Tuesday State of the Union address.
Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia declined to join their six other colleagues at the prime time address to Congress.
During Obama's 2010 address, Alito was seen whispering the words "not true" during Obama's speech. Obama used his address to blast the court for their 2010 Citizens United case which altered the rules on corporate and union funding of elections.
In the aftermath of that speech, Alito complained that the justices were expected to sit in the House chamber "like the proverbial potted plant" and that it was now an awkward experience."
If I were a justice of the Supreme Court, I certainly would resent being used as a prop in a president's theatrical presentation. But, at bottom, the justices are a part of one of three co-equal branches of government. In that sense, attending the State of the Union is both a question of tradition, and a symbol of the majesty of the Constitution.
They should have been there.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
These unpleasant moments could be avoided if duels to settle matters of honor were still in vogue.
Obama is defying court rulings left and right.
Co-equal?
Ha!
I’m glad they chose not to attend.
Thank goodness,the gay ones showed up!
It looked like Bonehead was not happy he had to sit through that mess too. I wonder if he had straight vodka in that water glass.
Oh yeah. I remember that, when Alito mouthed “not true”. And he was right but when the first lie gets out of the box, there’s no getting it back. Especially if hussein said it. Typical radical left wing extremist demokkkrat tactics. I didn’t watch last night, but I hear that hussein is going to order the climate to behave with an EO if congress won’t work with him.
Citizens United=EVIL.
Unions=rainbows, skittles, AZ ice tea, unicorns and fairy dust and everything is wonderful.
I think it was Mark Twain that said a lie can get half way around the world before the truth can put it’s pants on.
Our Hipster Dufus president inspires no one...Only the lazy, no work, I want it all for nothing idiots are listening...The rest of us have had it up to here with his $hit!
If you would be so kind as to post that stuff to someone else and leave me out of it, I would appreciate it.
I’m here to respond to the thread’s point.
That’s all.
I thought it was customary for one member of each branch not to attend.
So this year three members of the SupremeCourt decided not to go. Why should they? Obama uses his speeches to castigate them.
There are a lot more things to worry about rather than who goes to hear the ramblings of this President. I bet most Americans didn’t watch.
I disagree with the author. I don’t think Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito had an obligation to attend based on tradition or symbolism.
When the President of the United States of America regularly behaves as a dictator and tyrant who circumvents the United States Congress and the United States Constitution, it is incumbent upon those whose duty it is to uphold the Supreme Law of this land to stand upon their absence from the State of the Union Address as an act of symbolism.
Barack Obama does not respect the majesty of the United States Constitution. Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito should not pretend otherwise.
“They should have been there.”
IMHO These two comments contradict each other. Who wants to be a captive audience and have obama ridicule and embarrass you in public AGAIN.......I don't blame em, I would have been absent also.
RE: Why should they? Obama uses his speeches to castigate them.
I was half expecting Obama to praise the SCOTUS for not stopping Obamacare (in fact, I was half expecting him to point towards John Roberts in the process ).
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The lilly livered Rick Moran still thinks Obama is fair.
Enough said.
He did the same thing to Paul Ryan too. That’s why what Ben Carson did was so sweet.
***********************
Thank God for these three. I didn't watch it. Even a brief glimpse on TV of bho or his wife is nauseating to me.
SCOOP
Alito’s mother died, that’s why he wasn’t there. FWIW.
“That’s why what Ben Carson did was so sweet.”
Cal Thomas said Ben Carson was rude to do it at the breakfast meeting and he should have used another venue.
I completely disagree. The press would never have covered what Ben Carson had said if it had been some other venue without the President being there. The press won’t do it’s job, so it’s up to individuals to do it for them.
Ben Carson is the MAN! Wish some of our politicians were as brave.
For what it’s worth.......
And it made two scholars, Todd C. Peppers of Roanoke College and Micheal W. Giles of Emory University, undertake heroic work to assemble a mountain of data for a study on trends in this area based on videos, photographs and newspaper articles.
They found that justices’ attendance had been falling. From 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson moved the address from the afternoon to the evening, through 1980, the attendance rate was 84 percent. Over the next two decades, the number dropped to 53 percent. Since 2000, the rate has fallen to 32 percent.
In three of those years, only Justice Stephen G. Breyer attended. In 2000, when Justice Breyer stayed home with the flu, no justice was present.
end snip
No, they shouldn't have been there, not after the shabby way that Obama and his flying monkeys have been treating the Court.
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