Supreme Court Disasters

Real Clear Politics ^ | 30 June 2015 | Thomas Sowell

[Rummyfan]

Many people are looking at the recent Supreme Court decisions about ObamaCare and same-sex marriage in terms of whether they think these are good or bad policies. That is certainly a legitimate concern, for both those who favor those policies and those who oppose them.

But there is a deeper and more long-lasting impact of these decisions that raise the question whether we are still living in America, where "we the people" are supposed to decide what kind of society we want, not have our betters impose their notions on us.

The Constitution of the United States says that the federal government has only those powers specifically granted to it by the Constitution -- and that all other powers belong either to the states or to the people themselves.

That is the foundation of our freedom, and that is what is being dismantled by both this year's Obamacare decision and last year's ObamaCare decision, as well as by the Supreme Court's decision imposing a redefinition of marriage.

[clearcarbon]

The “will of the people” has been usurped by the “whim of a despot” and his court.

[Drango]

but, but one of them was a “wise latina”.

[Arthur McGowan]

The Supreme Court has performed a public service, by helping to smoke out candidates who are too muddleheaded to be President. Jindal, Rubio, Bush, and (brain-freeze) have all called the gay marriage decision “the law of the land.” Their candidacies should be OVER. NO Republican who has to think this question out on his feet is qualified to be President.

THE ONLY Republican position is that Supreme Court decision are not “the law,” and if they are inconsistent with the law, they are to be DISOBEYED by ALL government officials.

[CitizenUSA]

No, Mr. Sowell, we cannot afford any more mushy moderates. You’re also absolutely right about the Supreme Court. Whether it was for worthy causes or not, they took the decision out of our hands. They’ve also proven there is no point in even trying to reason with them. All the time and effort conservatives put into trying to plead with the Supreme Legislature (aka Court) of the USA was a waste.

We are no longer under the rule of law and haven’t really been for a long time. Sadly, the left does not understand that the civil society is preserved when law is upheld and change is brought democratically. They have short circuited the process yet again, because if the left wants something, to hell with everyone else. Even more sadly, conservatives don’t yet realize what kind of people we’re dealing with...but we’re waking up.

[Arthur McGowan]

Rand Paul took the heartless, wicked, brainless position in TIME magazine (still in business!) that government should “get out of the marriage business.”

[fella]

The fact that a number of the Justices officiated gay marriages but did not recuse themselves says it all about judicial activism. The other case where they purposely misread the plain language of the law says even more.

[nathanbedford]

Can the Republicans -- or the country -- afford to put another mushy moderate in the White House, who can appoint more mushy moderates to the Supreme Court?

It is worth remembering that it was not a mushy moderate but Ronald Reagan himself who put Justice Kennedy on the Supreme Court. John Roberts by all accounts, Hugh Hewitt and Mark Levin who worked with Roberts in the Reagan Administration not excepted, all believed that the man had the right stuff. Other disasters of Republican appointees can be recounted but that begs the question, why do Republican appointees to the court turncoat while Democrats remain steadfast?

Of course we cannot afford to have any more mushy moderates in office appointing judges and Justices, or doing virtually anything else, but even Ronald Reagan got fooled. Therefore, it is time conservatives sought a different remedy to prevent an era of judicial tyranny from expanding and invading even more areas of our lives.

In other words, we can continue doing more of the same while expecting different results or we can turn to Article V.

[T-Bird45]

While I hesitate to draw a broader conclusion from one issue, it seems this one issue defines the separation point of principled conservatism and the mushy moderate. The issue is gun control and Ronald Reagan was all over the map on that issue. From his time as CA governor with the over-reaction to the Black Panthers that devils CA gun-owners yet today to his post-presidency endorsement of the Brady Bill, there were occasions interspersed where RR said what conservatives like on the issue. To me, this indeterminate positioning defines a mushy moderate and makes the Kennedy appointment crystal clear.

[Texas Fossil]

Let me remind you, the past few years is the first time in the nation’s history when there is not a single (so called) Protestant on the Supreme Court.

[Texas Fossil]

I thought I could never be convinced to support an Article V Convention, BUT Now I’m on board.

[ozdragon]

wise?

[Jim Noble]

Even more sadly, conservatives don’t yet realize what kind of people we’re dealing with...but we’re waking up.

We are headed for a bloodbath. It's just a matter of time.

[Nuc 1.1]

The biggest Pubbie disaster is that they, the senate, sends Marxist democrat judical nominees to the bench, instead of fighting them tooth and nail. The gang of 14 was arguably the greatest judical disaster in American history. Allowing the libtards to essentially take over mid level federal courts. Sadly Pubbie disasters is a fairly long list anymore.

[nathanbedford]

Reagan also flipped on abortion and he, regrettably, got immigration wrong as he was deceived by Ted Kennedy. I also think he was deceived by John Roberts who, as I pointed out, deceived everyone with whom he was associated in the Reagan Administration, causing them all to believe that he was a through and through conservative. Either he lied or he "grew."

The Second Amendment has fared relatively well considering the unremitting war waged against it by the left. To the degree that the Second Amendment retains for us the right to bear arms as a real constitutional right, it does so because the NRA has generated enough political clout to intimidate politicians, even Democrats, into good behavior. The lesson I learn from this is that top down politics are doomed in the long run to fail us. The Republican establishment is a despicable example of an elite, ruling class that attempts to retain its power by running top down campaigns every two or four years. The NRA has run a bottom up campaign that has long-term power and has been extremely effective. The Republican establishment has failed time after time with its top down approach.

I am wary of expecting more from politicians then we have forced them to deliver. It is a rare politician that attains the stature of Ronald Reagan who can actually stand against overwhelming forces to maintain his conservative principles. I am willing to forgive him some missteps. I am not willing to forgive, for example Lindsey Graham who will cave on every left-wing judicial appointment. But the real failure, and the real remedy, is to find a bottom up way to force the Lindsey Grahams of this world to behave themselves or go.

It is foolish to blame politicians for flip-flopping or for being "mushy" when it is the electorate, Pogo, it is us, that demands them to be so.

Culture trumps politics and bottom up beats top-down.

[nathanbedford]

Welcome aboard, there is still plenty of room left on deck but the numbers are growing daily.

[nathanbedford]

Please see my #15.

[Wolfie]

Any group that can say a corporation is a person is liable to say any crazy old thing.

[mac_truck]

It is worth remembering that it was not a mushy moderate but Ronald Reagan himself who put Justice Kennedy on the Supreme Court.

It is also worth remembering that Anthony Kennedy was Reagan's third choice to replace Justice Powell.

His first choice was Robert Bork, a competent conservative jurist who's nomination was voted down in the Senate by a 42-58 margin, and his second choice Douglas Ginsburg withdrew his name from consideration after it was revealed he had once smoked marijuana.

On a separate note, Bork's nomination was opposed by 16 of 22 Senators from the states comprising the old Confederacy, a surprising statistic from the region some here claim is the most conservative.

[Texas Fossil]

Whatever it takes to keep the republic.