Newt (Gage Skidmore, Wikimedia Commons)
Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich has made it more clear than ever: He wants to be
above the law. Doubling down on his desire to end the Constitutional balance of power by having himself as executive essentially shut down the judiciary:
He cited four examples in presidential history, including Abraham Lincoln, whose administration, Gingrich said, refused to enforce the Dred Scott decision by the Supreme Court on slavery and then actively flouted it by emancipating the slaves with an executive order.
“They just ignored it,” Gingrich said. He said the principle applied most recently to the 2008 Supreme Court decision finding that the Bush administration had exceeded its constitutional authority in handling suspected terrorist detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
“A commander in chief could simply issue instructions to ignore it, and say it’s null and void and I do not accept it because it infringes on my duties as commander in chief to protect the country,” Gingrich said of the Guantanamo ruling.
And that comparison itself gives a clear look into the twisted sense of humanity held by Gingrich. To Gingrich a president not being able to detain people indefinitely without trial is comparable to slavery. And how far would Gingrich go to control the judiciary?
When asked by host Bob Schieffer how he would force federal judges to comply with congressional subpoenas, Gingrich said he would send the U.S. Capitol Police or U.S. Marshals to arrest the judges and force them to testify.
Does Newt Gingrich want to be president or does he want to be dictator?