In 2000, the Supreme Court's conservative majority stopped the counting of valid, legally cast ballots in Florida and decided to name George W. Bush President of the United States. It was an extraordinary, unprecedented and, more important, an overtly political act by a court that claimed to stand for judicial restraint.
Conservatives all hailed the decision and the march began into a brave new world dominated by a permanent conservative majority. Two new conservative judges were elevated to the Supreme Court and it looked like Karl Rove was a not only a political genius, but a genuine prophet.
But then something funny happened. Democrats took back the Congress in 2006 and, even more amazingly, an upstart black Democrat from Illinois was nominated for president in 2008 - and won!
It was a cataclysmic blow to the political fortunes of the conservative movement.
Those of us on the left, who worked so hard for President Obama and believed so deeply in his abilities and his promise, rejoiced and began to dream of our own era - a progressive era, in which social justice and economic fairness might once again be the hallmarks of the American political system.
But the conservatives were not done, not by a long shot. We were all extremely naive, including President Obama. Like the robot from the future in Terminator II, whose liquid-metal fragments gather themselves back together after being blasted to bits by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the conservative movement re-animated itself and launched a desperate, Hail Mary strategy: obstruction, disinformation, fear-mongering, lies, tactical maneuvering in the Senate, anything, anything at all that would sow confusion, distrust and discontent among the the public, and stop Obama. Or at the very least slow him down, until the conservatives could find their way back from political purgatory to fight a new day.
Then a miracle happened. The new conservative majority on the Supreme Court decided once again to take matters into its own hands.
As the New York Times says today:
With one 5-to-4 decision, the court’s conservative majority stopped valid votes from being counted to ensure the election of a conservative president. Now a similar conservative majority has distorted the political system to ensure that Republican candidates will be at an enormous advantage in future elections.
Obama's ability to raise money via small donations on the internet from individual donors helped him win the 2008 election. The Republican Party had no answer. Obama's organization brought them down, drove them from power and enraged them beyond comprehension.
Fortunately, the conservatives still had their 5 seat majority on the Supreme Court. And these five men, it turns out had other ideas. As the Times puts it:
The justices overreached and seized on a case involving a narrower, technical question involving the broadcast of a movie that attacked Hillary Rodham Clinton during the 2008 campaign. The court elevated that case to a forum for striking down the entire ban on corporate spending and then rushed the process of hearing the case at breakneck speed. It gave lawyers a month to prepare briefs on an issue of enormous complexity, and it scheduled arguments during its vacation.
So, yesterday, one year and a day after President Obama's inauguration, five conservative justices handed down their decision, the "F**k you!" heard round the world: the government can no longer place any restrictions on corporate spending for or against a political candidate. The floodgates are open. It's a whole new ball game.
Memo
From: The Supreme Court
To: the American Public, Congress and other elected officials, President Obama:
F** YOU!
To the American Public: You think you can vote for one lucky Democrat and see real change happen in Washington? F**K YOU!! You think you distrusted politicians before? You thought the system was rigged before? Hah! F**K YOU!! You ain't seen nothing!
To political candidates and current office-holders: You think you have the power to take on wealthy special interests and still get re-elected if you don't dance to their tune? F**K YOU!!
To President Obama: You think you can raise money from individual donors, ride a wave of voter discontent into the White House and actually change anything? You thought you - you presumptuous little shit - could end the era of conservative hegemony in Washington F**K YOU!! That's precisely why Bush put us here - to protect the conservatives from a democratically elected president who doesn't uphold conservative values. We are the last line of defense. And we say, F**K YOU!!!
Message heard. Loud and clear.
Anyone who thought the conservatives would go silent into that good night - and I include myself in that niave group - needs to examine closely what they did and how they did it - and learn from it. President Obama is by temperament a nice, polite, thoughtful guy who naturally seeks consensus, and the Democratic Party rarely has the ability or the inclination to wield naked power. Such is the lot of a party with a broad heterogeneous base and many diffuse factions.
Democrats have never been willing to march in Fascistic lockstep, like their counterparts across the aisle. Perhaps history will decide that this is a good thing. But right now, progressives need to mobilize as they did during the 2008 election and counter this shameless conservative power grab.
** By the way, in a side note that should entertain and/or enrage progressives across the country, David Brooks in his column today blames Democrats for the nation's distrust of Washington. Incredible. I expect Michael Steele, Sarah Palin and Fox News to try to rewrite thirty years of history. But Brooks? I expect better from him. My mistake.
* UPDATE: Please read Andrew Sullivan's piece at the
Daily Dish. It is better written, more persuasive and more literate than my somewhat intemperate rant.
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