Sen. Mitch McConnell (Jim Young/Reuters)
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
blasted President Obama in a speech today:
“Respectfully, I would suggest the president back off,” McConnell will say. “Let the court do its work. Let our system work the way it was intended. The stability of our system and our laws and our very government depends on it. And the duties of the presidency demand it.” [...]
“The president crossed a dangerous line this week,” read McConnell’s prepared remarks. “And anyone who cares about liberty needs to call him out on it. The independence of the court must be defended.” [...]
“If the court upholds the law, I’ll be disappointed. I’ll disagree with it. But I’ll respect its independence,” McConnell’s remarks read. “And then I’ll continue to do everything I can to have this law repealed through the legislative channels that remain available. But here’s something I won’t do: I won’t mount a political campaign to delegitimize the court in the way some in Congress have been urging this president to do, and in the way that he started to do earlier this week in the Rose Garden. I’ll respect the Supreme Court, even when I disagree with it.”
Oh, really, Senator McConnell? Let's look at some of the greatest hits regarding the courts from your fellow Republicans.
Ronald Reagan, as a candidate (via Balloon Juice):
Ronald Reagan ... campaigning in Birmingham, Ala., Thursday, blasted the court’s most recent abortion ruling as “an abuse of power as bad as the transgression of Watergate and the bribery on Capitol Hill.” ...
More highlights from the Reagan years (via
Balloon Juice)
Attorney General William French Smith accused the federal courts of “constitutionally dubious and unwise intrusions upon the legislative domain,” and vowed to oppose such “subjective judicial policymaking.” [...]
Smith criticized the federal courts particularly for:
Assuming “greater power of review of government action” concerning environmental protection and other issues, by deciding cases that they could avoid altogether under judicial doctrines such as “standing, ripeness, mootness, and presence of a political question” ...
President George W. Bush:
For the judiciary, resisting this temptation is particularly important, because it's the only branch that is unelected and whose officers serve for life. Unfortunately, some judges give in to temptation and make law instead of interpreting. Such judicial lawlessness is a threat to our democracy—and it needs to stop.
Sen. John Cornyn:
"I don't know if there is a cause-and-effect connection, but we have seen some recent episodes of courthouse violence in this country...And I wonder whether there may be some connection between the perception in some quarters, on some occasions, where judges are making political decisions yet are unaccountable to the public, that it builds up and builds up and builds up to the point where some people engage in, engage in violence."
Former
Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), speaking at "Justice Sunday," (an event organized specifically to intimidate an "activist" judiciary:
Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, questioned the Supreme Court's power to strike down laws passed by Congress if they are not constitutional, a practice that dates to the early days of the Republic.
DeLay, again, after the court refused to keep Terry Schiavo on life support:
Mr. DeLay announced that "the time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior, but not today."
Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT):
"When I first heard his decision, like many of you I wanted to take action immediately. I asked: how can we put some of these judicial activists on the Endangered Species List? I am still working on that!"
Finally,
Mitch McConnell, after the Schiavo case:
MCCONNELL: I don't know. These are findings of fact that presumably the court, had it looked at it de novo from the beginning, which is what we granted the federal courts the authority to do, could have taken into account.
The courts obviously decided not to do that, and this tragic is obviously going to come to an end sometime shortly. [...] Look, it's a matter of life and death. The Congress made a decision to give the courts an opportunity to look at it again. They looked at it again, and they chose not to act.
Could implying that the Court allowed the murder of Terry Schiavo be construed as part of "a political campaign to delegitimize the court"? Yes, it could.