For years, Republics have been whining about the vast left-wing conspiracy and all that goes along with it; the librul media, activist judges and lock-step Democrats who vote in favor of every social issue that comes down the pike. Well, I don’t know why Republics were whining so much, up until the 2006 elections they controlled both houses of Congress, the Whitehouse, and a majority of Governorships and states legislatures, and over the last six years made tremendous movement into the appointment of "activist" conservative appellate court judges.
With the retirement of Sandra Day O’Connor, President Bush got to put his thumb on the scales of justice by appointing Samuel Alito. And with the appointment of John Roberts to replace Chief Justice William Rehnquist, he added an insurance policy of long term conservatism.
With today’s (2/20/07) decision, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned, by a 5-4 vote, the punitive damages in the Phillip Morris tobacco case, further establishing the consolidation of wealth and power and the deregulation of industry. I don’t even know the details of the decision, but my point is that this court is already coming back to haunt us because Senate Democrats couldn't find their collective spine when it came down to a filibuster for either or both Alito and Roberts, or any of the appellate court judges, including Priscilla R. Owen of Texas and Janice Rogers Brown of California.
In a much more serious case today, there was an appellate court ruling in favor of the administration in a Patriot Act/Constitution case involving a Guantanamo Bay detainee. This case is going to be appealed and the ruling by our more conservative leaning Supreme Court will have a more profound and possibly devastating outcome for the Constitutional rights of all of us.
With the appointment of Scalia and Roberts, I keep asking myself how so many Americans can be so easily coerced into believing that this administration has their best interest in mind. And why do Democratic Senators think that Americans will remember a filibuster, or even go vote for that matter when the very same Senators voted for the Bankruptcy Bill?
Can anybody tell me why, especially here in the South, what it takes for the average working-class American to finally see that this administration has its own, and its wealthy base and contributor’s best interest in mind, period! And what does it take to get those same working-class Americans out to vote?
There is no limit to which Republics will sink to gain support for their causes. Justice Sunday and Justice Sunday II were the administration’s darkest moments, and examples of just how desperate Republics were to gain control of the court system. Both Justice Sundays were hosted by Republics who are currently under indictment or who had been removed from their committee chairmanships for disgraceful activities they were conducting while calling on the nation to support the president in his appointment of Appellate Judges and Supreme Court Justices, and support of the "nukeuler option" if needed.
I have never voted for anybody other than a Democrat. And I always believe there is an honest, dedicated Democrat available for every office on the ballot. I also believe that if we are going to keep control of the House and Senate, and we are going to lead this country back toward the moderate, prudent practice of politics that lends itself to very basic American values, we need strong leaders. We need leaders with a backbone. I, for one, will be looking long and hard at the integrity of the next batch of Democratic candidates running in 2008.
John Roberts is only one year older than me. He is 51 years old this year and if we both live to be 80 he will be on the bench for 30 years and I will never again see a moderate, much less liberal court, thanks to our spineless Senators. God help us.
Bill Glass