when i was a young trouble maker, i admired the u.s. supreme court. its players--the nine--were THE big league to me. william o. douglas, thurgood marshall, the minnesota twins [harry blackmun and chief justice warren burger], hugo black, john marshall harlan II, william brennan, lewis powell, jr, felix frankfurter, and others, were the players who drove me to know and use the constitution in the defense of others.
. . . . .
the supreme court was an impartial institution, steeped in deep respect for tradition and respect for the individual, historically. but that has changed. the erosion began slowly, but reached a fever pitch with the second bush presidency, with the appointment not of legal scholars but ideologues.
it reached a milestone last week with the court's decision in citizens united v. federal election commission, which threw away decades of precident to the contrary and threw open the doors of the voting booth to the latest class of citizens: corporations.
. . . . .
cries of "judicial activism" by the right wing shall forever ring of hypocrasy in light of a decision in a case grabbed and docketed for re-hearing on a completely ignored point, so that the same court that gave george w. bush the presidency in 2000 can reserve for its corporate constituency the right of buying each and every election it desires in the future.
. . . . .
read more here, and follow the links the opinion provides.
and weep for the past and future of american democracy.
3 comments:
We should discuss this over coffee sometime. IANAL, but I'm always open to spouting my opinions. I should probably read up a bit more first.
as "conservative" as i tend to be, most of the time, i see no good coming from this ruling.... it scares me.
this is encouraging to hear, blue. steve, any time!
thanks for reading and commenting, guys!
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