Discussion for article #238049
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âWho in their right mind would design a system where every major public policy issue of the day is decided not by the people, not by the Constitution, not by elected representatives, but by nine elite lawyers in Washington, D.C.?â
if Senator sCruz thinks that the designers of the Supreme Court were not in their âright mindsâ then he is calling into question the legitimacy o the rest Constitution⌠it was included by the Framers of the Constitution as the third branch of government for a reasonâŚ
all this Bullshit and hand wringing by âConservativesâ is very reminiscent of FDR in the '30s when he had Supreme Court decisions go against his New Deal and he proposed his Court packing remedy⌠that didnât fly eitherâŚ
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If gay marriage had been put to a national referendum, as happened in Ireland, the result here would have been the same as the result there.
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Notice the words ânine elite lawyersâ being used by conservatives? Ask yourself this, is this phrase ever used when thereâs a Supreme Court decision that is passed to their liking?
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And Iâm pretty sure that Sen Cruz, with his fancy-schmancy degrees from Princeton and Harvard Law is an elite lawyer.
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Remember, this is supposed to be a genius. One of the greatest minds the GOP has.
Teddy. Ted. The issues are being decided âby the Constitutionâ. The part of the Constitution that created the Supreme Court.
Be honest Ted. You actually hate the Constitution, donât you?
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âWho in their right mind would design a system where every major public policy issue of the day is decided not by the people, not by the Constitution, not by elected representatives, but by nine elite lawyers in Washington, D.C.?â he asked.
Great question. Um, letâs see, the Founding Fathers maybe?
With respect to the âelite lawyersâ part, Iâm assuming Cruz is not including Alito or Thomas in that group. Thereâs been a trend among Republicans lately of elevating conservative lawyers who were hired immediately by the Justice Dept (or elsewhere in the federal govât) after their clerkship, and then went to a court of appeals, and then to the Supreme Court. They never represented a client in litigation in front of a court, which no doubt accounts for their insular views.
Elite lawyers? I donât think so, and their opinions reflect it.
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Letâs see - Bush v Gore, Citizens United, Hobby Lobby, Voting Rights⌠I guess Teddy has a point, those pesky judicial activists are ruining the country.
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The ideal, not the reality, is that the Supremes should be above or beyond politics. So, we will fix this problem by making them subject to the politics of the moment, the latest passion of the crowds. It seems like this could backfire on Cruz as maybe an enraged majority would fire his revered conservatives under a Democratic President and then replace them all with liberals. This supposed genius does not seem to have thought this through. Megyn Kelly nailed him and even on Fox News he cannot withstand the questioning. It is an imperfect system simply because there are no perfect people.
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Hmmm, where was Rafaelâs âoutrageâ when the Court illegally installed Dumbya?
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For a party that is supposed to have all these ideas about what the Constitution means and so on they do not have issues throwing it out the window. This will not happen but if it did it would ignore the whole point of the courts. They are supposed to be a separate branch but immune to the tyranny of the majority. So, not affected by public pressure as the other branches are so they can better protect rights.
It does not always work out that way, of course, but it is how it is supposed to be. The states that have judge elections are sort of in bad taste to me. It just pretty much makes the law pander to public opinion from the get go. We would not even get the illusion.
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Corporate killer Don Blankenship bought the West Virginia Supreme Court; just imagine what the Koch Brothers, Sheldon Adelson, et.al. could do in the country as a whole with an elected Supreme Court.
From the article: ¨Blankenship had made national news a few years earlier, too. In 2002, a competing coal company won a fifty-million-dollar judgment against Massey Coal in a West Virginia trial court. While the case was pending before the state Supreme Court, Blankenship created a nonprofit corporation called (one cannot make this up) And For the Sake of the Kids. Through the nonprofit, Blankenship gave three million dollars to support the candidacy of Brent Benjamin, a lawyer who was running against one of the incumbents on the state court. This amount was three thousand times larger than the maximum legally permissible direct contribution. Benjamin won the election, and he joined the majority in the West Virginia Supreme Courtâs 3-2 decision to overturn the judgment against Massey.¨
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Who in their right mind would design a system where every major public policy issue of the day is decided not by the people, not by the Constitution, not by elected representatives, but by nine elite lawyers?
Iâll take âJames Madisonâ for $200, Alex.
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How could they be âelite lawyers?â Did they demand that their law school classmates only come from Teh Best of the Ivy League schools?
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Cruz is delusional if he thinks he could ever get agreement on a Constitutional amendment on any issue, especially this one which goes to the very heart of our Constitution. He is also delusional, as Kelly intimated, if he thinks such an amendment would work favor his ideological agenda.
Actually, there is no âifâ about it. Cruz is simply delusional.
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" Cruz told Kelly that the framers of the Constitution intended for Supreme Court justices to face impeachment if the legislature felt they were overreaching, but Cruz said that the Senate could never come together to impeach a justice. "
They can face impeachment, it has happened before. But just because the current legislative branch lacks the will to do so right now is more of a political problem, not a constitutional one. Note that Cruz isnât discussing, as an actual Senator, bringing up impeachment proceedings against Kennedy or Roberts, which he definitely has the power to do.
So instead of actually doing something that is within his power, he goes on TV and pontificates about a unicorn he dreamed about, namely that he can make sweeping decisions and redesign the government all by himself.
True GOP thinking ripped bare for all to see; when the numbers are against you, dispose of democratic(small d on purpose here) solutions and go with the single strong man approach. And thus revealed, their hatred for voters and democracy in general.
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Cruz does not believe any of the bullshit heâs spouting. He is just pandering to the FOX News shut-ins.
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I like the fact that once again what the âconservativesâ are crying the loudest about is an offense that they are by far the most guilty of. I guess it takes a while and a view from the other side in order for them to see how wrong their judicial appointees activism is.
This is the teabagger litmus test. If you can only see as far back as 2009, then youâre a flaming teabagger.
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If gay marriage had been put to a national referendum, as happened in Ireland, the result here would have been the same as the result there.
Would it have? Iâm not so sure. Opponents of same-sex marriage would have turned out in droves. And while I donât doubt for a moment that a majority of American voters are fine with same-sex marriage, many of them are not so passionate about the cause that they would have gone out of their way to vote on the matter in a special election.
Putting it on the ballot in a presidential election might be a different story.
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