Supreme court is the ultimate check in our system of Government and it safeguards the checks and balances established by our Constitution. It is the last resort for the citizens to redress an issue that is raised by unfair and faulty interpretation of the Constitution.
It's very existence is a beacon of fairness and impartial interpretation of the Constitution, and it is the ultimate arbiter and protector of the citizens against dictatorship and tyranny.
Therefore, the nine citizens who sit on this bench have to be the very best that we have, in terms of scholarship of the Constitution, legal acumen, intelligence, absolute and total impartiality and fairness beyond reproach.
In our system, the President nominates a person to fill in a vacancy on this court, and the Senate gives its consent or dissent. The system works well when both of these parties act in good faith and confirm someone who is the best person that this nation can choose. It fails when the President chooses someone based on his own personal or ideological agenda and disregards the "good faith" prerogative. Sometimes, the President may nominate the best candidate, but the Senate and some Senators can bring in their personal agenda or outright vendetta to bear in this process. The knife cuts from both sides of the blade!
During the past two years, a strange thing happened. Justice Sandra Day O"Connor retired, and while her replacement nominated by the President- John Roberts- was being considered, Chief Justice William Rehnquist passed away. Political planets seldom align in this fashion that gives the President an unusual opportunity to nominate two justices within a short period of a few months. Anther sinister planet that lined up at the same time was that the President's party was in power in the Senate. It gave him the weapon to use his personal agenda and his own litmus tests to nominate two of the most agenda-driven right wing zealots- John Roberts and Samuel Alito. He even took the most extra-ordinary step to elevate Roberts' nomination to the vacancy of Chief Justice, totally bypassing the norm of the appointed Justices choosing their own Chief Justice! Alito, whose legal acumen, impartiality and fairness were questioned by many legal scholars who have seen him in action as judge, was nominated regardless of the general consensus on his qualifications.
Although Roberts is fairly close the the legal scholarship and judicial philosophy of Rehnquist, Alito replaced Sandra Day O"Connor, one of the true independent and impartial voices on the Court, and THE swing vote that she used to effectively balance the ideology-driven and agenda-driven cabal of Scalia and Thomas who have been trying desperately to take our country back to the Dark Ages. With her gone and Alito - whom I call the silent torpedo- taking her place, the Court has now suddenly become right-wing and agenda driven, defying the premises of the Constitution. When Justice Anthony Kennedy, who has suddenly decided to join the retro- group, the 5-4 decisions coming out of this court are flabbergasting and defy the most common legal principle of fairness.
I call the cabal of four Conservative, agenda-driven justices "Dark S.T.A.R.s" - S(calia), T(homas), A(lito) and R(oberts). These four are showing all signs of taking our country back to the Dark Ages. When you add Kennedy to the mix, it now becomes a S.T.A.R.K. reality!
Some of the most controversial decisions handed out by this S.T.A.R.K. syndicate in 2006-2007 session are:
Gonzales v. null (05-380)
Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood (05-1382)
FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life (06-969)
McCain v. Wisconsin Right to Life (06-970)
Morse v. Frederick (06-278)
null v. Freedom From Religion (06-157)
Parents Involved v. Seattle School District No. 1 (05-908)
Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education (05-915)
All of these decisions have managed to take our country back to the dark days of our history.
It will take an act of God or some calamity of monumental proportions to change the course of this Court. Our country is headed back to the days of Spanish Inquisition and Crusades!
Catastrophic events such as the drastic change of the course of the Supreme Court are signs of more terrible things to come.
So, my fellow citizens, tighten your seat belts. You are in for seriously bumpy weather.
The only recourse we have is to make sure that we elect responsible people to the Senate in 2008 elections, so that any new vacancy that happens on the Supreme Court will get a balanced, fair and intellectually honest legal giant as replacement. If you choose a democrat as President, you can at least be sure that your views will count in the nomination process.
There are a lot of highly qualified persons that can fill the void. Just keep your fingers crossed and in November, 2008, use your fingers to choose the right candidate. Let your fingers do the talking!
Peace and Blessings!
Friday, June 29, 2007
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