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EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY
SURPRISE, SURPRISE
Roberts' Rules of Order Revealed
by Gary L. Coffman
So much for humility and
modesty.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has made it quite clear what kind
of fair-minded arbiter he would be in his newfound role as head of the third
branch of government. He seemingly would not be a strict constructionist or
a protector of the Constitution. What he would appear to be was an
aggressive promoter of the Bush administration’s policies.
In the case of “Gonzales v. Oregon, 04-623” within the first
minute of the presentation of Oregon’s Senior Assistant Attorney
General, Robert Atkinson, the Chief Justice interrupted and asked more than
a dozen questions that voiced his concerns that states could undermine
federal regulation of addictive drugs.
As a justice in any court, isn’t it prudent, isn’t it fair, isn’t it
democratic to first listen to the full argument being presented before
launching an inquisition? To do otherwise, strongly suggests that the
verdict was already in and was reached before the case was even tried! Now
that’s what I call “humility!”
Lest any feel I am being unfair, I would direct them to the scales of
justice. How many questions/challenges did Roberts direct to Oregon’s
representative? More than a dozen. How many did Roberts direct to the Bush
administration’s lawyer? Three. How’s that for balanced inquiry? I think I
just heard one of the scales’ balances go, “ka–thud!” If you didn’t hear it,
it was probably because of the laughter from the Oval Office drowning it
out. Well, the laughter may prove short lived.
The consequence of Roberts’ performance may bode ill for Bush’ second secret
weapon, Harriet Miers. If Frau Miers is “the best person” the President
knows, then I suggest he get a social life that extends beyond Crawford and
the Oval Office. Maybe I’ll introduce him to my loyal dog, since loyalty
seems to mean more to this administration than the welfare of its citizens.
“I know her heart,” he says. Didn’t he say something similar about Putin
before the Russian leader put the screws on democracy in Russia?
And what’s this about not recalling any conversation with Miers about
abortion during their decade of cronyism? Is the President suffering
blackouts? Every American knows he had to have discussed it with her; it’s
one of the pillars of his fundamentalist supporters. He himself said she was
the one who organized his affairs and determined what crossed his desk, and
we are to believe abortion was never discussed? I guess that’s the advantage
of nominating the ill-qualified and beholden, who wisely have no paper
trail. They are hard to pin down, by design undoubtedly. But worse, it tells
the American public what fools the President apparently thinks they are.
The nomination of Miers is having repercussions in the Republican
fundamentalist sector, because she is not radical enough, and raising doubts
in the minds of thinking Democrats who recognize that cronyism is bad
medicine for America (Remember New Orleans?). But it should really alert
Americans in general that our way of life, which the “War on Terror” is
supposed to be protecting, is under serious attack: Not from without, but
from within. Bush’ effort to change the balance of the Court is nothing less
than an assault on the Constitution and the guaranteed separation of powers.
By neutralizing the Supreme Court and making it a tool of Republican
policies, our government becomes in essence a two branch government: the
Presidency and the Legislature. When the Legislature is dominated in sheer
numbers by the President’s political party, we have in effect a one branch
government: a dictatorship posing as a democracy.
Our Founding Fathers’ heads must be hanging in despair and shame at our
plight, for their glorious aspirations are crumbling as we watch the Old
World of 1940 re-emerging in the New World of the Twenty-first Century.
Gary L. Coffman is a writer, poet, and retired English teacher.
GARY L. COFFMAN ARCHIVE:
Karl Who?
Ray Bradbury Saw it All Coming
Throw The Bastards
Out!
Mein Chumpf: A
presidential prayer diary
And the Nominees Are. . .
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