Trusting SCOTUS
As all our institutions come under scrutiny and distrust, secular and religious, the Supreme Court has been accused of being “activists” by many on the political right and the conservative and the super-conservative have used the word “activists” as an indictment and insult. If we can get back to an investigative journalism, one day, the public might get some actual information that is down the middle and devoid of passion, politics, or voyeurism. I grew up watching “60 Minutes” alongside my parents. When I’m home on Sunday, I do my best to catch the show. It is the last “news” program that does investigative journalism not promoting an overt political agenda. All those that decried the SCOTUS or others on the Federal bench as “activists” during the last 50 years because of their decisions on social issues that were labeled liberal, now have a five person court that embraces the “activists” label for decisions that support political, social, and economic conservatism best set in a time when “Nobles” ruled the lands. I no longer believe that the highest court in the land decides issues based on logic, weighing the law, or that benefits everyone in this country. You cannot anthropomorphize Corporations nor multi-national Corporations or equate money with free speech if you are interested in the common good for every citizen. The founders set up the SCOTUS as the last place to trust that it is free of politics, money, or corporate pressure to make decisions that were hard, but would be thinking about the present and future “good” for the citizens of this nation.
Here is an article from Newsweek/DailyBeast recounting a brief history of this Robert’s SCOTUS that gives deference to corporations and super-conservative ideology mostly along ideological lines. We are living in a winner take all, divide and gated time, (5-4 votes) that is only interested in solving problems along ideological lines because it has won the most seats in Congress or on the Court. I keep telling myself that our ancestors made it through the industrial revolution, the depression, and two World Wars, so we too will live through this and claim our common humanity. But, I also watched the X Files. Two paragraphs and a link.
America’s Robed Radicals on the Supreme Court
Michael Tomasky | Special Correspondent Newsweek/DailyBeast
June 21, 2012As we gather in our respective bunkers awaiting the white smoke from the Supreme Court, I thought a little history discussion might be in order. We’ve heard conservatives say many times that the Warren Court overreached, legislated from the bench, and divided America. It’s typically called the most controversial court in American history, and we know the reasons why. But the numbers tell a very different story. Even though Roberts has reigned on Maryland Avenue for just seven years as opposed to Earl Warren’s 16, the Roberts nonet (more accurately, quintet) has issued far more aggressive and in-your-face 5-4 rulings on controversial and high-profile cases and done far more to divide the country. I don’t know what they’ll do on health care, but they already deserve to displace the Warren Court in the controversy sweepstakes.
Conservative readers will here blame today’s liberal bloc for the fact that we don’t get such consensus today, but the reality is that once Roberts and Samuel Alito hit the bench, the Federalist Society clock started ticking loudly: We’ve got our five now, boys, and we don’t know how long we’ll have them, so let’s get moving. Desegregation? Boom, 5-4! Equal pay? Bang, 5-4! Campaign finance? Zap, 5-4! And so on. The express point has been to radically remake society, without a hoot of concern about whether it was being done by five or seven or nine. In fact, to most conservatives, if a decision infuriated the Court’s four liberals, so much the better. Click here to read more.