By Jon Faulkner
Bush, having never been elected has appointed two justices to the Supreme Court. If he gets the chance to install another one, the assault on our freedoms will continue more aggressively than ever. Like all things insidious no one will notice how much has been lost until it's too late. Like the frog in the pot, as long as the water is allowed to heat slowly, the creature will sit still, lulled by the warmth and false security that eventually kills it. If an honest election is held in 2008, and a democrat is elected president, he or she's first order of business should be asking Bush's appointments to the Supreme Court for their resignations. Democrats, inspired and motivated by leadership that at last showed political courage, could once again become a cohesive force in American politics.
Such an unheard of and unprecedented move would have every American watching the court and the court, being comprised of a majority of highly partisan right wingers, would be forced to curb their creative, activist interpretations of our Constitution. The right wing loves the dark and understandably so, for the bright, honest light of day doesn't lend itself well to their secretive natures. Of course it's just a fantasy. No one would dare ask Alito and Roberts for their resignations. No, Americans will be told it's time to move forward, put the misfortunes of the past behind us, and let the wounds begin healing. The indelible stain that Bush has placed on the presidency, and the nations highest court, has seriously eroded the American peoples faith and pride in both institutions. Asking for the resignations of the two Bush appointees would send a powerful message to every American - intelligent, mature adults are back in charge of government.
The Supreme Court has done away with the "knock and announce" rule that has been followed by law enforcement for over 100 years. In a 5-4 split the court ruled, "The Constitution does not require the government to forfeit evidence gathered through illegal "no knock" searches." Bush's appointees voted with the majority, and against long standing precedent. Scalia said the "social cost is too high in relation to whatever additional privacy protection residents get from the "knock and announce" rule." He continued, saying police have come a long way, and today respect citizens constitutional rights. It didn't seem to occur to Mr. Scalia that any respect the police may have is in direct regards to strict enforcement of the "knock and announce" rule. Mr. Scalia, with his trademark sarcasm, dismissed the 4th Amendment's right to privacy clause saying, "the right not to be intruded upon in one's nightclothes is not part of the Constitution's guaranteed privacy rights." Scalia's contempt for the Fourth Amendment is obvious in this statement. Before the landmark ruling, police could not introduce evidence seized in violation of the "knock and announce" rule. Justice Stephen Breyer wrote in dissent. "Today's opinion, weakens, perhaps destroys, much of the practical value of the Constitution's knock and announce protection."
Bush's appointments of right wing activists to the court are not supposed to be driven by - you scratched my back, now I'll scratch yours - good ol' boy cronyism. After the first crooked election, that Bush lost by almost 2 million popular votes, he announced he had a mandate. After the second election he declared, "I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it." Bush has never earned anything in his life, and despite his delusions, has never had a mandate, or political capital. He simply has no right to influence American's lives for what could be decades by appointing a couple of frauds to the Supreme Court.
When Bush picked Harriet Miers to be Sandra Day O'Conner's replacement on the Supreme Court, he simply chose the most outrageously unqualified candidate he could find, knowing the democrats would reject her at the Senate confirmation hearings. Having his first choice rejected would make it harder for the democrats to reject his second choice. His second choice being the one he wanted all along. Scott McClellan, Bush's press secretary, tipped his hand when he said, "there were some prospective candidates who told the White House that they preferred not to be considered, citing the ordeal of the confirmation process." That softened things up so the new candidate, Samuel Alito, would find an easier road through his confirmation hearings. Those horrible liberals! How dare they subject these good men to such scrutiny! Alito was easily confirmed with much gushing about his brilliance, character and honesty. Gag! Puke! Retch!
When republican king-makers picked Bush they never expected he'd be quite so incompetent and goofy. But they were stuck with him and damage control was, and still is, the order of the day. Imagine the back room meetings, when sweat dripped freely into the brandy snifters.
"He survived his first term! Where would we be without 9-11?"
"Wandering for another forty years, that's where!
"Well, he still isn't electable, so we're going to have to get creative again. Blackwell is onboard if he gets to be governor."
"We're still going to have to tippy toe. This Supreme Court business may bite us hard. If they ever wake up ... O'boy."
"They ain't gonna wake up. We own it all. Radio, television, print news.
"Well, if they do ... Jesus! We'd be hamburger! So make sure. Get some more of them little flags."
It's hard to see the republicans relinquishing their hold on power. They manufacture and sell the voting machines. They design the software and keep the source codes secret. Then they count the votes! If that doesn't work, the Supreme Court is always ready to jump in and secure a republican victory. The old, robed fools are a little like Wimpy, the burger eating bum in the old Popeye cartoons. Wimpy was extremely articulate. He was sensitive, and he always seemed mildly embarrassed about his frailties. Wimpy knew he was a bum, and his honesty made him likeable and it is here that any similarity ends. There is nothing likable about the Supremes. If and when Bush is gone the new administration has a moral and ethical duty to ask for two resignations - those of Alito and Roberts. They are fraudulently occupying their offices, just as Bush is an imposter in his.
