Obama Vs. The Supreme Court, Round Two
Round two started when Chief Justice John Roberts called Obama’s singling out of the Supreme Court during his State of the Union speech “troubling.”
TUSCALOOSA, ALA. — Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said Tuesday that the scene at President Obama’s State of the Union address was “very troubling” and that the annual speech has “degenerated to a political pep rally.”
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“The image of having the members of one branch of government standing up, literally surrounding the Supreme Court, cheering and hollering,” Roberts told University of Alabama law students, “while the court — according to the requirements of protocol — has to sit there expressionless, I think is very troubling.”
Just to refresh your memory, Obama got into a major snit when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of corporations and unions being freely allowed to contribute to political campaigns.
Anyway, Obama is continuing with his Idi Amin routine.
When Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. told law students in Alabama on Tuesday that the timing of Obama’s criticism of the court during the State of the Union address was “very troubling,” the White House pounced. It shot back with a new denouncement of the court’s ruling that allowed a more active campaign role for corporations and unions.
On Wednesday, Senate Democrats followed up with pointed criticism of Roberts, and at a hearing on the decision, a leading Democrat said the American public had “rightfully recoiled” from the ruling.
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A Democratic strategist who works with the White House said the fight is a good one for Obama, helping lay the groundwork for the next Supreme Court opening. “Most Americans have no idea what the Supreme Court does or how it impacts their lives,” the strategist said. “This decision makes it crystal clear.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) opened the hearing on the ruling Wednesday by declaring that “the Citizens United decision turns the idea of government of, by and for the people on its head.” The committee’s ranking Republican, Jeff Sessions (Ala.), countered that Obama and Democrats are mischaracterizing the ruling for political gain.
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The White House struck back quickly — not at Roberts’s point, but at the decision. “What is troubling is that this decision opened the floodgates for corporations and special interests to pour money into elections — drowning out the voices of average Americans,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement. “The president has long been committed to reducing the undue influence of special interests and their lobbyists over government. That is why he spoke out to condemn the decision.”
March 13th, 2010 at 3:30 am
Unlike the legislators, both jackass and a lot of jackass-wannabees, it is up to the SCOTUS to declare whether a particular law falls within the confines of the Constitution, not whether any particular position on any particular political subject is currently in vogue, a charge frequently ignored by the Warren Court.