Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was questioned on 60 Minutes about the decision of the court that awarded George W. Bush the 2000 election. When asked about the fact that there are those who believe that the decision was politically motivated, the distinguished legal scholar had this to say: Get over it? Get over it? I'm sure those words bring great comfort to the parents and families of the over 4,000 Americans who have died in Iraq. I'm sure the families of the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi dead will feel much better if we just tell them to get over it. I'm sure that the American people are thrilled with the fact that this Supreme Court Justice thinks so little of the most momentous decision made by the courts since Roe V. Wade. According him it's such old news that we should just forget about it. I'm sure most of us would like to forget about it, but unfortunately the repercussions of that decision will be felt by the entire world for a long time to come. The decision, which was undoubtedly politically motivated (Scalia had two sons who worked for law firms that represented Bush, Clarence Thomas' wife worked on the Bush transition team and Sandra Day O'Conner had already stated her goal to retire under a Republican administration), will one day be looked upon in the same light as the Dread Scott decision (it it isn't already).
Justice (and I use that word in only it's most ironic meaning) Scalia, how can you sir, see what your decision has wrought and express nothing but apathy and disdain for those who have been affected by it? I guess Dick Cheney isn't the only practitioner of the dark arts on Capitol Hill. Hopefully one day you'll get to see your master up close.
2 comments:
These are dark days.
I saw the whole interview too. Scalia repeatedly defended himself by saying something to the effect of "...Al Gore was the one who wanted it to through the courts."
I guess Al Gore should be blamed for believing the Supreme Court would actually do its job with some sense of ethical rectitude. -Come to think of it, that was pretty stupid of Al Gore.
For any Justice to allow themselves to be as conservative, doctrinaire and partisan as this grand dissembler has been since he was confirmed, throws us back to another century. Our political system is devolving. Someone had better protect the constitution, after all it's only a piece of paper.
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