Here Comes the Judge!

Hooray, Hooray, It’s the first of May! In some parts of the USA, the second line is a little bawdy and I would hate to be the first one to be thrown off this hosting site, especially as it’s my darned Blog.

In other parts of the world it’s just Mayday where it’s a time to celebrate and consolidate worker unity. I regret it’s not a time anymore for rosy-cheeked, comely maidens to dress in their best frocks and dance around a beribboned pole. Ever the cynic, and speaking personally because I like to see maidens in frocks, I always thought the Pole had the best job.

Today, so far though, has been a good Blog day. Because I get to combine two topics.

Arlen Specter switched to the Dark Side on Tuesday. His own statement said it all; he knew he could not prevail in Pennsylvania through the next primary. And since a politician’s first duty after election is to be reelected, where else is a man to go?

Naturally the Libs including Obama hailed the defection as a triumph for their side but I looked at it a little differently. George Patton put it as well as anyone in 1944 when he declared that he was more comfortable with 3 German divisions in front of him than he did with 1 French division behind him.

So now Specter is the problem for Obama and Harry Reid and it didn’t take long. The sole Democratic vote against the Obama budget was Arlen Specter. But, the implications go beyond parliamentary posturing because, enter stage left, Justice David Souter who announced his retirement today.

Sometimes, and this is one, I need 2 Blogs because perhaps some transatlantic readers cannot know how key the Supreme Court is to this Republic. But I don’t have time to write two and so let me try this.

The American Constitution was deliberately set up to have 3 branches. The executive was/is the Presidency, the legislative was/is Congress and the third is the Judiciary. At the top of that latter pile sits the Supreme Court of the United States. On that court are 9 justices who are seated for life or until they retire or they are impeached. Their job is to resolve those cases which cannot be resolved according to states’ or federal law in the lower courts. The Constitution was constructed to be their sole guide. In other words, is what some “suit” arguing in front of this Bench supported by the many provisions of the Constitution or isn’t it? In other words, is it our business or not?

But, that’s not the way Obama or his lawyer friends see it. In 2001, Obama declared that the Supreme Court had provided adequate provisions to endow him with the right to vote and to order lunch at a diner in Selma, Alabama. But, he went on. He wanted that same Court to “spread the wealth”.

And we know he still does.

Who will be his nominee? Well here’s a list he’s used in the past as qualifications for this appointment:-

Black
Hispanic
Female
Single Mother
Uneducated
Lesbian

The White House must be scouring the wards of the South Side of Chicago in search of that special person. A bit like looking for a new Dalai Lama really.

Oh, and it would really help their nomination if the candidate had, an as yet unrevealed and unpaid, tax bill.

An unworthy thought flashed across my brain. When it comes to law enforcement, profiling is bad but, when it’s a Supreme Court nominee, it’s a must.

Never mind that the nominee knows nothing of the law and, actually the Constitution allows that and I’m sure that would not conflict with Obama’s plans.

It’s going to be fun to watch the Left lobbying for their choice.

And, here comes Arlen Specter again because who ever Obama puts up, the nomination has to be approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee or it doesn’t even go to the floor. Their rules state that they cannot recommend a nominee for confirmation without at least 1 vote from the minority. In other times, that vote would have been Specter. But now, who knows?

Be careful what you wish for I guess ………