A few readers responded to my rant on the present state of our GOP corporations first, last and always federal judiciary. Recall I opined on the absolute necessity to elect a Democrat to the Oval Office this November. Some of the respondents matched my decibel level with their own vociferous rebuttal.
Look, I’m not among the happiest of campers since the Democrats gained the majority in the House and the slimmest margin over Republicans in the Senate. Harry Reid’s and Nancy Pelosi’s taking “impeachment off the table” seemed an utterly stupid ploy; like showing all your cards in a game of high-stakes poker.
But now . . .
Regardless that folks can dispute how the results are used or how accurate the predictions prove to be, EVERYTHING in life is susceptible to statistical analysis; the percentage of glazed over dunking doughnuts versus bear claws sold in a given morning, your chances of being involved in an auto accident tomorrow, the odds you’ll fall prey to a mugging . . . everything in your life, every possible occurrence in nature . . . everything, and to one extent or another each and every one of us constructs our behaviors accordingly.
In No Country for Old Men, Javier Bardem, in the role of the phlegmatic psychopath Anton Chiqurh, happens upon middle-of-nowhere convenience store owner Ellis, played by Barry Corbin. Chiqurh pulls a 1958 quarter from his jeans, flips it in the air, slams the coin on the counter and demands Ellis “call it.” Although not enunciated, based on the cold killings Chiqurh previously committed, there’s no question the risks Ellis’ call entails.
New York City’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg may or may not enter the presidential race. Even if he does, however the likelihood he would win the presidency in an electoral system wherein winner takes all electors in any given state race is incredibly small. If you found yourself imprisoned by Chirqurh and were told you had to bet Bloomberg, or either a Democrat or a Republican — not Bloomberg or a Democrat or a Republican, Bloomberg or one of the other two — would win the presidency, not being an utter fool, you’d wager your life on the chances the latter would occur.
We can suspect the kinds of justices — more liberal versus conservative — a Democrat would nominate to the federal judiciary. With the GOP candidates, each and every one have left zero doubt: conservative justices in the mold of a Scalia or a Thomas or an Alito. Presidents come and presidents go and the positives and negatives left in their wake can ripple on for some time. On the other hand, the stare decisis social consequences of decisions handed down by judges with guaranteed lifetime tenures last for generations and beyond.
The current federal courts have so skewed the notion of genuine justice that it’s Orwellian 1984 Newspeak. The only chance — again, statistical probability — the people, folks like you and me and our progeny, not the Enrons and Tycos, of the United States have to experience justice is via the more evening of the bench the appointed justices a Democratic president might realize.
— Ed Tubbs
