John Edwards used to talk of two Americas (the mind reels at the possible comments one could insert here, but I will skip it – for now, at least). Well, here is an example of the two Americas for you. One is an article written by Randy Barnett in Friday’s Wall Street Journal: "Obama Owes the High Court an Apology". The other is a post by Glenn Greenwald at "Salon.com": "Justice Alito’s conduct and the Court’s credibility".
Obviously, there is no way to reconcile Mr. Barnett’s comments with Mr. Greenwald’s. If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, these guys are from different galaxies, if not alternate universes. (For a more middle of the road view, consider Jay Cost at "RealClearPolitics.com".)
As for my view, I first go with this video of what President Obama said and what Justice Alito did (not quite Joe Wilson, to say the least):
Next I consider the fact that two of the things the President said about the decision were just plain wrong. One, the Court’s decision did not overturn a century of law. It overturned two decisions, the oldest of which was 20 years old. (If you want to know the difference between a hundred years and twenty years, ask a Cubs fan.)
Two, the Court specifically did not allow foreign corporations to make contributions.
But mostly, I come back to the video. Listen to the charges the President is making. Look at his supporters rise to their feet and applaud. And look at the Supreme Court justices sitting there, surrounded by supporters of the President who have been, in effect, been called on by the President to stand up and cheer his almost schoolyard bully-like criticism of the Court.
Actually, schoolyard bully is just about right. That was what the President was doing. Acting like a bully. Picking on somebody who couldn’t fight back. I remember those kids from school. It’s too bad that President Obama decided to act like one of them.
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Update 1/30/10 (12:35 am): I fixed a couple of typos.
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