Ramble with Me, Won't You?

It appears that my mind is trying to outsource my blog writing to my subconcious. Last night I kept dreaming about writing my blog and for some reason the post was going to be about swimming the English channel. I spent quite a lot of time in Google Images trying to find the right picture. In fact, I spent more time googling for pictures than I did actually swimming the channel, which in the dream I had apparently done.

I had fallen asleep, you see, toying with espousing what can only be described as a conspiracy theory. I hesitate because I'm not like those guys in "The XFiles". Although I suppose when an average, run-o-the-mill, middle-aged housewife with no history of mental illness or drug use comes up with a conspiracy theory you gotta wonder what the heck could be going on in the world to make her go there. I digress.

Sam Alito shouldn't be confirmed to the Supreme Court for the fundamental reason that he doesn't believe in Constitutional limits on presidential power. You thought I was going to say something about Roe, didn't you? But see, as the Neo-cons well know, Roe v. Wade is just a flash point. A conservative nominee necessarily raises the flag on that one so everyone spends a lot of time arguing the finer points of stare decisis etc. etc. etc.

In reality, Neo-cons don't care one way or the other about Roe. They are not as rigorously "pro-life" as they'd have you believe. In the kitchen of politics, abortion is a flaming brandy sauce...lots of whooshing and heat and singed eyebrows but it's just a distraction. The dry hunk of roast whatever that they are planning to cover with that sauce is where you ought to direct your attention because what they really want from a conservative court is the ability to unmake America. (See, told you it was a conspiracy theory).

The beauty of our system of government (and it is still beautiful in theory though we screw up frequently in practise) is that no one branch is more powerful than the others. You saw the charts in your social studies text; you know how this is supposed to work. Checks and balances. No king. Congress making laws, President signing laws, Supreme Court making sure laws are consistent with the Constitution. All good. But if you have justices who believe that the powers of the President cannot or should not be limited then, friends, we don't have a democracy anymore.

Of course, what the Neo-cons didn't count on was a leak that the President had ordered domestic spying (an illegal act and an impeachable offense. Ask Nixon). All of a sudden something theoretical has become actual at the worst possible time, the confirmation hearing of a conservative justice. Senators asked about Alito's views on presidential powers because, with Senate investigations into the matter, this could easily come before the Supreme Court. Which again, is why Alito shouldn't be confirmed because we don't want more justices who will look at something like this and say, "Privacy, schmivacy. He's the President, he can do what he wants".

The good news is that some people are paying attention. The bad news is that it's not enough. It will be interesting to see if the moderate Republicans get together with the Dems on this one and save us all, though the spin certainly suggests they won't. But I'd hate to see Alito confirmed, even if it is by a slim margin. Confirmed is confirmed and a life-time appointment is just that.

For you conservatives who are by now bleeding from the ears because you can't imagine what in the world is so wrong with our President having unlimited powers I'll just say two words: Bill Clinton. We should be able to agree on this: the President, any and every President, should have to play by the rules. And when he/she doesn't, we need an equally powerful legislature and judiciary who are willing to provide a remedy according to the Constitution. Period.

To end where I began, in real life I have crossed the English Channel. It was in a first-class car on a high-speed train through the Chunnel. C'est magnifique!