Wednesday, March 30, 2005

 

Judicial System Proves Itself In Thrall To "Reality Based" Community (The Side Of The Looking Glass Where We Keep The Constitution)

Right now I'm watching Joe Scarborough's show, and I have to confess Catherine Crier is my new media hero. She went toe to toe with Joe, and later Pat Buchanan, and kicked their asses over the whole Terri Schiavo matter. (Crooks and Liars has the video here.) Joe -- who is either the stupidest or the most disingenuous wingnut demagogue I have ever seen -- was upset about the "tone" [PDF] of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals' rejection of Schindlers' appeal. (He conveniently forgot to mention that the stinging language he was quoting was by Judge Stanley F. Birch, Jr. -- appointed to the bench by George Herbert Walker Bush.)

Crier's a former Texas trial judge, so I can see why she might object to the GOP putsch to burn down the judicial system wholesale, and salt the earth it sat on. She kept bringing up "inconvenient facts," like Tom DeLay's father and Mr. Schindler's mother, which Pat tried to rule "out of bounds" via sheer bluster. Crier was having none of that.

Toward the end of the show, word came down that the US Supreme Court refused to review the case again. (My read is that they feel guilty enough now about Bush v. Gore, so they're in no mood to give George W. Bush a second "do-over" decision -- not in this lifetime.)

posted by Michael 7:53 PM