In God We Trust

THE SUPREME COURT

 

By Michael Connelly
MichaelConnelly.Jigsy.com

         While it is true that we are facing a serious Constitutional crisis in the Supreme Court with the death of the brilliant conservative justice Antonin Scalia, few people realize that this is just the inevitable result of a constitutional crisis involving the court that has been building up for years. 

          It has largely been ignored because unfortunately many Americans don’t understand that the Supreme Court was designed by the founding fathers to be a separate, but equal branch with the Congress and the Executive Branch headed by the President. Article 3, Section 2 of the Constitution establishes the limited jurisdiction of the court. It states in part that: “The judicial Power shall extend to all cases, in Law and Equity, arising under the Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority…” This also includes “Controversies between two or more states” or between citizens of different states.

          When you read Article 3 of the Constitution you will find that there is nothing that authorizes the Supreme Court or any other federal court to make new laws, amend existing laws, and certainly not to amend the Constitution on their own. Yet, that is what activist federal judges at all levels, including the Supreme Court have decided they are entitled to do. This change was orchestrated over the years by Democrats in the White House and the U.S. Senate, and unfortunately aided and abetted by weak Republican Presidents and Senators who were willing to compromise with the Democrats.

          Obama, his fellow Democrats in the House and Senate, as well as the liberal news media are demanding that the Senate vote on any one nominated by the President. They claim it is required by the Constitution when in fact that there is no such requirement. The Constitution requires that any nominee be approved by the Senate before taking a seat on the court. It does not require that the Senate schedule a vote if it refuses to do so, which itself constitutes a rejection of the nominee.

          Ironically, when you listen to the arguments made by the left, they are essentially demanding that the Republicans in the Senate vote to affirm whoever Obama nominates, regardless of whether or not they will defend the U.S, Constitution and the liberties protected by it. This is another example of the hypocrisy of the left. The fact is that the last three Supreme Court nominees rejected in up or down votes in the Senate were nominees of Republican presidents and the nominations were defeated by Democrat controlled Senates.

          When Obama was in the Senate while George W. Bush was president he voted against both of Bush’s nominees to the Supreme Court, and joined with other Democrats to keep most of the other Bush nominees to serve on other federal courts from even being voted on. He did this simply because he opposed anyone on the court who did not agree with his efforts to destroy the Constitution.  Yet, both of the Obama nominees to the court received votes from republican senators and have consistently followed the Obama/progressive agenda.

          That is why Republican Senators have to stand firm and not allow Obama to appoint another justice who will ignore the Constitution, amend it, or legislate from the bench. Too often in the past Republican Presidents have nominated so-called moderates to the Supreme Court like Anthony Kennedy, and Republican Senators have voted to affirm leftist judges like Kagan and Sotomayor.

          There should, in fact, be a litmus test for Supreme Court appointees. The test should be whether they will abide by their oath of office to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same…” or whether they will consider themselves above the law and superior to the Constitution.

          The same test should be applied to candidates for congress and particularly to candidates for President. If the progressives gain control of the Supreme Court we will be effectively under the dictatorship that Obama, Hilary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders want to impose upon us. We have to put the brakes on this runaway train we are on that is carrying us to the destruction of our Constitutional republic, our economy, and our Constitutional rights.

          It is time that as Americans we alert the politicians of both parties that if they continue to fail us and allow our Constitution to be taken down, we will have no choice but to exercise the ultimate power granted to us by the Declaration of Independence, that allows us to alter or abolish a government that subjects us to tyranny. The specific language is “But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.”

          The concept is certainly not new in this country, it is called revolution, and it may soon be our last resort.

mrobertc@hotmail.com
Michael Connelly blog
www.usjf.net
Constitutional Law Alliance