Friday, October 26, 2012

A Supreme Concern

Much of the coverage of the stakes in this election have focused on domestic economic policy and the potential for new war in the Middle East. What's often not discussed are the ramifications of appointments to Federal courts and the Supreme Court itself. Right wing legal figures are salivating over the potential for a Willard Romney presidency to appoint more Scalias to the Supreme Court, given the likelihood of a couple of liberal justices leaving the Court in the next four year. This would give the right their long-desired opportunity to dismantle social and economic programs dating to the early 20th century, from Social Security/Medicare and labor rights to environmental legislation and civil rights. It would be tragic and ironic for that to happen, especially after decades of right wing criticisms of "activist judges."

From the prospect of a new war of choice to turning back women's rights 50 years, add the potential for a "severely conservative" Supreme Court for the next 20 years to the list of horrors that a Willard "I'll Say Anything" Romney presidency, with a tea bagger-controlled Congress, would bring.

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