(Jeff Danziger’s website)
In case anybody’s got some attention to spare from panicking over the short term, Dahlia Lithwick at Slate has published one of her trademark thoughtful (and thoroughly depressing) articles on how “the Supreme Court [is showing] corporate America how to screw over its customers and employees without breaking the law“:
Depending on how you count “big cases,” the Supreme Court has just finished off either a great (according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce) or spectacularly great (according to a new study by the Constitutional Accountability Center) term for big business. The measure of success here isn’t just the win-loss record of the Chamber of Commerce, although that’s certainly part of the story. Nor is it news that—in keeping with a recent trend—the court is systematically closing the courthouse doors to everyday litigants, though that’s a tale that always bears retelling. The reason the Roberts Court has proven to be Christmas in July for big business is this: Slowly but surely, the Supreme Court is giving corporate America a handbook on how to engage in misconduct. In case after case, it seems big companies are being given the playbook on how to win even bigger the next time…
By all means read the whole thing, and you might want to scan some of her links, too. (Netflix, incidentally, will let you add Hot Coffee to your ‘Save’ queue.) Alito and Thomas may get the headlines, but I’m still of the opinion that Chief Justice John Roberts is the single greatest anti-American traitor on the current SCOTUS bench.
MikeBoyScout
George W. Bush has proven to be the Herpes on the American body politic.
EconWatcher
“Chief Justice John Roberts is the single greatest anti-American traitor”
Wow. You might want to ease up on the rhetoric just a wee bit.
Linda Featheringill
You are undoubtedly correct. And I haven’t figured out how to fight this.
Supporting sane and sensible candidates for the court, yes, but how many chances do we get for that?
Jim C.
Just out of curiosity, what are the odds that Kennedy would allow a Democrat to appoint his successor?
Pretty much everything about this entire country would get immeasurably better if Obama could fight, and WIN, the right to appoint a half-way decent justice to the bench that would reliably vote with the court’s liberal bloc.
The guy IS getting fairly old. (Then again, so is Ginsburg.)
Southern Beale
As I’m home sick today I was able to watch Hot Coffee on whatever cable channel showed it today. Excellent, though in the very beginning we learn that the Supreme Court is the only place where average citizens are on an equal footing with large corporations. Sadly this appears not to be true.
Han's Solo
If you want to see judicial activism on the behalf of corporations look no further than Exxon V. Baker. After that decision it was obvious that no matter what, if a big corporation showed up in front of SCOTUS all the corporation would have to do is ask and they would get whatever they wanted.
So now Exxon is polluting Yellowstone with another oil spill, and I have no doubt they are telling their victims the same BS they told the Exxon Valdez victims. They’ll keep pretending to be good corporate citizens until the cameras leave, and then they will Keyser Soze off into the mist, never to be seen again.
And why would Exxon stick around? What, you think they are afraid of getting sued?
Constance
And how much longer will the Balloon Juice bloggers be allowed to call John Roberts a traitor or speak any truth to power without being sent to jail for treason? Y’all have pretty much taken me out today–no good news on any front. Can I get a pet pic?
Mike Kay (Democrat of the Century)
Is John Roberts really that bad? I mean Russ Feingold voted for him. He can’t be that bad when he has Russ’ seal of approval.
Enlightened Liberal
Better question Jim,
What are the odds that Republicans would allow a Democrat to appoint his successor? I can see constant filibusters and delays in judiciary with the goal of nullifying Presidential prerogative.
You really think teabag Senators will allow the Kenyan Usurper the ability to nominate a liberal (or even center-right) justice?
PeakVT
I’m still of the opinion that Chief Justice John Roberts is the single greatest anti-American traitor
Yeah, that’s a bit much. Roberts is tilting the law even more in favor of the rich, which means most Americans are even more screwed. But that’s not quite the same as betraying one’s country to another.
cleek
Roberts is a traitor and Christie is committing genocide.
big sale at overblown.com ?
Stillwater
The playbook is pretty simple with this court: just show up.
ETA: Roberts is a fucking traitor!!
gbear
BJ went on a shopping spree with C&L.
Jim C.
@Enlightened Liberal
Agreed. Tried to get that across with the “and WIN” part of my original post. I agree that Republicans would do everything in their power to prevent the Supreme Court swinging to the left if a Democrat was to appoint Kennedy’s replacement.
Frankly, can’t even blame them. They’d recognize the importance of this fight as much as we would.
It would be a knock-down, long, drawn out fight…but I have to think that eventually the public would force their hand. (Similar to how Democrats eventually just caved and let Alito in.) There’s too much stacked against them for them not to.
Filibuster one nominee to death, Obama could shrug and then send up another ideologically identical one. Filibuster that one? Obama could shrug and send up another.
Eventually I think the story would pivot the way we’re now, SLOWLY, seeing the Debt Ceiling story pivot where the Republicans end up having even writers like Frum, Brooks and McArdle saying mean things about them.
Basically, I think the public would eventually say, “Hey wait a minute, ALL of Obama’s suggested justices can’t be completely unacceptable. After all, the ones he suggested before haven’t blown up the court yet.”
Maybe I’m being too optimistic, but I think that some battles are damned difficult to lose if you’re patient enough and willing to fight the battle long enough. Obama is, if nothing else, a very patient individual from what I’ve seen. If he has the stones for this kind of fight, I think he’d eventually win it.
timb
Finish the quote, boys! He IS the worst justice since Rehnquist and possibly the most vile man in America
cleek
as long as he’s not a goat fucking child molester!
burnspbesq
@ Mike Kay:
“Is John Roberts really that bad?”
Six years worth of opinions don’t lie. Feingold fucked up.
burnspbesq
@cleek:
“as long as he’s not a goat fucking child molester!”
What makes you so sure he’s not?
shep
I’m still of the opinion that Chief Justice John Roberts is the single greatest anti-American traitor on the current SCOTUS bench.
In terms of the damage caused to our democracy, possibly the single greatest anti-American traitor in existence. Ever. He should be impeached for every single utterance of the term “stare decisis” during his confirmation hearing, that smirking, lying bastard.
The Moar You Know
burnspbesq: Feingold has fucked up on an awful lot of things. I do not understand the liberal infatuation with the guy.
Mayhap it’s some bizarre form of Stockholm Syndrome.
James E. Powell
And just who canonized Feingold? Why should I care who or what he approves of? Dipshit couldn’t even hold onto his senate seat. Just because a politician occasionally, or even often, takes a position with which I agree, is no reason for me to admire him. He is, after all, a politician.
eemom
iirc Feingold voted for him not because he thought he’d be a good Justice but because he believes the Senate should defer to the President’s judicial appointments. I guess the part about “advise and consent” didn’t make it past his Purity filter.
Stillwater
A Democrat that conservative can’t be a progressive
arguingwithsignposts
Imho, we don’t use the term traitor enough. John Roberts Qualifies, as does Alito, thomas, and that stupid fuck Scalia.
someguy
Roberts is so bad that every time I try to write down words describing how bad he is I projectile vomit all over the computer screen and then fall down with dry heaves for five minutes, and after that I die of embarassment for our nation, the world, and the human race. Then each day I’m re-born and try to describe how bad he is all over again.
Jim C.
IMHO, we use the term “traitor” far too often.
Having VASTLY different opinions on what American society should be like than our own and acting within the existing system of government is not the same thing as being a traitor.
shep
Selling out the interests of the nation for money is the exact definition of a traitor, so you can apply it to the entire Republican Party and a good chunk of the Democratic Party as well. Corporations may well be “within the existing system of government,” which is treason in and of itself. The word “corporation” doesn’t appear in the US Constitution.
eemom
@ Jim C
Agree. Also, it’s not like there aren’t plenty of OTHER words to describe what these people are.
But in a society where “Nazi” and “Hitler” get tossed around like peanuts, I don’t think respect for proper usage stands much of a chance.
Cris
But will GameFly?
Mike Kay (Democrat of the Century)
Oh, Pluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuusee. He voted against alito. So much for theory. Face it, Feingold is a skunk who voted for Roberts, Ashcroft, Rumsfeld, and that loser Rice, while voting against the Consumer Financial Protection Agency and refused to support ….. wait for it… the Public Option.
Yet, he always gets a pass on vaunted blogosphere because he give them a pat on the head with some cheap lip service.
James E. Powell
Why would anyone feel the need to say traitor or, worse, Nazi? What’s wrong with “always sides with corporations and the rich?” Isn’t that enough?
bob h
“Chief Justice John Roberts is the single greatest anti-American traitor on the current SCOTUS bench.”
I assume the mechanism by which we will be rid of this jerk is some DC law firm offering him a $2 million a year partnership. He’s always kvetching about his salary at a time when public employees are taking big hits. And Thomas, too.