Thanks to LGM, I see a quasi-prominent “intellectual” right winger impotently raging in the corner:
I would support all manner of reactions that the GOP will lack the guts to try — and that, if they did try, would cause them to get shellacked in the elections. For example, I would support impeachment of any and all of the Justices that voted in the majority of either King v. Burwell or Obergefell. That, in my view, is a proper constitutional reaction to lawless decisions (notwithstanding the disastrous precedent established by the Samuel Chase impeachment proceedings).
But look. We didn’t impeach the Justices who made up a right to abortion in Roe. What makes you think they would impeach anyone now?
Besides noting the weaselly conditionality of the statement, he wants impeachment… We as liberals should cower in fear of a Republican led doomed impeachment attempt for the six justices in question… as the worst case scenario is a swing faction that is personally and professionally pissed off at the reactionary faction on the court and their external allies. A plausible case scenario for liberals if a new court with 6 Dem appointed justices where the median voter is 74, so we could expect a locked in Dem appointed majority for at least six to ten years even if the Republicans win in 2016. The best case scenario would be a 6-3 Dem majority court with the older justices retiring to be replaced by late 40 somethings to lock in a Dem appointed majority for twenty to thirty years.
We need to encourage this rage.
srv
You seem to think the GOP can’t do to the SC what they’ve done to the House.
They’d be happy with a SC with just Scalia, Thomas and Alito on it. Are there any rules about a minimum number of judges required for rulings?
Davis X. Machina
@srv:
This is impeachment. Last time I looked, election to the House did not require a 2/3rds majority of the Senate.
jl
Go to wonkette blog today to see the DeLay freakout: says Obama will OK dog rape of boys soon. Keep it up GOP, I don’t want your same sex marriage, ACA OK, and Confederate battle flag freak out to flame out too soon before the election.
Though I guess it will be easy to get clips of GOP pres hopefuls’ insane yowlings from the primary debates for Dem ads anytime.
jl
@Davis X. Machina: Yes, there has to be a minimum number of Democrats willing to convict in the Senate after impeachment.
Though GOP freakout over SCOTUS will help with Dem candidate arguments over importance of SCOTUS rulings I read that substantial majority of public favors SCOTUS rulings on both same sex marriage and ACA.
the Conster
I keep poking these garment rending wingnuts on Twitter by telling them I hope they enjoyed their last straight white male supremacist day. They’ve all turned into Rumpelstiltskin except the clown faced version. It’s so fun to see the spittle.
KG
Didn’t Meyhew already game play the ratfuckery here, where basically it works out that Roberts and possibly Kennedy get removed, giving the “liberal” justices a clear majority and Obama the chance to appoint two new justices? Also, I’d almost forgotten about Patterico… dude was a douchecanoe 10 years ago when I was more politically aligned with the right. Although I have to admit, I am still shocked when I see lawyers say that the other branches of government should defy Court decisions – it suggests a less than serious respect for the rule of law.
Lastly, I wish some appellate court judge or Supreme Court justice would have the wherewithal to suggest that the 9th Amendment gives courts the power to identify constitutional and fundamental rights in the common law tradition. Would make a lot of these cases much easier to determine.
WereBear
They should. This “comity of the Senate” crap is no good at all if only one side cares about living up to it.
Roger Moore
@jl:
And I bet you could get them for Roberts and Kennedy.
NotoriousJRT
The justice who most deserves impeaching is Scalia. He phoning it in.
g
The poor wingnuts don’t iunderstand that “making a ruling I don’t like” isn’t an impeachable offence.
craigie
The thing that really impresses me is that these are the exact same people who, when they get what they want despite any amount of Constitution-bending gibberish (eg, Bush-Gore), their response is (literally) “Deal with it.”
But when the tide runs the other way, it’s all shrieking and wailing and gnashing of teeth. What a bunch of babies.
Villago Delenda Est
@NotoriousJRT: Yes, but Scalia is a darling to the wingtards. Even though a petulant three year old could probably write a more coherent dissent than him.
This isn’t about judicial excellence. It’s about ideological purity. They make the CPSU look like abject amateurs in that regard.
WaterGirl
@Villago Delenda Est: But, but… I thought that a petulant three year old was already writing his dissents!
danielx
@WaterGirl:
This.
Today’s win for the intertubes.
Mothra
Just had a couple of jackasses in a parking lot come up and tell us “Somebody vandalized your car” and point to our Obama bumper sticker. My husband told them we put it there and were proud of it. They continued to mouth and I followed them into the store in spite of my DH’s request to let it go. I told them that our entire family voted for Obama, and that our son worked on the campaign and recently got engaged to a wonderful young woman who also worked on the campaign. I explained to them that the reason that the sticker was there was to ward off people bringing up politics if they didn’t agree, that if I saw a Romney sticker on their car, I’d just not bring up politics. They continued to sneer about Obama being only half-white, Michelle possibly being a man, etc, etc. But I bet they will shut the hell up next time they see an Obama sticker.
craigie
@Mothra:
You’re braver than me. I would just assume they were armed and stupid.
Roger Moore
@WaterGirl:
I’ve never met a three year old with that kind of vocabulary.
Mothra
@craigie:
Ha, good point. One was a 40ish jerk in a jacket and the other was a fortyish jerk in a plaid shirt and shorts. They looked preppy priveleged white guy and I didn’t give guns a thought.
WaterGirl
@Roger Moore: I don’t know about that. All the random food related words and phrases like hobbity jibbiity (or whatever it was) sound like words a 3 year old might know! :-)
WereBear
@Mothra: From the sound of it they were no intellectual giants, either.
Angry Bingo
The comment section on that Patterico post is giving me a chub. I think there might be something wrong with me…