In typical mainstream fashion, an article in Salon, (link attached), blames Justice Anthony Kennedy for sending the section of Obamacare regarding contraception back to a lower court. She is 100 percent correct in the fact that Kennedy should have supported the position of the Obama administration, but none of this would have happened if the Court had all nine justices.
It is a fact the conservatives have continued to make efforts to harm the Affordable Care Act by creating difficulties for women who are minorities, low income, or impoverished. The section in question would require that women be provided contraception if requested through their insurance with no co-pay. Businesses who label themselves ‘religious,’ became angry; they would like to have more babies in the world whose parents do not want them or cannot afford to properly care for them. This is nothing more than another case when religion interferes with our government and the rights of others who are not Christian.
The blame must fall directly on the shoulders of the worst Senate Majority Leader in history, Mitch McConnell. His refusal to hold hearings for President Obama’s nominee for the seat vacated by the death of Antonin Scalia created a dysfunctional Supreme Court when ties force the cases to revert to lower court decisions. This is not good for conservatives or progressives.
Merrick Garland is a well-respected moderate. Both parties have praised past decisions as fair and well thought out. He is presently the Supreme Court Justice of the Appellate Court, and is more than qualified to sit on our nation’s highest court.
But McConnell and his cohorts are angry. Scalia was the most extreme justice on the bench. He supported conservative positions 100 percent of the time, and will be remembered by progressives as the worst justice in modern history. Garland leans slightly to the left, but is not considered an extremist by anyone in the legal profession.
McConnell claims to believe that the new president should nominate the next justice, and swears that it’s the right thing to do. This is, plainly put, more bullshit from “the Turtle.” As recently as the administration of George H.W. Bush, a lame duck president has nominated a justice for the Court. Clarence Thomas was sworn in on October 23, 1991, near the end of the senior Bush’s third year in office. Thomas quickly became Scalia’s puppet.
McConnell is guilty for destroying two of the three branches of our government. He has led Congress into gridlock, and now his inaction is forcing the Supreme Court to become totally ineffective.
Is this the goal of the Republican Party; to destroy the lives of the majority of Americans by destroying our democratic form of government? It appears to be so.
I agree with Ms. Marcotte’s article for the most part, but the truth is that nine justices are needed for the Court to properly function. Kennedy is the wild card on the Court, and frequently makes poor decisions. I agree that he can be cowardly, and in this case he is supporting a group of religious fanatics instead of millions of women who would have been aided by denying the extremist views of a few to override the ACA.
Op-Ed
By James Turnage
Photo Courtesy of DonkeyHotey
The Truth With No Restrictions 