Right Thinking From The Left Coast
"To what purpose are powers limited, and to what purpose is that limitation committed to writing,
if these limits may, at any time, be passed by those intended to be restrained?"
-- Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison, 1803

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Politician, Strike Thyself
by Lee

Bob Barr makes an interesting observation about the type of jurists a President McCain would support.

“I don’t think he’s ever had [a legal philosophy],” Barr said. “He cannot run and hide from the fact that he is McCain of McCain-Feingold. How anybody whose signature piece of legislation is the most anti-freedom, anti-First Amendment piece of legislation passed in congress in generations, can, with a straight face, claim that they will support jurists who are ‘conservative’ is beyond me. Clearly, he’s not going to—or common sense tells us he’s not going to appoint somebody to the Supreme Court or to a lesser federal court, somebody whose philosophy is going to lead them to strike down McCain-Feingold, which is his signature piece of legislation.”

That’s a damn good point.

Update: David Boaz at Cato discusses McCain’s recent comment on the Heller decision:  “Today’s ruling recognizes that gun ownership is a fundamental right – sacred, just as the right to free speech and assembly.”

You can’t get much stronger than that. Except . . .  wait . . . what was it McCain said about our sacred right to free speech? Oh, right, two years ago on the Don Imus show he said, “I would rather have a clean government than one where quote First Amendment rights are being respected, that has become corrupt.” So when McCain says that our Second Amendment rights are just as fundamental and sacred as our First Amendment rights, maybe he’s pulling a bait-and-switch. Because he’s thoroughly indifferent to the First Amendment.

The next time one of you says something like “I can’t understand why anyone who claims to be a libertarian could stomach an Obama presidency,” just remember this post.  They both are good in many ways and they both suck in many ways.

Posted by Lee on 06/29/08 at 11:41 PM in Election 2008  • (4) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink • Discuss this in the forums
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