Supreme Showdown

It looks like the Senate is about to change its rules so it can confirm the next Supreme Court Justice.

Whatever the capabilities of the candidate, we have now made the process so political that the best judicial minds are irrelevant.

Now the biggest issue facing the court is always pretty much the same one, whether the constitution should be interpreted literally or if there should be some interpretation.

Clearly the world we live in is not the same as the one that existed in the late 1700s.

Allowing everyone the right to bear arms to protect themselves from hostiles and to hunt had a very different meaning when said gun was a single shot musket.

Further there are passages in the constitution that are clearly vague.  Those who want a strict interpretation of the right to bear arms want to bend the establishment of religion part.

Of course the answer would be to update it but I think such a process would be unmanageable to say the least.

We live in a world where exaggeration is the norm and a rule to restrict the sale of automatic assault rifles is treated as an attack on all gun ownership.

So the choice for the Supreme Court may be significant or it may turn out to be business as usual.

The Justices once selected tend to try to perform their duties conscientiously and while a strict reading of the constitution and precedent may slow future changes, it isn't likely to roll back what has already happened.

The bigger issue here is that the Senate, that bastion of compromise is now giving up that role for the sake of partisan politics.

Its more of the downward spiral of our political system and its simply a shame.