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.

Assault on America

We have now taken a 19 year old wounded immigrant college student into custody after one of the most intense manhunts in recent history, fully televised.  Assuming he is indeed guilty, I'm glad he has been captured.  Not sure how much evidence they have besides what has been released, and of course once they interrogate him, hopefully he confesses to eliminate any doubt, but what perplexes me is some comments by elected representatives who have declared that he should be held as an enemy combatant, prior to any evidence that would support such an accusation.

The suspect became an American citizen last year, on a possibly odd date, and has no known ties to any international group.  How does that make him an enemy combatant?  We have decided that the bombing was an act of terrorism, and it was, but what was the motive?  No cause has been identified, no foreign group has taken credit, and until they interrogate the suspect, we have nothing from either of the brothers to implicate anyone or anything as a cause.

Are these rants simply because he came here legally and grew up in this country?  In one way or another, we are all either immigrants or the descendants of immigrants.  Is it because he professes Islam as his religion?  I believe the constitution give him freedom of religion.

The corruption of liberty is an assault upon America.  The crime perpetrated by the bombers is horrific and should be punished to the full extent of the law.  However, history has taught us that evil people will use horrific acts, either real or imagined, to further their own aims.  We have a system of justice that needs to be used in this case, just like it is used in the Colorado movie shootings, or in any horrific crime where a suspect is captured.  Deciding to pervert our system and deprive American citizens of their rights under the constitution is the real assault on America.