The Great Power Grab and All for the "Good" of the American People

By: Jack Dalton

I've been sitting here listening to all the nice sounding words spewing forth from some of our "esteemed" senators over the so-called "agreement" just reached about judicial nominees, filibusters, and the Trent Lott named, "nuclear option" to eliminate senate judicial filibusters.

One of 'things' that really stands out to me is simply this: the extreme right of the Republican Party is not satisfied with "winning" some of the time; is not satisfied with "winning" the overwhelming majority of the time; the only thing that will satisfy them is "winning" 100% of the time on every single thing they want to super-impose upon us all.

Priscilla Owen, William H. Pryor, Janice Rogers Brown ( see profiles of these and other judicial nominees here) all three of whom have been "vigorously" opposed by senate "democrats" will get now a rubber stamped into a life-time seat on our federal courts -oops, their federal courts.

From the very start, this was, and still is about a lot more than just these three or some of the others still waiting in the wings -all of which it appears will now "win" senate approval. This is about the vacancies that are coming up in the Supreme Court. BushCo (my pet name for that marvelous mob of Mayberry Machiavelli's) has had the eye on the Supreme Court for day one.

Gain control of the Supreme Court, control of all three branches of government will then be complete. You say I am making too much of this? You say I am pushing a panic button? You say I am taking this too an absurd conclusion?

To those who think or say that I remind them of this: "The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." James Madison, Federalist Paper 47

While the specter of what Bill Frist had planned to eliminate the opposition filibustering judicial nominees was not a good one to contemplate, let alone have to deal with; the Democratic Party caving in to the extortion is worse. They thru their "compromise" have helped to insure the completion of the radical rights three way power grab.

This is just one more thing convincing me that we only have one party in this country with only minor differences in the opposing ends of the same stick -the one we keep getting in the back. They care more about "preserving the institution" of the senate than they do about the people whose name they so freely and constantly invoke. How can giving away the courts be in the "interest of the American people?"

In 1935, Sinclair Lewis wrote his novel, "It Can't Happen Here." A "fictional" account of what amounts to a fascist take-over of this country. I wonder what the title of a sequel would be if Sinclair Lewis were alive today? "The 15% Solution: A History of American Fascism, 2001—2022" another fictional account of the rise of fascism by constitutional means which so perfectly describes this nation today since 9/11 it is frightening. Especially considering it was written years before 9/11 ever happened.

"Those who believe a police state can't happen here are poor students of history. Every government, democratic or not, is capable of tyranny. We must understand this if we hope to remain a free people. (Ron Paul, R-Tx, Dec. 2004 -he's one of the only republicans in congress with some sense of integrity).

The last thing needed to permanently secure power with some air of internal legitimacy by Hitler and the Nazi's over Germany and the German people were the courts. These they stacked and then completely took over, and using their constitution to do it. If you want to secure complete power and control over that which you govern, control of the courts is an absolute must. This is about gaining so much power and control everyone will be forced to live according to the world view these nut jobs have; and they will have the courts to back them up.

If I sound like someone screaming "the sky is falling" so be it. I just can't stress the danger we face with this power grab for the courts. There will nothing to stand between people and government/corporate predators. The very people that lied this nation into invading Iraq and then lied about lying. These are the people who determine whom will sit as life-time judges on U.S. federal courts.

Jack Dalton is a disabled Vietnam veteran, writer and activist. He is a columnist for the POAC and has a blog -Jack's Straight-Speak

Posted by rowan at May 25, 2005 5:12 AM | TrackBack | [eMail this article!] |