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Justice: The American Beacon Dims
Long after George Bush retires to his Texas ranch to search among the scrub brush for his lost legacy and long after Dick Cheney has his final myocardial infarction, Americans will be trying to pick up the pieces of a justice system that they sought to destroy.
If you are of a certain age, you may remember a time when the United States was a beacon of justice in a world where justice was in short supply. Well, today it still is in short supply, but the beacon has dimmed. Because of the actions of the president and vice president, American justice is viewed with a mixture of scorn and horror, the U.S.’s global standing severely diminished.
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32 Responses to “Justice: The American Beacon Dims”
[...] Original post by Shaun Mullen and software by Elliott Back [...]
And stuffing the Supremes with ultra conservative judges will only make the problem worse!
I think you’re overestimating U. S. repute, Shaun. Our European cousins in the UK, France, and Germany have held us in disdain for 200 years.
Dave:
Good point, but I think that disdain stems more from an historic feeling of superiority than more recent events.
DS, polls show a clearer picture than your prejudices. And those numbers support Shaun’s view.
It is incredible to me how far we have fallen on the world stage in 6 short years. It demonstrates what a foreign policy that has been both reckless and arrogant, can do to a benevolent superpower’s reputation in the world.
Shaun, did you read Sy Hersh’s article in The New Yorker? I am starting to believe we have a shadow foreign policy in the ME which relies on covert operations, being conducted by Cheney and Saudi Prince Bandar, and a public one which relies on multilateralism and diplomacy, being conducted by Sec. Rice. The public one is a sham.
“I am starting to believe we have a shadow foreign policy in the ME which relies on covert operations…The public one is a sham.”
To be fair, this basically is Foreign Policy 101.
Kritter:
Mikkel is correct. Any administration worth its salt is going to be engaged in behind-the-scenes work, including covert operations. That, of course, does not excuse the shambles that the overt Bush administration policy is.
OK, fair point. But the covert ops we are engaging in are bringing us closer to conflict with Iran, despite the overt claims that we are not seeking to go to war with them. The covert ops are seeking to undermine the sovreignty of the Lebanese government, whose hold on power is already extremely fragile. The shadow foreign policy seems to be making us less safe, rather than more safe– and are you comfortable with outsourcing our foreign policy to Saudi Arabia’s Bandar and Dick Cheney?
The problem with covert action is that by definition it’s secret and so very few people are in the loop. Because of this an extreme amount of pressure is put on people that have no accountability and unless they are super-humanly compentent and rational, then a few ill advised moves can really mess things up. On some levels I’d argue that these groups are more powerful than the President. I’d also argue that post-Cold War they have had no modus operandi and this lack of structure makes them particularly likely to mess up.
Needless to say, having a group of people that actively seek to create confrontation in charge isn’t the best idea.
Gray, I’d disagree about the SCOTUS judges. While they certainly are conservative, they are more moderate than Scalia and probably more moderate than Bush could have forced down the congress’ throats. A rare hint of restraint, or maybe just good old fashioned nepatism? I can’t really say.
I have to disagree with your disagreeal. While I think Roberts looks perfectly OK and Alito isn’t particularly conservative, Alito did help design the Unitary Executive doctrine that Bush has been using to validate his signing statments and such. So while he might fall in the middle-right region on Liberal/Conservative divide, I think he is strongly Authoritarian (which Scalia and Thomas sometimes aren’t). I’m nervously waiting to see how they rule on the Gitmo cases and (perhaps more importantly) their reasoning before I make a firm decision on whether it was a good idea or not.
Kevin H:
I’m with you on SCOTUS judges. While it may be wishful thinking regarding Roberts, the court makes the man much more often than the other way around.
Roberts’ litmus test will be Hamdan II, a replay of the Hamdan v. Rumsfeld decision that is likely to come before the court as a result of a challenge to the Military Commissions Act.
I wrote about that here.
All I know is somehow americans got so scared they think its ok to hold people without trial, despite the fact that means ANYONE can be held without trial now. The founding fathers are rolling in their graves.
Predictions about where the Supreme Court will go are very hazy, I think. Some analysts point out that the Court has become more moderate when very conservative new judges are appointed, particularly if they are abrasive (Scalia) or uncompromising (Thomas). There is an action-reaction dynamic at work.
I think it will be Roberts, not Alito, who will be most influential in how this plays out. By some accounts, he aims to narrow the scope of decisions to gain consensus. The long list of 5-4 decisions has weakened the Court in his view, and he may very well be right.
[...] Original post by Shaun Mullen and a wordpress plugin by Elliott [...]
[...] Original post by Shaun Mullen and plugin by Elliott Back [...]
[...] Original post by Shaun Mullen and a wordpress plugin by Elliott [...]
[...] Original post by Shaun Mullen and a wordpress plugin by Elliott [...]
[...] Original post by Shaun Mullen and software by Elliott Back [...]
[...] Original post by Shaun Mullen and software by Elliott Back [...]
[...] Original post by Shaun Mullen and software by Elliott Back [...]
[...] Original post by Shaun Mullen and software by Elliott Back [...]
[...] Original post by Shaun Mullen and software by Elliott [...]
[...] Original post by Shaun Mullen and software by Elliott Back [...]
[...] Original post by Shaun Mullen and powered by Img Fly [...]
[...] Original post by Shaun Mullen and powered by Img Fly [...]
[...] Original post by Shaun Mullen and a wordpress plugin by Elliott [...]
[...] Original post by Shaun Mullen and software by Elliott Back [...]
[...] Original post by Shaun Mullen and a wordpress plugin by Elliott [...]
[...] Original post by Shaun Mullen and software by Elliott [...]
[...] Original post by Shaun Mullen and a wordpress plugin by Elliott [...]