Thursday, April 05, 2012

CNN legal analyst: "Some of these Republican judges are just deranged by hatred of the president."

Courtesy of Politico:

 After accusing a federal appellate court panel of throwing a “hissy fit” about President Barack Obama, outspoken CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said Thursday that the order requiring the president to explain his beliefs about judicial review was a “disgrace” and he called some Republican judges “deranged by their hatred for the president.” 

“I think what these judges have done is a disgrace,” Toobin said on CNN. “What President Obama said was entirely appropriate. There is nothing wrong, there’s nothing controversial.” 

“He said, ‘I signed a law that was passed by the democratically elected congress and I think it’s constitutional.’ And then these judges give the Justice Department a homework assignment, a three-page letter, single spaced, explaining what the president said,” he said. 

The order from 5th Circuit Judge Jerry E. Smith, a Ronald Reagan-appointee, seemed to be a direct shot at Obama’s much-debated comments on Monday in which he said that the Supreme Court would be guilty of an “unprecedented” act of “judicial activism” if it strikes down the health care reform law. 

What the appellate court’s request boils down to, Toobin argued Thursday, is that some GOP judges are simply out to get Obama for partisan reasons and that the president is in no position to “threaten” the Supreme Court, as many of his critics have suggested.  

“That was a perfectly appropriate comment by the president and it just shows how some of these Republican judges are just deranged by hatred of the president,” he said. 

He added: “The president has no leverage over the Supreme Court. He can’t threaten. What’s he going to threaten to do? …’If you rule this way, I’m not going to invite you to a State dinner’?” 

Good for Jeffrey Toobin!

Personally I think we have been witnessing the politicization of the judiciary for decades. In the past judges may have been appointed by either a Republican, or Democratic, President, but they usually put respect for the law well before their ideological considerations.

I think we can all agree that those days are past. Which has been made all the more obvious since the election of Barack Obama.

However what is happening today, as it concerns this president, seems to be coming from a darker place. And in my opinion a racist place.

Republicans in general, and Republican judges included, seem to be completely unable to demonstrate any respect for President Obama.  It is as if they are simply incapable of seeing him as their President.

And it cannot be attributed to his liberal policies, since he is by NO means the most liberal president we have had in the last 50 years. 

Nor can it be his  refusal to work across party lines, since as WE all know that he has done everything but offer to cut the crust off their sandwiches in order to get the Republicans to meet him part way in order deal with the problems facing this country.

No what they are reacting to is something MUCH more primitive.

And it seems that it has even filtered up to the Supreme Court, some of whose members may in fact be getting their framework for how to interpret the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act from Fox News.

I have to say that I am suffering from irony overload by the fact that the GOP is CONSTANTLY bitching about "activist judges," while pointing in the direction of the Left, when in fact the MOST activist judges this country has ever seen are products of a Right Wing ideology.

Or is THAT something we simple minded Americans are not supposed to be noticing?

56 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:36 AM

    Does this mean that judges in question are bought and paid for racists?

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  2. Anonymous9:47 AM

    Aren't they activist Judges?

    Like Sarah Palin is now and activist. She is no longer doing that political thing of hers so much.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous5:50 PM

      Why drag Palin into every conversation? I can't stand her, but I am tired of hearing about her.

      Delete
  3. ItsBecauseHesBlack9:47 AM

    Hmmm what's different about THIS president? What could be driving the right wing sooo crazy? Never before has a President been treated so horribly. I wonder why.

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    1. Anonymous11:38 AM

      Hmmm, I've racked my brain about it, too. He hasn't done anything so far left, or ani-American or hurtful to the people as some presidents in the past. No shit it's because he's black.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:52 AM

      It's also because he's popular and he won by a sound margin in 2008. The Republicans are, as a group, so immature that they cannot abide losing. Thus the never-ending temper tantrum from the right.

      Delete
    3. Yeah, I've been trying to figure it out too. Just can't put my finger on what the problem is. Puzzling, really. ;-)

      Delete
    4. Anonymous5:52 PM

      It's because he is Black. And anybody who denies this is lying.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous9:49 AM

    They suffer from the same derangement as "ABO" (Anybody But Obama) activist.

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    1. Anonymous10:31 AM

      May I make a slight correction to your very correct observation?

      It seems to be "Anybody But Obaaaaaama"!

      You know, they have to "sink" and stretch into the vowel to adequately portray disgust, as evidenced by SP and cohorts.

      fromthediagonal

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:18 AM

      How far will she carry on with her role as an activist?

      Is she wearing a confederate flag on her belt or does she just want to give that impression? She did say she was infiltrating and not a guest or co-host. She got the fish ear ring message out to those enablers, the flag to others and the belt? Anything for her Jewish pals?

      http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0dZzegBgQYcBQ/350x.jpg

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:08 PM

      Sure looks like it.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous9:51 AM

    Hannity on Tuesday night started talking about how President Obama, "there was a Supreme Court decision two hundred years ago, called Marbury v. Madison that settled this kind of thing." (Not verbatim, but you get the idea -- as though Hannity were the Constitutional scholar, not Barack Obama.)

    Sitting at his right hand was Constitutional expert ("I'll get back to you") nodding her bobble head: Sarah Palin.

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    1. Anonymous10:24 AM

      Marbury was the court deciding the court alone could decide what was constitution. It was self-annointing.

      Until now, with a few decade exceptions (see the 1930s), this has not posed a huge problem.

      But Hannity and his little sidekick Palin simply do not understand that the law evolves. The issues in the current case are not directly related to the case they cited.

      Evolution in the law comes slowly because of a legal doctrine called precedent. That requires the Court to apply existing case law decisions unless there is a compelling reason not to do so.

      The Roberts court has ditched precedent and procedure to reach down and pull up cases it wants to rule upon in a 5/4 manner in favor of the far-right. Citizens United is the latest significant example of this but Roberts and his four far-right cronies (Kennedy is not the real swing vote we'd like him to be) are trying to give every advantage to corporations they can and many of their decisions have been against individual rights (see the latest case on strip searches for no real reason).

      Why is the far-right wants to live over 200 years in the past?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous2:02 PM

      Remember when the President dressed down the Supreme Court judges on the Citizens United decision while they sat silent in front of him at the State Of The Union speech? (the one before last)Huge mistake. I could just see it in Roberts eyes that "payback" was on its way. And guess what?
      There goes the Health Care law down the drain. Guaranteed.!
      The Supreme Court has turned into a complete and partisan joke. Glad I'm not going to be around for much longer. Makes me want to vomit.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous9:56 AM

    Republicans have always been about projection. Goes hand in hand with "I'm a Christian who's forgiven. Pass the whore when you're done with her."

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    1. Anonymous10:25 AM

      Right on!

      Delete
    2. Brilliantly put!

      Delete
    3. Anita Winecooler10:09 PM

      I'll third that! Excellent analogy!

      Delete
  7. Anonymous10:07 AM

    It's pretty obvious to this old white gal, that racism is alive and flourishing in the United States. Because I am a business owner and my husband is a Physician, people assume we are Republicans because we own small businesses. The racism some of our peers spout is astonishing. These are people who may have always been closet racists, but ever since President Obama became our president, they feel like they are free to say whatever nasty racist things they want, e-mail the most vile jokes about him and his wife, and spout the most insane lies about President Obama, and his cabinet. Although I loathed President Bush, I NEVER e-mailed nasty jokes, said anything personal about him, nor his wife. People have become uncivil.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your comments. I agree with you about President Bush, I never agreed with him and his decisions, but I NEVER wanted him to fail as our President. If our President fails, we fail collectively, as a Nation.
      These people, whose only wish is for this fine man to fail as our President, should be looked upon as treasonists not patriots.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:21 AM

      The bigger question is whether you challenge these racist friends. If not, you are complicit. It is not enough to recount racist stories. You have to be willing to confront the racists.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous10:09 AM

    OzMud here...

    I wonder how much of the Republican attitude toward Pres. Obama is simply sour grapes for having lost the 2008 election? I'm looking at a dramatic increase in campaigning from the right and can't help thinking their discontent isn't more a calculated effort to unseat the Democrats at the next election - and that's the focus.

    It may well be 'Anyone But Obama' but - that could be a cover for 'Anyone But A Democrat!'

    Because it seems to me it's all about power now. Where it used to be that once an election was over the reps and senators worked together in co9ngress for the betterment of the country in general, now it's all about 'hey if we didn't win the big prize, we aren't going to play at all! and nothing N O T H I N G gets done.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous12:06 PM

      OzMud

      It may well be 'Anyone But Obama' but - that could be a cover for 'Anyone But A Democrat!'

      Yes, however, there are white and various Democrats. "Anybody But Obama" is emotional for them. The visual it evokes is simple for idiots to grasp.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous10:11 AM

    Malcolm X stated years ago that, "Just because you are sitting at the table, does not necessarily make you a diner". Here we are in 2012, with one of the most refined, decent, and educated man to ever become the The President of the United States, and the Republicans and right wing special interest groups want to treat him like a NIGGER. I hope there are some decent Americans in this country of ours, that truly understand what is going on here.

    President Obama can come up with the cure for cancer, and these racists assholes would ask, what took you so long?

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  10. Anonymous10:15 AM

    I think that much of the right-wing-generated hatred toward the president is more than racism: it is racism combined with a deep, seething envy.

    Here's how the white men see President Obama:

    How DARE that black man be more handsome, smarter, taller, in better physical condition, sexier (obviously more attractive to women of all ages, and probably better-equipped), a more astute politician, a better fund-raiser, have more outstanding credentials, be more charismatic, a better orator, a better writer, more world-traveled, more respected ALL OVER THE WORLD, more multi-lingual and globally experienced, live a non-scandalous life, be more emotionally mature, an obviously happier person, and a much more-loved husband, and father – with much better-behaved children and a much more adoring (and sexy) wife – than ME???????? How DARE he actually LIVE his faith and not cow-tow and be thrown off-target by my hatred and insults? How DARE he continue to beat me at everything I throw at him – and respond in a Christian manner?? How DARE he?????

    If this president were just a black man who could easily conform to all their racial and cultural stereo-types, perhaps they could deal with him on a more comfortable level. But THIS man: how DARE he???? How DARE this non-mediocre couple inhabit the WHITE House????? How DARE he/they????

    They can not pin this president down, put him into a stereo-typed box, ruffle his feathers, find provable moral wrong, or even converse with him on his intellectual level. He makes THEM look bad.

    In their view, it would be more than enough, at the outer limits of their tolerance, to see a black man in power – but a black man who makes all of them look like the angry, unqualified, emotionally bankrupt and ill-prepared idiots that they are?? Well, THAT, in their eyes, is treason. And THAT, in their eyes, is in itself proof that this president is, well, un-American.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous10:52 AM

      Well said !

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:11 AM

      >>>They can not pin this president down, put him into a stereo-typed box, ruffle his feathers, find provable moral wrong, or even converse with him on his intellectual level. He makes THEM look bad.

      In their view, it would be more than enough, at the outer limits of their tolerance, to see a black man in power – but a black man who makes all of them look like the angry, unqualified, emotionally bankrupt and ill-prepared idiots that they are??>>>

      You have very succinctly stated the EXACT reasons why they 'hate' the man...he's head and shoulders better than they are in every way and their outrage and jealousy is consuming them. How DARE he...indeed.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:27 AM

      Brilliantly stated!

      Southern Virginia Voter

      Delete
    4. Sharon11:35 AM

      It would be my wish that your post, every single word of it be on every media outlet, every blog, every talkshow, every paper, every radio station....I agree with you in every way.'This man and his family chose to sacrifice an easy private life to save us after Bush destroyed this country. I think it is a miracle we have him.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous5:56 PM

      Anon 11:15 AM

      Your comment is SPOT ON!

      Delete
  11. Anonymous10:49 AM

    I know. I am so very upset about what I see happening in our country. It's very disturbing.
    I do think we have to be careful about calling anyone who disagrees with the president a racist. Disagreement is good. But it's this irrational hatred and disrespectful treatment I find appalling. And some of these judges simply do not belong on the supreme court.
    Look what citizens united has done to our country!
    The amount of money being spent is grotesque!!!

    What I really don't understand are the people who actually agree with the President but vote against their own interests. I have one of them in my household and it leads to big disagreements. He thinks the Democrats are corrupt too and there IS something to that. And we have to fight against it. But when it comes down to it, I support the party's beliefs and I think the Republicans are in the dark ages.

    I'm really worried and those of you who think this is an automatic landslide for Pres Obama should listen to Bill Mahrer. And don't think for a minute Romney doesn't know what he is doing. He's a snake with a huge amount of money behind him..... It's all scaring me if I think about whats going on.

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    1. Anonymous5:58 PM

      WE know racists when we hear them. They ARE racists.

      Delete
  12. lostinmn10:50 AM

    We used to sit here smugly and cluck at our collective tongues at places like South Africa and their continued attacks on their black population. Now that one of "them" has ascended to the highest position in the country the same people who clucked their tongues are busy wagging their racist ones at a man who has done nothing more than join the "white boy" club and become President. It was all well and good as long as the blacks could aspire could attempt to, and later have success at, climb the corporate ladder, gain rank in the military and even hold such lofty posts as Senator or Cabinet member. But let "them" try to become President and they completely lose it. Had Obama been white Sara Palin and her racist, twisted followers would have been an asterisk in history, a short footnote of depravity. But she awakened and gave speech to the racists and haters and for that she and McCain should be damned to hell for an eternity. I could care less if she fleeces the stupid part of our population but fanning the flames of hatred in this country is beyond reprehensible - she is a cancer and pox on this country - evil and ugly, borderline IQ who has managed to wiggle her ass, show off her store bought boobs, tongue flick her promise of oral sex and the stupidest people in this country bought it and sent money. The media realized she was a click magnet and gave her far more attention than she deserved. She's the voice in the back of the crowd screaming "lynch the "N"" and for that she should be taken out and have her ass kicked back to AK where she can spew her hate at the wolves she shoots from airplanes.

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  13. Anonymous10:59 AM

    Activist judges AND lawyers are every where. Even in your home town.

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    1. Anonymous12:59 PM

      YES. They should be called out.

      They same when a player like Sarah Palin has gone activist.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous11:10 AM

    when the supreme court selected bush in 2000 i knew it was true 'there is no law there is only power'

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  15. Holder's slap down

    The key portion of the DOJ letter:

    The Department has not in this litigation, nor in any other litigation of which I am aware, ever asked this or any other Court to reconsider or limit long-established precedent concerning judicial review of the constitutionality of federal legislation.

    At no point has the government suggested that the Court would lack authority to review plaintiffs’ constitutional claims if the Court were to conclude that jurisdiction exists. The case has been fully briefed and argued, and it is ready for disposition. The question posed by the Court regarding judicial review does not concern any argument made in the government’s brief or at oral argument in this case …

    The power of the courts to review the constitutionality of legislation is beyond dispute.

    In the 3-page letter, Holder noted that the Supreme Court has granted great deference to Congress on legislative matters. He concluded, “The President’s remarks were fully consistent with the principles described herein.”

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    Replies
    1. Anita Winecooler10:18 PM

      Thanks for posting this. I commented in an earlier thread, mistakenly, that they asked the President to provide this letter. When I saw this letter from Holder earlier today, what came to mind was the hoopla stirred when Sotomayer was appointed and the hypocricy that the only African American Supreme Court Judge hasn't recused himself because his wife is a teabagging bigoted politichick who beats the drumb against our President for the obvious reason.

      Thanks for your response!

      Delete
  16. Sharon11:21 AM

    "Deranged by hatred of the president." What a great article...and this sums it up. I want to know how Thomas manages to make a judgement on healthcare? He shouldn't be allowed anywhere near this vote...he makes me sick, him and his bimbo wife. Citizens United was the straw that broke our back, the Supreme Court is horseshit...deciding 5/4 on issues effecting millions, I don't think so.

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    1. Anonymous12:07 PM

      And what can we do about it. Obviously nothing.
      It's a helpless feeling. I even feel my vote is pointless. We cant compete with the millions spent in elections now. We have become a very corrupt country. Or maybe we always were and I didnt notice.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous2:01 PM

      Please don't think your vote is pointless. If you don't vote, and they do, then where are we. Everyone should at least go out and vote. Even if we can't change everything about our government, our power is in the vote. I am 48 years old. When I was 12 years old and living in KY with my family, there were riots in the streets because "enforced busing" was put in place. The racists didn't want their lily white children to have to sit next to the black kids in school. We kids didn't really think anything of it -- it was an ADULT issue. That was in 1974. Now, in 2012, we have a BLACK President about to finish his first term. That is a LOT of progress in 36 years.

      So, let's keep voting. Eventually all of these angry old white men will die off, and our kids, who have been raised differently, and are more tolerant, will have a better chance.

      A vote may seem like a drop in the bucket, but add them all together, and the bucket is full.

      Delete
    3. Anita Winecooler10:23 PM

      NEVER let this stuff stop you from voting. If you feel fear and frustration, do something, anything to help get out the vote. I take a half hour to 45 minutes everyday making calls for OFA. I get so much more back than the time I give. The approval ratings are going up for our President. We need him and he needs every vote.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous11:36 AM

    Forget about healthcare issues...the decision to allow any law enforcement personnel to STRIP SEARCH any individual for the slightest thing, like JAYWALKING, was OK'd by the Republican Supreme Court, recently.

    I don't think it has sunk in on anyone, just yet, how much that sounds like something NAZI GERMANY instituted in the 1930's!

    AND: that the phrase "Republican Supreme Court" is being used in the first place, is horrendously indicative of a real problem!

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  18. Olivia11:38 AM

    Well, you know, the ACA is unconstitutional because it was signed by a black man.

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  19. Full text of the letter as signed by Attorney General Holder can be found here:

    http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Fifth-Circuit-letter.pdf

    To a layman it would read as a well-cited legal argument, but to any constitutional lawyer it reads like he's teaching Judicary 101 - it's a bit of an F-you to the judge on question (who was being a complete ass in the first place).

    The best part was at the end:

    "The President's remarks were fully consistent with the principles herein."

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  20. Anonymous12:12 PM

    How do we start a petition against this judge and ask him to explain himself. What happened to justice is blind, not blind with hate.

    So sad how the GOP is destroying this country they claim to love.

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  21. Anonymous12:30 PM

    I agree, Gryphen. It's racism. Period. Republicans = racists.

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  22. Anonymous12:39 PM

    Scalia was at a dinner hosted by Clement the lawyer who argued before the supremes against the gov.on the same day the court took the case.The dinner was at Clement's office.

    They are all bought and paid for.

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  23. Anonymous1:29 PM

    Seriously, if they overturn this, the Roberts Court will have overturned the two biggest reform laws of the last decade...people will be PISSED -- and not at the President. The Supreme Court is basically saying there's no point of having a House and Senate any more...it's disgusting and piggish, and yeah, I think Roberts HATES Obama...come on, how much of an assface do you have to be to fail to memorize a paragraph when you have months to do it and you're a brainiac who went to law school?

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  24. Anonymous2:50 PM

    Jeffery Toobin Doubles Down: Harvard’s Laurence Tribe Being ‘Willfully Obtuse’ In Criticizing Obama

    CNN Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin doubled down on comments he made on Thursday, telling CNN host Wolf Blitzer that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals was demanding the Obama administration respond to a “phony, made up controversy.” Toobin further called Harvard Constitutional Law professor Laurence Tribe “willfully obtuse” when he made the assertion that President Obama “didn’t say what he meant.”

    http://www.mediaite.com/tv/jeffery-toobin-doubles-down-harvards-laurence-tribe-being-willfully-obtuse-in-criticizing-obama/

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  25. Racism and right wing ideology are the fruits of a very primitive mind. What I mean is that judicial activism as an idea is more likely to be an accepted fact if the actions are based on liberal ideology, and not perceived as "activism" if it is based on right wing ideology. That's true. probably because we as a people are a religious group, more focused on obedience and not on personal rights, and likely to feel that we do not deserve certain freedoms. As far as the racism side of republican politics, it also comes from that calvinist superiority that allows us to dehumanize black people precisely because of their status in society as well as the republican need to take a 180 degree position to the president, and therefore, all of Obama's policies are being framed in a manner that causes resentment to their angry base. And what better way to appeal to stupid white people than to play the race card.

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  26. Anonymous5:54 PM

    Nice insightful and thoughtful post Gryphen.

    follow_the_news

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  27. Anonymous9:52 PM

    Threaten?

    Well, maybe it's time we expand that court to 11 or maybe even 17 members. Dilute those clowns proper, teaching them a lesson on the branches of government!

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    Replies
    1. Indeed. I believe, nowhere does it state exactly how many SCOTUS' can be placed. Roosevelt stacked the court, I think our intelligent President should as well.

      Delete
  28. Anita Winecooler10:34 PM

    I only watch Anderson Cooper on CNN, it's leaning too far right for my tastes, almost as bad as Fox news.
    I can't thank you enough for this post. Toobin is someone whose opinions I've often appreciated when defending our President.

    I'm so proud to see Barack taking the gloves off and going into campaign mode with such a dramatic start. This is driving the Republicans crazy because Romney is so out of touch with the working poor and middle class. Citizens United and this recent search and seziure law they've passed is unconscionable. I feel that the President will prevail, but if he doesn't, imagine the groundswell of people feeling the SCOTUS is taking away their rights. It's almost a win-win for the President and for the Democrats.

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