In the wake of last week’s ruling on same-sex marriage, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal called for the dissolution of the U.S. Supreme Court. In a statement to the media, he said that the SCOTUS “is completely out of control, making laws on their own, and has become a public opinion poll instead of a judicial body,” adding that we should “just get rid of the court.”
Jindal is not alone. Since the Court’s 5-4 ruling making same-sex marriage legal in all fifty states, several right-wing governors and other politicians have expressed outrage. Prominent GOP Clown Car passenger Mike Huckabee calls it “judicial tyranny.” Earlier, old “Hot Tub” Tom DeLay warned of insurrection in the event of such a ruling. At the same time, Glenn Beck announced that he has 70,000 “warriors” prepared to sacrifice their lives in the upcoming holy war against “persecution” of Christians.
It goes on and on…but there’s an overarching issue here.
Remember Karl Rove? Several years ago, this latter-day Machiavelli laid out his strategy for a “permanent Republican majority.” It hasn’t quite worked out the way he and his cohorts had hoped Nonetheless, thanks to a combination of vote-rigging, gerrymandering and voter suppression, they’ve managed to take marginal control of both Houses of Congress. They also got the Supreme Court stacked with five right-wing, relatively youthful corporatist judges – who are appointed for life.
That hasn’t been working out quite as well as the GOP had hoped, either. As long as the SCOTUS gave them decisions like Citizens United v. FEC and Shelby County v. Holder, all was sweetness and light. But now, the honeymoon is over. Like Dr. Frankenstein, the GOP created a monster that is slipping from their control.
“Control” is the operative word, here. The GOP’s reaction to last week’s Supreme Court decisions has revealed their true agenda: one party rule with no checks and balances. The GOP not only wants unbridled control over the legislative process, it wants the power to declare war and build an empire abroad while creating a police state here at home. It wants to tell you who you can marry. It wants control over your reproduction. It would force every knee to bow down to them.
Jindal has frankly stated that he wants to get rid of the judiciary. As things stand, the Republican party may very well retain control of Congress next year, if only because of how they have rigged the game. On the other hand, their base is rapidly dying off. As far as the Executive Branch is concerned, even conservatives who aren’t completely insane acknowledge that GOP chances of winning the White House next year are small.
And as much as they would like, they haven’t gotten complete control of the Supreme Court. The GOP has been remarkably successful at blocking progress over the past several years, but that is all they have been able to do. Our system of checks and balances, as imperfect and frayed as it is, still manages to prevent our nation from descending into fascist totalitarianism.
