How to Reign In the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court will start consideration of cases in its new term on the first Monday in October.  Many High Court observers expect that SCOTUS will have a diminished case-load during the 2016-2017 term as it awaits confirmation of  Associate Justice Antonin Scalia's replacement.

***

A more philosophical question is what should be the role of the Supreme Court.  Chelsea Clinton has mentioned on the hustings that openings the Supreme Court will allow her mother to fundamentally redefine the parameters of the Second Amendment.  

Most likely there would be no outright repeal of this fundamental freedom given by God, but it would take a narrow reading of the organic law and assert that this right is limited to organized militias. This would effectively make it a dead letter, like the Tenth Amendment.

So instead of being final arbiters of cases, the Supreme Court would act like a super-legislature, only they are unelected and there is virtually no way to upend their ukases

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) while campaigning for President proposed having retention elections for the judiciary, as they do in Iowa.  That sounds more appealing on the campaign trail then it would be applicable in the Federal City. However, it does voice the frustration of many Americans who feel cut out of the governing process.  California twice approved referendums defining marriage (which was primarily a state issue), yet in Obergefell, the Supreme Court overturned the will of voters under a Right of Dignity interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment and then expanded this right of same-sex marriage to all 50 states.

Two longer shot prospects not considered by judicial watchers are the possibility that Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump (R-NY) might win and actually live by his promise to nominate conservative judicial candidates.  

The other way to remedy judicial tyranny would be limitations on Article III power.  While Congress can theoretically reign in lower courts, it is unlikely to do so. This would leave such reformation to application of an Article V Convention of States.  While that emergency level has been in place for 227 years, it has never been successfully invoked yet. But as more and more power is taken away from states yet they are saddled with the brunt of implementing dictates from the District of Calamity (sic), this may become a more feasible possibility. 

Trey Gowdy Chary of Self-Assessments

Impeaching FBI Excuses of Non-Prosecution of Clinton Email Mess

For Hillary Clinton, What Does "C" Stand For?

The FBI's pre-Labor Day document drop of notes regarding Democrat Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's (D-NY) interview about the Clinton offical e-mails on a private server contained an incredible conceit.

The notes revealed that the former Secretary of State told her FBI interviewers that that she did not realize that a "C" marking of a paragraph in official messages indicated "Classified".  Wags wondered what Mrs. Clinton thought the "C" stood for.

Greg Gutfeld on Voting for Hillary Because She's a Woman

Ambassador John Bolton: Vote for Hillary-- Not Indicted Yet

 

Why Visit No Man's Land?

Cynics have long lamented that the system is rigged and that all politicians are liars.  Alas, some of the headlines in 2016 confirm this jaundiced world view.  

Mark Twain once quipped: “If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you’re misniformed.“ With this in mind, why visit “No Man’s Land”?

• Nearly all polls showed that UK votes would reject Brexit, yet the referendum to leave the European Union won by a large margin.  Were the polls rigged? Was media coverage slanted? Or were there forces which tried to influence the outcome but failed in this instance?

• Senator Bernie Sanders (Socialist-VT)  kept beating Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D-NY) in Democrat Presidential primaries but due to the allocation system and Super Delegates, the preordanined winner became ever closer to her coronation... uh that is nomination.  Were the Democrat primaries preordained?  How much was the winner helped by the Democrat National Committe headed by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL 23rd)

• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was investigated for a year and a half by the FBI over her private homebrew email server for official government business.  FBI Director Comey excoriates Hillary Clinton over the many irregularities associated with her email set up , then declines to suggest to the Department of Justice to press charges.  Are there special rules for Washington Establishment insiders? 

• The Main Stream Media seized upon every seemingly outrageous soundbyte from Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump (R-NY), but rarely gives the full context or hyperbolizes the worst interpretation.  Is all of the press slanted?  Where can ordinary Americans find news?

While America still has vibrant First Amendment freedoms, people need not settle for the official story, especially if it seems sketchy. The Internet allows for corrections of the record, covering news which the Main Stream Media conveniently declines to cover and the sharing of opinion so one can better discern the truth of the matter.

Check your sources.  All reporting has a viewpoint.  Often it is shaped by opinion or emphasis. Once you recognize that fact, it helps you discern between facts and slanted perspectives.  

Challenge your news sources.  Sometimes, timely reportage requires unnamed sources (e.g. “Senior Government Officials”) who must remain shielded. But if news is based totally on anonymous sources or relies on one source, be confident that the “jo-whore-nalist” is intellectually seducing you. 

But on the other hand, don’t believe everything that is published on the Internet. If the news piece can substantiate itself through reference to other reliable sources, one might lend the report more credence.

Assess what is not reported.  This can be hard for someone who is not a news junkie. But an insidious power of the media is not only what they report but what they don’t report. When reporting on a political crime, one party is often immediately reveled whereas those in the other party rarely are immediately identified.  Many liberal Main Stream Media will give short shrift to some stories (such as possible pay-for-play connections between  Hillary’s State Department and the Clinton Foundation) whereas they are covered on other media can be telling.

It may not be convenient to avoid political minefields of corruption and deception but A No Man’s Land may provide a map avoiding the obstacles on our path.