Michael Butler's Blog

The US Supreme Court is in dire need of even more attention than it is presently receiving. Our future, our children and our grandchildren are going to be effected by who is currently elevated to the court.

Family history tells of the friendship between grandfather Frank O. Butler and Franklin D. Roosevelt. The friendship was destroyed, according to local legend, by FDR’s seizing control for park lands large holdings coveted by FOB in South Dakota. At that time the Butler’s were serious cattle & horse ranchers there and in Montana . This was also the reason for such large holdings west of Chicago to fatten beef for the stockyards. However to hear FOB, it was that FDR was trying pack the Supreme Court and ‘betrayed his class’.

Now we have a similar situation of a highly controvesial president moving to set the agenda for Americans way beyond his term of office. Many presidents have tried and some have been successful in changing the course of jurisprudence. Some have also been surprised with the end result of positions taken by their appointees.

What is at stake? Well some very current items are: Oregon’s right to die law, California’s medical marijuana, Abortion rights to a younger girl, Protecting public employees as whistle blowers, Federal funds for colleges tied to military recruitment. These are just some items presently on the docket. Not mentioned are major hot button, highly divisive issues just over the horizon.

We are currently faced with the nomination of a highly conservative, fundamentalist, worshiping crony of the president to replace Justice O’Connor. Bush trusts nomine Harriet Miers’ judgement and says it will never change. He finds her a strict constructionist who will follow his approach to the Constitution. I suppose that is similar to the US Supreme court’s postion in 2000 about the Florida Supreme court’s finding on the presidential election proceedure. Ms. M’iers has a fundamentalist (accept Jesus Christ or go to hell) approach to law and politics. Of great curiousity should be her tenure with the Texas Lottery Commission and its connection to George W. Bush’s history with the Texas National Guard.

An interesting sidelight to this nomination are the conservative oppositions to it. Could it be a Trojan Horse? If I were in Carl Rove’s shoes I would like to see such mutterings to throw the disorganised Democrats completely off balance.

Beware of Greeks bearing Gifts