The upcoming nomination to replace Justice O'Connor will have a life-long impact on the course of our country. Over these last years, Justice O'Connor has been the tie-breaking vote in a number of critical cases, in many cases staving off a significant pull to the Radical Right by justices like Scalia and Thomas. Her departure represents the loss of a significant check against the Radical Right's completion in taking over the third and final branch of government.
So what does that mean to the average American? You need look no further than any of Justice Scalia's dissenting opinions. As the ideological heart of the Right on the Court, his opinions represent where the Court will head if O'Connor's moderate voice is replaced with another minion like Thomas.
From Scalia's dissent in the Lawrence v. Texas case:
Even if the Texas law does deny equal protection to "homosexuals as a class," that denial still does not need to be justified by anything more than a rational basis, which our cases show is satisfied by the enforcement of traditional notions of sexual morality.Enforcement of traditional notions of sexual morality. Enforcement by whom? By our government of course. Justice Scalia and his apologists have for years tediously worked to put themselves in the very position that they are in today - one vote away from a massive government intrusion into the personal lives of every American. As many of us said last year in the election, gays and lesbians were simply the first of many targets.
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One of the most revealing statements in today's opinion is the Court's grim warning that the criminalization of homosexual conduct is "an invitation to subject homosexual persons to discrimination both in the public and in the private spheres." Ante, at 14. It is clear from this that the Court has taken sides in the culture war, departing from its role of assuring, as neutral observer, that the democratic rules of engagement are observed. Many Americans do not want persons who openly engage in homosexual conduct as partners in their business, as scoutmasters for their children, as teachers in their children's schools, or as boarders in their home. They view this as protecting themselves and their families from a lifestyle that they believe to be immoral and destructive.
It didn't take long for the next target to be identified. Women's rights. As we've seen with the assault on the availability of the morning after pill and birth control as a whole, it's time for the rest of the public to wake up, because this time it will be too late.
Court appointments are for a lifetime. Justice O'Connor served for 24 years. To think about 24 years of a Scalia style court think about where you were in 1981, where the country was, where the culture was. We've moved a great deal in that time. Now think about moving all that back.
The pressure point in this fight will be Congress, not the President. He will nominate whomever he wants. While one could go on and on talking about how this nomination will define the President's legacy, you'll be reading that all over the place in the next day or two. Instead, I want us to focus on the real power in this process - Congress. The President's numbers have tanked, the Congress's numbers aren't that far behind. The President, however, is done. His career is over - he never has to face the public in an election again. We are, however, just a short 17 months to the next Congressional election. Now is the time to mobilize for the 2006 election, and this issue is the one that must make it happen. Failure here is not an option.
Happy 4th - your independence is on the line.
-- Rob in Baltimore
