comsc US Politics | AMERICAblog News: Constitutional coup? PA voter ID Judge Simpson is a "pedigree Republican ideologue"
Join Email List | About us | AMERICAblog Gay
Elections | Economic Crisis | Jobs | TSA | Limbaugh | Fun Stuff

Constitutional coup? PA voter ID Judge Simpson is a "pedigree Republican ideologue"



| Reddit | Tumblr | Digg | FARK

By now you know that Penn. Judge Robert Simpson has put the court stamp of approval on Pennsylvania's game-changer voter ID law.

Now comes newer news about how this rule is being administered. Mike Papantonio puts all of that in context in a conversation with Ed Schultz on Shultz's radio show. (The video is from the studio of Ring of Fire Radio, where Papantonio's side was taped.)

My comments first:

(1) There is no question that this is an ongoing constitutional coup by the Republican party. We watched the Republican governors all last year and their attempted take-over of democratic government in Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio, among other places.

Read this about the role of the judicial system in legitimizing constitutional coup. This is what that looks like in the U.S.

(2) If the mass of people don't rise up, this becomes "the new normal" — with only one side (Republicans) playing by this "new rule."

Bush v Gore was the time for Americans to stand with democracy, and the people were found wanting. This is the next act in that drama — the next attempt by one side to use the judiciary to recapture the White House.

(3) According to Papantonio, this is the Republican Party's last shot at the crown:
Because of demographic changes, if they don't win here, this could be the death of the Republican party.
You don't have to agree with Papantonio; just consider whether Republicans agree with him. If Republicans think this is their last shot, watch out. They were already dangerous; this makes them dangerous and desperate.

Now here's the interview. I'm starting this at the 3:20 point to get right to Papantonio's response to Ed's three-minute question, "I'm flabbergasted; what's going on?"



Constitutional coup — capturing the organs of state, then using them to pervert the system into permanent one-party rule. If you don't first capture the judiciary, you can't do the coup.

The Republicans have spent 20–30 years capturing the judiciary. (A great discussion of that by Dahlia Lithwick is here.)

Are Republicans ready to pull the trigger nationally? Looks like it to me.

GP

To follow or send links: @Gaius_Publius


blog comments powered by Disqus