The No Kool Aid Zone

An Open Letter to President Bush, on the Supreme Court

Posted by Byron July 18, 2005 at 9:27 am
Filed Under Conservative/Libertarian Politics | Leave a Comment |

Dear Mr. President,

The current opening—and possible openings-to-be—provides you a unique opportunity to re-shape the current direction of the Supreme Court. I write today to tell you that, for this American at least, you must. And while I’m not typically an “ultimatums” guy, I am drawing a line in the sand. Right here, right now, on this issue.

We have been patient, Mr. President; we have certainly been patient. Seven of the current Supreme Court justices were nominated by Republicans, and even though the constructionists only number three, we have continued to place our faith in your party to right the direction of the ship of state. I have voted for you in both your elections, primarily because I am hoping that you will be the man to rescue us from this Constitutional morass.

That is what I am counting on you to do, Mr. President—and I fully intend to hold you accountable—and to urge others to do the same.

You earned in the last election, Mr. President, more popular votes than any President in history. There are 55 Republican senators. The House is Republican. There is no reason whatever—absolutely none—for you to not do the right thing. You don’t even have the concern of re-election. Nothing should hold you back.

Certainly, the Democrats will complain; they’ll talk about “balance” and they’ll throw their typical catchwords around: “extremist”; “far right wing”; “out of the mainstream”; “captive to the Religious Right”. They’ll probably get uglier than that.

But you are a man, and have proven yourself to be. You can stand up to them, use your office as a bully pulpit, explain to Americans that the future of the very rule of law is what is at stake. Because it is.

You can explain to them that it was five people who are to blame for the fact that their homes and businesses are no longer safe against seizure by the government, if that government decides that a new Wal-Mart is a greater community asset than their homes. Or churches. Or synagogues. Or small businesses. You can explain that it was five people who believe that their pronouncements—and not the Constitution itself—constitute the law of the land. You can explain that, as a compassionate conservative, you care about these people and their property, and that you’ll appoint justices who will protect them—because the Constitution, rightly interpreted, protects them.

You can explain to them—assuming that you believe it—that there are many issues that should be handled at the state, and not the federal, level, and that the Court for several generations has not understood this. You can explain that the first problem with Roe v. Wade has nothing to do with abortion, and everything to do with Constitutional reasoning, and that, if Roe is overturned, each state will re-assume its prerogative to handle the issue as it sees fit—exactly as it should.

You can explain that the selection of judges should not have the political overtones that it does in our current politically-charged climate, that the issue in choosing effective judges is not a judge’s own personal political beliefs, but rather his approach to the law itself. Thus, you can explain that “balance” is a red herring, and that a “balanced” Court consists of nine people who believe that their role is to interpret the law, not make it.

You can educate the American people as to the role of the judiciary, and as to how activists have usurped the legislative task, and made law from the bench. You can explain how the will of the people is constantly thwarted by activist judges, how referenda in state after state have been passed by the voters, only to have their clear intent subverted by an activist judge finding some obscure loophole. You can explain how this makes a mockery of our system.

I write to you today, Mr. President, to tell you that, not only can you do these things—you must. Because for this American, it is high noon. I voted for you with the belief that you would do the right thing in nominating constructionists to the bench. If you violate the faith I have placed in you, you will have destroyed the final reason for me to vote for your party—and I will no longer do so.

If we continue to see the rule of law eroded in our country, it will not be long before anarchy reigns. If on your watch, while it is in your power to do so, you do not do all that you can to fix this glaring problem, then I will consider you—and your party—to be part of the problem, and not part of the solution. I will lose whatever faith I have left in you and yours, and I will cast my lot with others.

I hope that it does not come to that—but if it does, rest assured that it will no longer matter to me whether or not I am “wasting my vote” to vote “third-party”, because, Mr. President, if you do not do what millions of us are counting on you to do when it comes to the Court, then I will consider my votes for you to have been wasted. Further, I will use whatever influence I have to urge others to do the same, for if you fail here, Mr. President, in this critical hour with so much at stake and the political tides running in your favor, then you and your party will have betrayed my trust, and it is doubtful that you’ll ever win it back.

I pray that God will give you the courage and the wisdom to do the right thing. You know what it is, in your heart. Do it, Mr. President; do it!

If you do, you will have my gratitude and support. If you do not, you will snuff out my last embers of hope, and my intent will be to strenuously oppose your party, for its cowardice in the face of duty to our nation, for the rest of my life.

Here I stand, Mr. President, here I stand; I can do no other.

Sincerely,

Byron D. Harvey