Right on, Brother Doug!

Doug Casey on Judging Justices
(Interviewed by Louis James, International Speculator)

L: Doug, you wrote in an email that you’ve been shaking your head over the latest antics of Supreme Court nomination and appointment. Care to tell us why?

Doug: Well, the whole thing is a pointless circus. The whole uproar over the “wise Latina” remark is irrelevant, and all the hours of intense scrutiny people are devoting to examining the alleged thoughts of Sotomayor are a waste of time. It serves absolutely no useful purpose whatsoever.

L: None whatsoever? Wouldn’t it matter if a justice got in who might be more harmful than another to the economy or civil liberties?

Doug: No, not at all. The kind of justice who might do some good could never make it through our highly politicized appointment process, so it’s a choice between Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber. It just doesn’t matter. But, for what it’s worth, Soto mayor seems to have all the wrong instincts. Besides, the Supreme Court has drifted so far from what it’s supposed to do that the court itself doesn’t matter.

The Supreme Court has a very simple mission; it’s supposed to safeguard the Constitution. The U.S. Constitution and its first ten amendments (the Bill of Rights) were adopted and ratified simultaneously. Though imperfect, it’s actually a pretty clear and easy-to-understand document.

All a Supreme Court justice should have to do is read the Constitution to see if the law in question is constitutional, in other words, falls within the authority spelled out in the Constitution. It’s that simple, and it doesn’t take a lawyer – in fact, a lawyer’s training, with all its emphasis on precedent and interpretation, is the exact opposite of what you want in a Supreme Court justice.

So the weight of precedent and so-called law that has built up over the years is basically junk. Most decisions reflect not what the Constitution says, or even what’s equitable, but the political views of the judges – who are all political appointees.

The vast majority of the Supreme Court’s precedent should be scrapped. They should start from scratch, and with a copy of the Constitution in hand, and strike down any law that the Constitution does not specifically authorize. Article One, Section 8, makes it absolutely clear that any powers not given to the government in the Constitution are reserved to the states and to the people. Amendments 9 and 10 of the Bill of Rights reinforce that. But they’re completely disregarded, like everything else in that document, which was made to shield the individual against the state.

L: That would eliminate most of the federal government – the SEC, the FDA, HEW, HUD, DOA, DOT, IRS, BATF, FBI, CIA, and who knows how many other agencies – leaving little besides the military and the post office.

lawyerBob sez; SOUNDS LIKE A PLAN, TO ME!

(Thanks to Brother Higgins for emailing this one.)