Chief Justice William Rehnquist Dies at 80: What does it all mean for us as a Nation?
In what seems like a strange end to a surreal week, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court The Honorable William Rehnquist died at about 11pm EST last night at the age of 80. Known for his lone dissents when first appointed, and his brilliant judicial mind, the Chief Justice was a complicated man, with a judicial philosophy rather than an agenda. He dissented in Roe v. Wade and was known as a strong proponent of state's rights, and authored the opinion in the case of Bush v. Gore, and presided over the impeachment hearings of Bill Clinton.
In the 1980, while in law school, I grew up on the legal opinions of the Chief Justice,as I watched the pendulum swing from a court of liberalism to one towards conservatism. Although more often than not I was in disagreement with the conclusions of Justice Rehnquist, he had a brilliant legal mind, and was an outstanding jurist, standing in a league of his own.
May the Chief Justice rest in peace.
Within moments after his death was announced, Bush said, that this was a great loss for the nation. It is curious why Bush's response to those who were ravaged by Katrina this week did not come with the the same speed, considering that many people died, others became homeless, and cities were literally under water without support.
One of my friends, someone who is more conservative than me, said this is bad for you! I said, no, this is bad for you as well.
Now this leaves two vacancies in the United States Supreme Court for Mr. Bush to fill. Given his horrible examples of lack of leadership this week in the Gulf coast, and his inability to protect and give federal aid to those who were in imminent danger, you can bet that he will act swiftly when it comes to filling the shoes of the Chief Justice. For me, what it means when Bush acts, is even more staggering, and to tell you the truth, I want to go into my bed and pull the covers over my head after such a difficult week has come to an even more stunning end.
Can anything be made of this week? Are there any lessons to be learned or garnished about personal responsibility, governmental response to action, the manner in which we should take personal responsibility, and act, the way our Congress can react? Have the effects of the hurricane, its aftermath, and now the death of the Chief Justice, brought us to a point where we now say, enough is enough! Is it now time for our Congress to act and deal with the lack of leadership in this country?
EDIT: This blog put a smile on my face today:
http://www.ididnotvote4bush.com/pages/1/index.htm
New thoughts brought about as a new day dawns.
Thank you for your minds.
18 Comments:
Who will Dubya appoint? Maybe he'll ask his travel agent... she probably knows him better than anyone.
Barbara, I knew I could count on you this morning for some insight and thoughts on the events of the week and the death of Rehnquist. I am glad to know I am not the only person who gets this sick feeling in my gut about the future of the nation and the Supreme Court with the current leadership in our country. It is time for a wake-up call, especially for the Bush supporters. He is inept at best and totally detached from reality at worst. His simpering half-smiles during his media appearances this week show that he seems very uncomfortable with the rescue and assistance failures in the Gulf coast. I bet he didn't even want to be down there but was probably forced to go by his yes-men. So he got out of a helicopter, hugged two women, and did a fly-by. Jimmy Carter would have been down there instantly and rolling up his sleeves. Clinton would have set up camp there and helped out with his own two hands.
What I feel in this constant movement to ultra-conservatism is a growing selfishness in the American people. They elected Bush on his "Family Values" agenda, his right-to-life agenda, and now the one-issue electorate will have to deal with the fact that they chose a man without character or concern.
People elected this government and now are crying because the conservatives don't spend government money on the poor and disenfranchised.
I feel that the liberal left must find a true leader, someone who can begin to counter the right-swing that our country is in right now.
Both of the upcoming Supreme Court appointments will have serious ramifications for many, many years.
Thanks for this topic today, Barbara. I know I'm rambling but my thoughts are racing. I did try to make sense of them here.
Patti,
One would hope for logical thinking at this time, reflecting, and a call asking, what, if anything can we learn and do now.
What I fear is that Bush, and his supporters, will look at this whole week as a sign: New Orleans, sin city, filled with sex, prostitution, gays, drinking, drugs, has been struck down. At the same time the Chief Justice dies, evidence that this was all part of God's will to strike down those who were making trouble, and bring a new order to this country.
Even saying this makes my stomach turn!
I cried. I might as well remove my womb and hand it over.
Makes me want to look up the ages of the other Justices and figure out how long they might be on the Court ... It's all way too scary. Bush's impact will be felt for too long a time. I fear for my daughters. Canada is looking better every day.
Wolf and I have been discussing move out of the US, but we've not come to any conclusions on where to go. Some thoughts are Ireland, Portugal, and Sicily, but those are all conseravative Catholic nations, so I'm not sure that's what we want--although I can tell you I don't want to move to Canada, it's too cold.
I'm thinking the best place on Earth right now is Tristan da Cunha
Yeah, I didn't blog about this in my own blog cuz I knew you'd be covering it in here.
Patti, you're completely right about Bush, BTW. But I do disagree with you about Clinton. He would only have waded in there for the photo op, while his barber was on standby in AirForce 1. I don't like either one of 'em.
Anyway, the Supremes are dropping like flies. I wasn't worried about the first one, but now we're looking at the potential to really skew the court. However, I remain steadfast in saying that it can't be skewed TOO much, because the people who are nominated have to have a vast amount of experience and, if nothing else, must adhere to precedent and law.
Barbara, I feel like you just pulling the covers over my head and plugging my ears. All three states are my childhood- family, relatives and friends live in all those places. My eyes are sore from crying.
I differ on a few opinions, but that is okay I hope. It took two days for the winds to go down enough for planes to fly over to even get a glimpse of what had occurred. I lived on the coast during Camile and as a child went through Betsy. Probably experienced 20+ hurricanes in my lifetime. No one could imagine that this would be the worst EVER and in such a short time as Katrina roared in quickly. I am not pointing fingers, this awful historical disaster is still not completely known to the full extent.
We can not blame one person, in my opinion. The way I understand it the Governor of LA, had to go to Senate. Perhaps I am wrong...???Channels followed by law. ????
I do agree our Country is in for scary days ahead and we are watching it unfolded before our eyes. LIVE in our homes!!
Since 9/11, not so long ago - our country woke up to Security. It is difficult to put our history (yrs past up to date) of the U.S. all in a few years to catch up to protecting us from another terror attack. Everyday it seems we are trying to learn by human beings on how to act quickly to a tragic disaster. Unfortunately we are all hoping that our government can cover every angle and not leave a stone unturned to what to do.
The Supreme Court feels they are God, so yes this is going to be crucial too. I am upset by all this beyond words and scared for our safety. Many can fool others until they are placed on that bench!
Who is qualified in all departments of Gov, courts, etc. - to be the smartest, the best, or someone that knows everything to take charge? Who in the world is this person? that has Every Answer?
Your friend (smiling) Suzie
Thanks for letting me vent my own opinions. Missed you, sorry lately no debate IN ME, just tramatized by watching this horror!
Obviously, I'm very nervous about what W. has in store. And of course this had to happen this week! The you-know-what is hitting the fan.
I think we're facing some very difficult times. The effects of this hurricane aren't even fathomable at this point. This is going to have a large effect on the economy, and it will hi the poor the harest. Given what we've seen in New Orleans, I think the poor have had enough. With the war added on, and Renquist's death, I think our country has changed forever in a matter of days. I have no idea what kind of person will be appointed, but I can be sure he or she will not be of the same political mind as I. For the first time, we're seriously considering leaving the country. I don't trust my government anymore, and they're certainly not doing anything to gain my trust. I feel a depression coming on, and I'm doing all I can to fight it. I do feel a little melodramatic, but drastic times bring drastic emotions.
Although I often disagreed with Justice Rehnquist, he had my complete respect and admiration, which is more than I can say for some of the Justices who currently serve, and for our President as well.
Susie, I am sorry to hear about your family woes, and hope that there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel.
If I move, it will be to Israel or Australia, probably Israel, which is looking better and better to me every day.
Let us all keep a proper perpective, and always hope for the best.
Regarding this post, today this is all I know:
this week people lived and people died and mother nature just kept on doing what she has always done
First of all, I am so tired of the words “Liberals” and “Conservatives”, “Left Wing and Right Wing” … what about people. We seem to hide behind these words like a warm blanket as a way of saying one group of people is better then the other group; or that mines is bigger then yours. These types of labeling impede the progress of a nation of people, and hinder the growth of humanity as a whole, and keep us divided by outdated concepts and prejudices. As it stand, we live in a very primitive society where we can’t seem to get pass a person’s skin color or condition in life. We tend to want to blame them for it.
I am very afraid that the two new Justices that Bush will choose will perpetuate the division of our people using these labeling and others; like Christians and non-Christians. To tell you the truth, when it comes to god I believe in everything and nothing! Right about now, looking at New Orleans … it’s easy for me to believe in nothing.
You know Barbara, as I was re-reading the Declaration of Independence this morning, which was a call to arms against King George III from the new America; I saw with disgust the parallels to our own King George, Jr. and the direction in which he is running this country. It would make no sense to try and quote the parts I am speaking about, because 99% of them apply to George Bush. After all, he is the leader and the buck stops with him, no matter who is running the white house behind his back … George must shoulder the blame for his administration action or lack of actions, wherever the problem lies.
I am getting old, and death doesn’t look too bad for me because I believe in re-incarnation. But I don’t want to come back to this world, because there is too much hate, which out-balances love. Why is it taking us so long to get it … that although we are like snowflakes, each one individually unique, but when looking at us from a humanity point of view, we are all one. There is only one Human Race.
What is bad for one is bad for the others, as you have so wisely stated.
I don’t have any respect for the Republicans Party or the Democratic Party. Neither represents all the people, as they should. We need a People’s Party … we have been around long enough to know what works and what don’t work.
btw the
"Kafka" that I refer to is a project played by Nigel Kennedy together with a polish kletzmer band
and great post but do not give credit to GWB he is not worth any attention
Love Nigel Kennedy & Kafka..I will have to look into that one, poems and writings, thank you so much.
Please say it is not true: I just read that the Navy is giving the hurricane clean-up project to Haliburton!!!!!!!!!!! It is like one, large form of incest!
To me, the fundamental problem is our system of campaign financing. Politicians talk about tinkering with it every election cycle, but nobody talks about overturning Buckley v. Valeo, the supreme court decision in the 70s that equates political campaign donations with "free speech."
Money's been talking ever since. Under this system, I dont see how we ever get anything but government of, by, and for the corporations. I don't know what reverses this.
This week has been a real doozey for all of us. The Hurricane with all it's devestation and as you said the lack of personal and govermental prepardness. I wonder if they will rebuild a city that is under sea level already? There were failures on all levels and there are many lessons to be learned from all of this. Oh, what a mess. Thank God for all the wonderful people in this nation that have jumped to help the evacuees.
Then the Chief Justice dies and leaves another opening on the supreme court. I salute the Chief Justice for sticking to the Constitution in making his decisions and not legislating from the bench. I actually hope we get another Judge just like him.
Thanks for the post.
Can somone explain to me why they fear for their daughters?
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