Rehnquist Paved the way for the Imperial Presidency

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Mon, 5 Sep 2005 21:53:44 -0400

Rehnquist Paved the way for the Imperial Presidency

 

 

 

 

 

Rehnquist Paved the way for the Imperial Presidency

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10136.htm

 

" He was a man of character and dedication. His departure represents a

great loss for the court and for our country. " George W. Bush on

hearing of the death of Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist

 

By Mike Whitney

 

09/05/05 " ICH " -- -- Let's not wring out the tears for William

Rehnquist. The man was the worst chief justice to ever serve on the

Supreme Court; a complete failure who disgraced his office and the

people he was supposed to serve. Never in the 200 year history of the

nation has the high court sustained more damage under the stewardship

of one man.

 

Rehnquist's partisan handiwork rigged the 2000 election and set the

country in a downward spiral to ruin. He cobbled together the

coalition of rogue-jurists who stripped the Florida Supreme Court of

their Constitutionally-guaranteed right to decide the outcome of state

elections and overturned the fundamental principle of democratic

government; the right to have one's vote counted.

 

Rehnquist invoked the 14th amendment; the " equal protection " clause to

elevate his friend George W. Bush to president. Prior to that, the

amendment had never even been used in cases other than racial

discrimination. Legal scholars and attorneys alike scoffed at the

shaky reasoning that held the case together. It was a complete

travesty that both Republicans and Democrats disdained. Rehnquist

abandoned every principle of judicial impartiality to shoehorn a

derelict-Texan into the Oval Office and to uphold his standing as a

charter member of the ruling class.

 

Look at the results.

 

Look what happens when the will of the people is brazenly ignored to

execute an elite agenda.

 

Iraq, the Cheney Energy papers, 9-11, Enron, Valerie Plame, Abu

Ghraib, Falluja, Guantanamo; the long litany of Bush-crimes should be

inscribed on Rehnquist's headstone next to the number of casualties

produced by his partisan blunder.

 

Rehnquist was an ardent class-warrior from his earliest days on the

court. He strongly opposed gay rights, abortion, gun control and

affirmative action, but was a staunch proponent of the death penalty.

This tells us that his sense of justice was shaped by his belief in

punishment, not mercy. Although Rehnquist would zealously defend the

right of the state to exterminate its own citizens, he vacillated on

even most basic rights of the individual.

 

In case after case, the Rehnquist Court bowed to the authority of the

president; allowing Bush to detain foreign nationals without formally

charging them with a crime and permitting the incarceration of " enemy

combatants " indefinitely at Guantanamo Bay subject to a review by

hand-picked military tribunals.

 

Rehnquist has repeatedly dodged the Jose Padilla case to allow the

president the tyrannical power of imprisoning an American citizen

without honoring habeas corpus, due process, or the presumption of

innocence. His evasion has upended the fundamental principle of

" inalienable rights " , the cornerstone of the Constitution, and

condemned an innocent man to 3 and half years in solitary confinement.

 

Padilla has never been charged with a crime. It is a disgrace that

should enrage every American.

 

Justice John Paul Stevens' summarized the feelings of most Americans

who reject the idea that citizens can be stripped of their rights

according to presidential edict. He said, the results of the Padilla

case pose " a unique and unprecedented threat to the freedom of every

American citizen... At stake is nothing less than the essence of a

free society... For if this Nation is to remain true to the ideals

symbolized by its flag, it must not wield the tools of tyrants even to

resist an assault by the forces of tyranny. "

 

Rehnquist had every opportunity to watch Bush's dismal war on terror.

He knew that the " forces of tyranny " had been greatly exaggerated to

carry out a global-militaristic strategy. Never the less, he

consistently chose to bolster the powers of the executive rather than

defend the basic rights of the citizen.

 

Rehnquist fancied himself a " strict constructionist " ; a judge who

simply applied the constitution according to its literal meaning. As

it turns out, he was entirely unwilling to defend any part of the Bill

of Rights

(excluding the revered 2nd amendment) and significantly eroded the

institution he was supposed to preserve.

 

Forget the state ceremonies for the deceased Chief Justice. Just put a

crease in the soil at Potter's field and kick a few leaves over the

hardening carcass.

 

If it was up to me, Rehnquist would never be buried on American soil.

The man betrayed his country and his name should be struck from the

history books.

 

He did nothing to shore up civil liberties or to preserve the

constitution. His tenure at the high court merely paved the way for

the Imperial Presidency and the further savaging of the rule of law.

 

Let Bush and his ilk sing Rehnquist's praises. What difference does it

make? The man was a miserable American and a dead-loss as a chief justice.