Courts, Judges, Lawyers, et al.

Note: Yesterday I wrote an earlier version of this post, but suddenly it disappeared. I know not why -- likely something stupid done by yours truly. So I've tried to duplicate below what I had written earlier.

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Okay, let me begin by apologizing to any lawyers who might read this. In truth I really don’t care much for the legal profession, despite the number of lawyers I count among my friends. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy spending time with my attorney friends and talking over all that’s interesting, until they inevitably slide down into the legal stuff and get all lawyerly on me. Then I want to throw up, and thank God that I never had a hankering to go to law school. Fortunately, friendship usually trumps the churning in my stomach and life goes on.

I bring this up today because of the news of the Supreme Court’s decision on President Trump’s use of tariffs. I couldn’t help but recall the nasty comment about lawyers from Henry IV, Part 2. There Shakespeare put words into the mouth of an unsavory character, Dick the Butcher, who supported Jack Cade. Cade, a lawless rebel and likely anarchist, not only disliked laws, but also all those who enacted them or passed judgments based on them. Jack's really an early predecessor of today's leftists, who share most of his beliefs.

For Shakespeare, Dick's words were obvious satire, and did not reflect the bard's beliefs. And yet, they've become immortal and no doubt have been inwardly enjoyed by many normally law-abiding folks who have been ill-used by lawyers. Dick's statement:

"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."

 ...certainly not a very Christian sentiment, but we have no evidence that either Dick or Jack were practicing Christians. And as an ordained permanent deacon in the Church, I will neither applaud nor tolerate such a vile wish. I desire nobody's death and pray only for the salvation of all. 

But Shakespeare's brief comment certainly struck a chord with a lot of people over the centuries, something we cannot appreciate if we lack a sense of humor. Yes, indeed, Dick the Butcher's words have generated quite a few laughs, even from lawyers. 

I mention this because of something I heard on a local talk show yesterday as I was driving to the store. Addressing the tariff decision by the Supreme Court a caller said, "I have only one comment. Let's kill all the lawyers," and then hung up. The host and I both chuckled.

For those of you who read only this blog -- which would be very sad -- the U. S. Supreme Court, in a 6 to 3 decision, declared that President Trump's broad-based use of tariffs was not permitted by the legislation upon which he based his authority. The Court agreed that the law allows the president to "regulate" trade, but stated that such regulation does not include across-the-board tariffs, an authority granted only to Congress by the Constitution. There are other complications, for example, the law's understanding of what constitutes an emergency, and lots of other legal stuff that most citizens, including me, neither care about nor understand.

My problem with the Court's decision involves its unwillingness (or sheer inability) to address the consequences of the decision. Of course, three justices, all Trump-deranged liberals, inevitably go against the president on any major decision. But such political hacks are hardly true justices. (Just listen to Justice Katanji Brown Jackson or read her decisions...it's painful.) The Court actually prides itself on ignoring the consequences of its decisions, regardless of its effect on the economy or foreign relations. I suppose if a decision increased the probability of nuclear war, they'd congratulate themselves.

Anyway, the dissenting comments by Justices Kavanaugh, Alito, and Thomas are worth reading and, at least to me, display a clearer and wiser understanding of the issue. As for the others, please do not join Dick the Butcher and wish them dead. Our justices have already received enough death threats from those on the far left who, because they are unable to defend their beliefs, just prefer to kill their opponents. Far better to pray for them all, asking God to teach them the difference between law and justice. Pray, too, that they come to understand the importance of the Judeo-Christian foundational moral values upon which our nation came into being and sustain it still.

God's peace and justice.

Politicians, Truth, and Hypocrisy

Politicians are a unique breed, especially those who turn politics into a lifelong career. And don’t you just love those pols who speak of their dedicated career of “public service” when we all know their true goal is their re-election? I’ll admit, we all sometimes place our own needs over the needs of those we serve, but politicians seem to have turned this into a true science. They assume — too often, correctly — that we voters will forget their past indiscretions and self-indulgence and instead focus only on the government funds tossed our way. But their most serious sin, at least from my perspective, is their blatant hypocrisy. 

Things might be changing, though. We the People are starting to awaken to the fact that politicians are supposed to represent us, our beliefs, our values, and our need to live free.  Just look at President Biden's current support. Citizens have begun to recognize and resent all the hypocrisy and all the lies. Here’s a very recent example that has generated a lot of comment:

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The other day President Biden, in response to the identification of a new COVID variant, which arose in and is now spreading throughout much of southern Africa, issued a travel ban. Here is his tweet informing us of his decision:

“The WHO has identified a new COVID variant which is spreading through Southern Africa. As a precautionary measure until we have more information, I am ordering air travel restrictions from South Africa and seven other countries.”  [2:38 PM.  Nov 26, 2021]

This seems a reasonable decision, as the president said, “until we have more information.” But how many Americans recall candidate Biden’s reaction when President Trump issued similar bans back in early 2020? On January 31, 2020, President Trump declared a public health emergency because of the COVID-19 pandemic and temporarily restricted travel from China, where the virus originated. The very next day Joe Biden attacked President Trump by tweeting the following:

“We are in the midst of a crisis with the coronavirus. We need to lead the way with science — not Donald trump’s record of hysteria, xenophobia, and fear-mongering. He is the worst possible person to lead our country through a global health emergency. [5:01 PM.  Feb 1, 2020]

In that same month, when President Trump added travel restrictions from several African and Asian nations — Nigeria, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan, Eritrea, Sudan, and Tanzania — the Democrats declared the president’s decision was “driven by hate.” Candidate Biden’s tweet was particularly interesting in light of his current actions:

“Trump further diminished the U.S. in the eyes of the world by expanding his travel ban. This new ‘African Ban’ is designed to make it harder for black and brown people to immigrate to the United States. It’s a disgrace, and cannot let him succeed.” [10:16 PM   Feb 1, 2020]

The same day Kamala Harris hopped on the “Trump’s a racist” bandwagon by tweeting: 

“Trump’s extended Un-American travel ban undermines our nation’s core values. It is clearly driven by hate, not security.” [5:16 PM   Feb 1, 2020]

About a month later, on March 11, 2020, President Trump suspended travel from Europe, hoping to slow the spread of the virus. Once again, on the very next day, candidate Biden responded with:

“A wall will not stop the coronavirus. Banning all travel from Europe — or any other part of the world — will not stop it. This disease could impact every nation and any person on the planet — and we need a plan to combat it.” [8:05 PM   Mar 12, 2020]

“...impact every nation and any person…” Did I detect a little fear-mongering in there? 

Of course, Speaker Nancy Pelosi had to join the fray and label President Trump a cruel, bigoted, biased, callous person whose actions must be unconstitutional. Her actual statement is worth repeating:

“The Trump Administration's expansion of its outrageous, un-American travel ban threatens our security, our values and the rule of law. The sweeping rule, barring more than 350 million individuals from predominantly African nations from traveling to the United States, is discrimination disguised as policy.

“America's strength has always been as a beacon of hope and opportunity for people around the world, whose dreams and aspirations have enriched our nation and made America more American. With this latest callous decision, the President has doubled down on his cruelty and further undermined our global leadership, our Constitution and our proud heritage as a nation of immigrants.

“In the Congress and in the Courts, House Democrats will continue to oppose the Administration's dangerous anti-immigrant agenda. In the coming weeks, the House Judiciary Committee will mark-up and bring to the Floor the NO BAN Act to prohibit religious discrimination in our immigration system and limit the President's ability to impose such biased and bigoted restrictions. We will never allow hatred or bigotry to define our nation or destroy our values.”

Okay, what are the odds any Democrat, or any member of the mainstream media, will even hint that Joe Biden’s travel ban, aimed exclusively at Africans south of the Sahara, might be slightly hypocritical or worse, a racist policy designed to restrict immigration of black people?