Sunday, March 8, 2020

Senator Chuck Schumer Finally Crossed the Line in Threatening Supreme Court Justices

Abortion is the litmus test for Democratic politicians. Pro-life Democrats are muted. The Supreme Court battles over Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh were over abortion. The mantra is unrestricted abortion. No compromises. Almost anything goes in preserving Roe v. Wade and its progeny. Senator Schumer on the steps of the Supreme Court in front of a pro-abortion rally hosted by the Center for Reproductive Rights yelled and pointed at the Court: I want to tell you Gorsuch. I want to tell you Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price! You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions That is a threat, a fairly direct threat aimed at the two most recently confirmed justices. This what you would expect from a third world tyrant, not the Minority Leader of the United States Senate. Chief Justice Roberts released a statement rebuking the Senate Minority Leader: This morning , Senator Schumer spoke at a rally in front of the Supreme Court while a case was being heard inside. Senator Schumer referred to two members of the court by name and said he wanted to tell them that ‘You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You will not know what will hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions. Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous. All members of the court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter. Justin Goodman, spokesperson for Senator Schumer, escalated by accusing the Chief Justice of bias: “For Justice Roberts to follow the right wing’s deliberate misinterpretation of what Senator Schumer said, while remaining silent when President Trump attacked Justices Sotomayor and Ginsberg last week, shows Justice Roberts does not just call balls and strikes.” President Trump did not threaten the two justices. He said they should recuse themselves for bias. Justice Sotomayor wrote in a dissent last week: “Claiming one emergency after another, the Government has recently sought stays in an unprecedented number of cases, demanding immediate attention and consuming limited court resources.” The Justice Department has every legal right to appeal to the Supreme Court when lower courts have issued nationwide injunctions, that are constitutionally flawed. The Justice Department often has no choice but to often seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court, Justice Sotomayor not withstanding. Justice Ginsberg in 2016 called candidate Trump a “faker.” She added “I can’t imagine what this place would be – I can’t imagine what the country would be – with Donald trump as our President.” She also said “Now it’s time for us to move to New Zealand.” The President said the two should recuse themselves because of pronounced bias against the president and his Administration. He did not threaten them! He criticized Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who’s presiding over the Roger Stone case, in a tweet: “Is this the Judge that put Paul Manafort in SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, something that not even mobster Al Capone had to endure? How did she treat crooked Hillary Clinton? Just asking!” The President was accused of interfering with the fair administration of justice. No president should comment on judges in pending cases. President Trump should have learned that lesson from his comments on District Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel of San Diego, who was handling the Trump University litigation. He said the rulings were unfair. He said Judge Curiel “happens to be, we believe, Mexican, which is great. I think that’s fine.” “I’m building a wall. It’s an inherent conflict of interest.” (because he’s Mexican)(Judge Curiel was born in Indiana) “I have a judge who is a hater of Donald Trump, a hater. He’s a hater.” Judges stick together. Federal district judges on the West Coast, and elsewhere, started to immediately decide against the Trump Administration in case after case, irrespective of the Constitution and federal statutes. It was personal. They questioned his motives – usually a judicial No No. “I have a judge in the Trump University civil case, Gonzalo Curiel (San Diego), who is very unfair. An Obama pick. Totally biased – hates Trump.” Effective threats have been made in the past, but not directed by name at specific justices. Chief Justice Roberts was known to be opposed to ObamaCare. A publicity campaign was unleased, claiming that an overturning of ObamaCare would destroy the credibility and integrity of the Supreme Court. He switched, twice, to affirm the statute. The political hypocrisy and intolerance of the modern Democrats, the left, and the mainstream media are obvious. They excoriated President Trump for his criticism of Justices Ginsberg and Sotomayor and District Judges Curiel and Jackson. They claimed a violation of the separation of powers, interfering with the independence of the judiciary. Most of the “pundits” who excoriated President Trump have been strangely silent on Senator Schumer. Once again their hypocritical double standards rise to the top. Not all though – The Washington Post, Professor Lawrence Tribe, ABA President Judy Perry Martinez, spoke out against the Senator’s remarks. President Trump tweeted, he always does, Senator Schumer brought great danger to the steps of the United States Supreme Court.’ The President’s right. There’s enough “nut jobs” out there on both on all sides of the political spectrum who get incited to violence, such as James Hodgkinson who severely wounded House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, Capitol Police Officer Crystal Griner, a Congressional aide and a lobbyist practicing in Alexandria, Virginia for the annual Congressional Baseball game. President Trump never threatened the jurists. Senator Schumer did. The Senator walked his words back – slow walk is a better term. He said he “shouldn’t have used the words I did.” He added: “I’m from Brooklyn. We speak in strong language.” Senator Schumer may be from Brooklyn, but he was educated at Harvard. He’s smart enough to know better. He also blamed it on his passion for abortion rights. I would have expected his comments from his predecessor Senator Harry Reid. Senators, judges and Presidents have freedom of speech. They shouldn’t necessarily exercise it. Sometimes the words use are improper, unprofessional, bad form, thoughtless, or incendiary.

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