Have You Hugged A Federal Judge Today?

I wish Madonna would adopt me. If she did, my father wouldn't object. I'm not of a mind to write much today, but I feel like writing something. The classic science fiction film The Day The Earth Stood Still was on earlier, and now the original King Kong is playing. Excellent. Sometimes life just smiles on you.

While the big ape is being tracked on-screen, I'm reading about a famous court case from 1989, Texas v. Johnson. In that case, the Texas courts decided that there couldn't be a law against flag desecration. Surprising that any wisdom would come out of Texas, but there you go. That led to King George the Elder to try and get a national law passed. About a year later, In the United States v. Eichman, the Supreme Court backed up the Texas courts and thus gave birth to the insane right-wing push for a "flag-burning" amendment to the US Constitution.

It's kind of fun (for me) to see how a simple court decision can motivate the creation of a massive public campaign, like the push for such a ridiculous amendment. Of the three branches of government, the courts are the least corrupt. They are also less likely to give in to the mob due to lifetime appointments by elected officials, not directly by the people. So the least democratic branch of our government does the best job of defending the sacred principles of the Republic. Judges are also the hardest group for corporations and special interests to manipulate. The Christian right fundamentalists are really annoyed at their inability to fuck around with the courts, and as a result they advocate the direct election of judges and eliminating lifetime appointments.

I believe strongly in democracy, but at the same time I know that there needs to be as big a buffer as possible between the mob and the mechanisms of law and government. Direct democracy is as fearful a thing as fascism. Throughout the history of the country, the courts have frequently done things that have really pissed off the majority, but were the right things to do. Like Brown v. Board of Education, which eliminated segregation in the schools. And Edwards v. California, which struck down a law that was passed in California that made it illegal for "poor people" to travel into the state! They were really sick of those "Okies."

The courts are very far from perfect, but they really are the best hope for the shit-upon to get a fair shake. Now we've had six years to see how pathetic Congress can be when the majority party also holds the presidency. Yikes. The courts annoy King Bush the Younger. That alone indicates how valuable they are in defending the country against itself.

Just a thought.