A New Dictatorship

Just when you thought that things could not be getting worse, someone comes around to remind you that they are. This time, that someone is Sandra Day O'Connor. On March 10, she gave a speech in Georgetown in which she expressed a fear that then United States was falling into a Dictatorship. The very idea of an independent judiciary was under attack by her own Republican Party.

Most of the media did not pick this up or do anything with it. Nina Totenberg did run a story on NPR on March 10. After that, almost nothing in the US Press.

There is a close California Connection to this story. In Marchl, 2004, two California Congressmen introduced the Congressional Accountability for Judicial Activism Act of 2004 H.R. 3920. The two Congressmen were John Doolittle (R. CD-4) and Richard Pombo (R. CD-11). The text of this act states:

The Congress may, if two thirds of each House agree, reverse a judgment of the United States Supreme Court --

(1) if that judgment is handed down after the date of the enactment of this Act; and

(2) to the extent that judgment concerns the constitutionality of an Act of Congress.

On 6/27/2005 the same bill was re-introduced for the 109th Congress, this time sponsored by Wally Herger, (R. CD-2).

At the time he announced his candidacy for the 11th Congressional Seat held by Pombo, Pete McCloskey tried to make this a major issue. The press chose rather to focus on the Endangered Species Act that McCloskey co-wrote and that Pombo wants to emasculate. Once they defined this as "the story" for this primary campaign, it is very hard to change their perception.

This issue has to become public and Pombo, Doolittle and Herger need to feel the heat of every PO'd citizen of this state who still believe that there is a great danger from the tyranny of the majority, especially one that is led by Tom Delay, John Dootlittle and Richard Pombo.

There are a lot of comments about whether Greens should hlep Democrats or not. In this case, I would ask that Greens help McCloskey try to take out Pombo in the Republican Primary. There is no Green Candidate in this race and McCloskey is a man we can trust.