Gimme that ol’ time Supreme Court,
Gimme that ol’time Supreme Court,
If it was good enough for George Bush,
It’s good enough for me.
(climbs up on soapbox)
With the decisions of this week, many in the conservative camp are expressing their ire at the Supreme Court. Ted Cruz is out there saying we should have referendums on justices. Others are saying that a decision such as gay marriage shouldn’t be on a 5-4 split. Some are saying that the court was going against the will of the people.
My response: If it was good enough for George Bush…
We have had a number of decisions of the Supreme Court that have gone against “liberal” positions, the most notable being Bush v. Gore, where the court essentially decided an election, going against the will of the people. That single decision singlehandedly probably brought across more negative changes to society than many we have seen. Then there was the Citizens United decision, which was also controversial and non-unanimous.
This week, we have seen equally divided decisions that have gone the other way.
That’s how it works with the Supreme Court. Sometimes your side wins, sometimes you lose. If you don’t like the result, you can see if there is sufficient support to change the laws or the constitution. You might fail there as well. Remember: Sometime God says “no” to what you want.
Just as you learned to live with civil rights and interracial marriage, you can learn to live with gay marriage. It really doesn’t affect you. It is much less impactful than that 5-4 decision I had to learn to live with: Bush v. Gore.
P.S.: As for the confederate flag, it is a piece of history. As with any piece of history, it belongs in a museum. People should be free to use it in the historical context. When it acquires other meanings, the government should not use it because it signals government support of those meanings. Individuals can still use it, but must recognize that it might convey a meaning to someone else other than what they intended. When you display that flag or symbol in a non-historical context, you send the message that you support all the meanings of that symbol, because you cannot control how others interpret it.
(climbs off soapbox, feeling better)
