Lock And Load

The Supreme Court is never more entertaining than it is when it gets a decision completely wrong. As expected, the Court overturned a thirty-year handgun ban in Chicago, insisting that the right to self-defense is constitutionally guaranteed and cannot be denied. Justice Samuel Alito - of course - was the key point man in the 5-4 decision, and though he stated that the ruling allows for some sensible bans that address local concerns involving crime and violence in places like, say, Chicago, no one is really buying that. Gun control advocate Sarah Brady is vowing to continue the fight for sensible firearms legislation, and I'm sure she'll explain her case on CNN, or perhaps on Bonnie Hunt's show.

I fear that our cities are going to become much more dangerous and that economically depressed communities are going to become war zones that make Baghdad look civilized. Right now, I suspect Justice Alito is reading this and shaking his head, muttering, "Not true, not true."

Meanwhile, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee are feeling their oats in their efforts to keep the Court as far to the right as possible. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) has indicated that GOP filibuster of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan is possible, citing her capacity to inject politics in the Court and create rights from whole cloth not specified in the Constitution, as well as her lack of experience as a jurist. Will anyone point out the the current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is legislating from the bench and his immediate predecessor (for whom he clerked) had no experience as a judge before he was first appointed to the Supreme Court as an associate justice? Probably not.

Here's an update on Robert Byrd's Senate seat: Because he died five days before the thirty-month threshold before the end of his term, it would appear that there will in fact be such an election. However, there is an ambiguity in the West Virginia law regarding special Senate elections that set that threshold. Because West Virginia already held its primary elections in May, there may not be election after all, and whomever Governor Joseph Manchin appoints will likely serve out the remainder of Byrd's term. Also, because West Virginia allows the governor to wait ten days before declaring a vacancy for a congressional seat, and because that clause might also apply to a Senate seat, that would in fact, as noted earlier on this blog, take the term beyond the 30-month threshold.

The Democrats are likely hoping that a special election is not needed, although such an election is still theoretically possible. For the record, West Virginia hasn't elected a Republican to the Senate since 1956 (ironically, in a special election), but in the current political climate, anything can happen. After all, look at the success of Scott Brown in Massachusetts - who according to a new poll, is more popular in the Bay State than either President Obama or Senator John Kerry.

The guns of politics are ready to fire.

I think I'll stop commenting on politics for awhile, it's too much goddamned work.