What battle do u think it is ??
The battle of the Supreme Court justices in the US.
One of the 9, Sandra Day O’Connor, announced her retirement today. This starts a political storm on its way to battle. The dems and the reps are sharpening swords, ready to charge into the battlefield to get their pound of flesh.
In any democracy, the Judiciary arm of the state is independant of the legislature. In theory its a great concept. But as in all things lopsided in the US (elections being # 1) the judiciary is not really so.
The president appoints the judges to the Supreme Court. Thus he has the possibility to appoint a liberal or a conservative person. Once the judge is appointed, its for life…till the judge wants to retire, or dies.
Currently, the US Supreme Court is evenly divided on both sides of the political ideology. Most decisions in recent times have been decided by 5-4 verdicts. The conservatives have the upper hand. O’Connor was usually the swing vote in many instances. With her stepping down, there is a chance that a conservative judge can be appointed. The Republicans control the Presidency, Senate and House. They can easily get another conservative judge appointed, forever tilting the court to a large conservative majority.
This can have disastrous consequences.
A lot of major issues face the US today. Abortion, Stem Cell Research, Gay rights, Civil Unions, Immigration, War.
This was one of the reasons the anti Bush supporters put forth as the reason for not electing him. Sadly 55% of the country was blind and the inevitable happened.
Lets hope that sense prevails now and the right person takes the position. As in most instances in the immediate past, this seems impossible in the US…
