By Dr. Derek Ellerman
Let’s get something out of the way here: this new perpetual slogan from Democrats about everything being an “attack on democracy” is balderdash.
When you hear that phrase, all you’re hearing is someone who is upset that their side didn’t win on this or that issue.
And of course, it’s almost universally a projection – the old “Accusation in a Mirror” trick.
The latest case in point comes from former Senator Al Franken. Just the mere fact that Al Franken was an actual, twice-elected member of the Senate of the United States of America tells you how insane this country has become.
At any rate, Franken was rolled out to join in on the Democrats’ newest attack on democracy: delegitimizing the Supreme Court.
Why aren't all Democratic Senators and Biden pressuring Feinstein to resign? They sure ganged up on Al Franken.
— drlearnalot, RL voodoo doll (@DrLearnALot) April 27, 2023
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Franken Attacks Democracy
In a very dangerous attack on our democracy, Franken sat down with the Washington Post’s Dan Balz to help erode the legitimacy of our institutions.
First, he attacked the Court for “gerrymandering.” It’s a common, if ineffective line of attack trotted out by the Democrats every few years – but only to attack red states.
You’ll never hear, for example, Al Franken talk about Chicago’s Congressional Districts.
But the real attacks came later:
“The Supreme Court, to me is illegitimate the way they didn’t take up [Merrick] Garland and on saying, ‘It’s an election year,’ and then they of course put in [Amy] Coney Barrett like eight days before the election. Then of course Dobbs and abortion, you know… but it’s more than that.”
Let’s take each in turn:
As for Garland, his behavior since becoming the Attorney General proves he shouldn’t have ever been within a country mile of a courtroom, let alone judge’s robes.
That’s besides the point though; there is no constitutional requirement that the Senate act as a rubber stamp for the Executive Branch’s judicial nominees.
In fact, it’s the literal opposite. The President is not a King. Congress is an equal branch of government, as is the judiciary. It’s Congress’ prerogative to approve, deny, or ignore nominees entirely. Period.
As for the Dobbs decision that overturned the incorrect Roe decision, what is there to say?
The Roe decision was utterly preposterous on every level, and was overturned by the Court. Isn’t that their job? Don’t Democrats (and Republicans) insist that the Court’s job includes judicial review – something that doesn’t appear in the Constitution?
It’s not the job of the Court to invent new rights out of whole cloth. Dobbs was the correct decision, one that would vastly increase the Court’s legitimacy in a serious country that actually cared about the law.
Put it this way. Even former Tea Party congressman-turned-fanatic Never Trumper and Republican-hater Joe Walsh couldn’t stomach Franken’s Putin-like assault on our democracy:
You’re free to say what u want, but to call the SCOTUS “illegitimate” is dangerous. Say the Court is partisan, ideological, say their rulings are wrong. But to call the Court “illegitimate” is no different than calling election results you don’t like “illegitimate.” @alfranken. https://t.co/n1MijzXqSf
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) May 1, 2023
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Franken Blames Roberts
The hell of it is, even when Democrats are right, they’re wrong.
Franken takes left-wing, Republican-appointed Chief Justice John Roberts to task and lays the blame at his feet.
Which is where any questions about legitimacy should land – but of course, for the exact opposite reasons Franken would no doubt give, given enough time:
“I think the Chief Justice is actually much more culpable for this division than people think,” Franken said before breaking down some of Justice Roberts previous votes. “I think Roberts is much more the villain in this than people give him credit for. So that’s just my opinion.”
Yeah, let’s look at some of those votes, shall we?
Roberts has sided with the liberals in opposition to the Constitution many times since becoming Chief Justice.
Just a few:
- Obamacare. Who could forget?
- Blocking Trump’s effort to get the citizenship question on the census
- Mail-in voting
- Letting ‘Dreamers’ stay in the country
Run a quick Google search of “John Roberts sides with liberals” and you will find many more.
The truth is, aside from Dobbs, most people probably couldn’t name a single time that the Court actually upheld the Constitution or sided with the right on any issue. Maybe Heller?
Franken’s complaint, despite all the rhetoric he uses to dress it up, is merely that the Supreme Court ruled against his wishes one time in his lifetime.
And that, my friends, is what they mean by “democracy.” Their way, or no way.
You don’t have to believe me. Here he was less than two weeks ago praising the Court because it went his way:
Gotta hand it to Thomas & Alito. SCOTUS justices much better qualified to judge the safety & efficacy of a drug on the market for over 20 yrs than the arrogant scientists in the FDA. https://t.co/CpCAqowJ3z
— Al Franken (@alfranken) April 21, 2023
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