Tea at Trianon: John Roberts: A Leftist Hack

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Monday, June 22, 2020

John Roberts: A Leftist Hack

From The Federalist:

As the Supreme Court continues to issue rulings with clear and catastrophic implications for religious liberty, free speech, conscience protections, and more, conservatives should relinquish any delusion that Roberts will uphold the rule of law and the integrity of the Constitution.

The ruling on another pivotal abortion case, June Medical v. Gee will be released within the next couple weeks. Given Roberts’ track record, his belief in a nonexistent constitutional “right to privacy” that allows for killing innocent humans, and the fact that he has notably avoided discussing Roe v. Wade, saying during his 2005 confirmation that overturning precedent is a “jolt to the legal system,” conservatives shouldn’t hold their breath that he’ll uphold the constitutional right to life.

Take a hint from the actual conservative justices, who have signaled they don’t trust Roberts either. In order for the Supreme Court to take a case, only four of the nine justices must agree to hear an appeal. Despite the fact that four conservatives besides Roberts occupy the bench and that those conservatives bemoan that “the Second Amendment is a disfavored right in this Court,” they just passed on 10 gun rights-related cases, indicating they don’t trust Roberts with the Second Amendment. That a so-called conservative justice cannot be counted on to uphold the Bill of Rights is telling.

“John Roberts is terrified of the liberal op-ed columnists. They know they hold him captive. They can easily sway his opinions by issuing their ‘warnings’ to him through their columns,” conservative commentator Dan Bongino correctly diagnosed. “He’s not a judge anymore, he’s a politician.” (Read more.)

From The Resurgent:

Justice Alito argues that “the question in [Bostock] is not whether discrimination because of sexual orientation or gender identity should be outlawed. The question is whether Congress did that in 1964” and concludes that “It indisputably did not.” The court is not supposed to be the place where policy is made, but rather the place where present law is upheld. Clear interpretation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act does not include sexual orientation and gender identity, Justice Kavanaugh likewise concludes. “Our role is not to make or amend the law. As written, Title VII does not prohibit employment discrimination because of sexual orientation.”

Kavanaugh points out how all 3 branches of government recognized that the 1964 Civil Rights Act did not include sexual orientation or gender identity. First, there have been many legislative attempts to change this in Congress. Just this past year the House passed The Equality Act which would have made gender identity and sexual orientation protected classes under federal law. It failed to pass in the Senate. This is just the most recent of numerous attempts to change the law. Congress has tried and failed to change the law multiple times. In the judiciary, “the first 10 U. S. Courts of Appeals [considered] whether Title VII prohibits sexual orientation discrimination all said no. Some 30 federal judges considered the question. All 30 judges said no, based on the text of the statute. 30 out of 30.” Even the executive branch saw this reality. (Read more.)