To Constitution or not to Constitution?

To hear our Republican "friends" in Congress, apparently every one of these esteemed Senators and Representatives are direct descendants of the Founding Fathers, dedicated to defending the sacred Constitution from every perceived threat, from gun control advocates to "activist" (i.e., "liberal") judges.  These fine patriots consistently position themselves as advocates for strict interpretation of our country's founding document, fighting against the radical policies of our socialist/Fascist/Communist (take your pick) President and his allies in his quest for government takeover of America in the Congress--the Democratic Party.


Funny thing, though.  Apparently there are some portions of the Constitution that don't pass muster with these great Americans and must either be ignored or changed.  In the last few weeks, we've seen a few examples of this.


In my home state of Arizona, the legislature and unelected Governor enacted Senate Bill 1070, a measure that blatantly ignores the supremacy clause of the Constitution, which dictates that Federal law supersedes State and local laws; the enforcement of immigration is a Federal responsibility, but our "representatives" chose to take over this task, citing facetious threats of hordes of illegal aliens overwhelming the state and rampant crime erupting (conveniently ignoring official crime statistics showing that property and violent crimes in Arizona have decreased 40% from 1995 to 2008).  The direct assault on the 14th amendment, protecting the individual against deprivation of life, liberty or property without due process of law was another facet of this piece of legislative garbage.


And the stupidity didn't stop with the local pols.  Both our Senators, John McCain and Jon Kyl, defend this mess to the hilt, pandering to the loony right wing "base" which has sadly become what's left of a once-great political party.  One can understand this behavior from the senescent McCain, who is locked in a primary battle with an even more ridiculous figure, former Representative J.D. Hayworth, who makes Attila the Hun look like Gandhi.  But the Senate's Republican whip, Kyl, is in on the action as well.  More on this below.


When a Federal district judge wisely enjoined the more onerous provisions of this law pending further judicial action, the howls from all these self-serving "patriots" naturally arose.  Judge Susan Bolton was labeled as an "activist" (note that she was recommended by Kyl for appointment to the bench by President Clinton), and the knuckle-dragging loons, egged on by talk radio charlatans as well as the aforementioned public servants, began calling for her impeachment.


So, since the xenophobes have been (temporarily) thwarted in their efforts to violate the 14th, which was put into place after the Civil War to protect individual rights, what to do?  Why, repeal it, of course! 

None other than Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of the few sane Republicans left in Congress, suggested that the 14th should be revisited; this from the guy who, along with our own McCain, was one of the few GOP proponents of real immigration reform. (Of course, this was before the Teabaggers and their corporate backers swallowed up the party.  Things can change on a dime these days.)  Of course, Kyl followed, following his tradition of lemming-like behavior in waiting for someone else to make a controversial point, then getting on the bandwagon. This isn't the state of Goldwater and Udall any more; real leadership is gone from the political landscape.

And back at home, state Sen. Russell Pearce, the author of SB 1070, is preparing to draft legislation which would deny citizenship to "anchor babies", those born in the United States of illegal alien parents.  Again, completely ignoring the 14th Amendment and wasting taxpayer money on a clearly unconstitutional effort. 

However, there's hope.  SB 1070 will wind its way through the Federal court system over a long time, probably ending up in the Supreme Court; until then, and unless a higher court overturns Judge Bolton's injunction, the Hispanic citizens and legal residents of Arizona can hopefully breathe a little easier and not be concerned about being pulled over for DWB (Driving While Brown).  Stay tuned.