Someone remind me again why we should ever take another Republican seriously when they tell the public that they supposedly love America, our democracy and system of government, and our Constitution, when you've got one of their presidential candidates making remarks like this one, and they're not quickly denounced by the rest of their party?
Following the Supreme Court's ruling on gay marriage this week, the 2016 GOP presidential clown car's newest member, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, decided he would do his best to be even more offensive than his cohort Mike Huckabee, and suggested we just get rid of the Supreme Court completely if right wingers don't agree with their rulings.
This isn't the first time Jindal has said something ridiculous about the Supreme Court and how they might rule on gay marriage. Laura Clawson took him down a notch for something similar earlier this year: Bobby Jindal either has not read or is lying about the Constitution:
The Louisiana Republican has some interesting ideas about blocking marriage equality:
“We’re a nation of laws, that’s why I said I want the Supreme Court not to overturn our laws,” he said on CNN’s “New Day” on Tuesday.
“If the Supreme Court were to do this, I think the remedy would be a constitutional amendment in the Congress to tell the courts you can't overturn what the states have decided. “
Hoo boy. First, Bobby, the Supreme Court gets to decide if a law is constitutional. That's its job. We're a nation of laws, and the Supreme Court has a role in determining those laws, which is something you might want to look into before spouting off.
Second, "a constitutional amendment in the Congress" is not a remedy to anything except specific members of Congress being able to brag to their constituents about having voted for a thing. That's because Congress does not pass constitutional amendments on its own. You have to get 38 states to ratify what two-thirds of each house of Congress has first passed. That's not going to happen, and Jindal's preferred remedy of Congress passing an amendment doesn't change the Constitution in any way.
Of course, Jindal is probably posturing here, trying to wrap himself in the Constitution to appeal to the tea party types who carry copies of the Constitution everywhere they go but don't understand what it says, projecting their own views onto it rather than seeking to understand. As anti-equality bluster goes, it's probably more palatable to the masses than shouting about "Adam and Steve," but that's what it is at base, with a layer of ignorance about the Constitution added on top.
He was back at it this Friday with his attack on the court when they don't rule his way: Jindal: 'If We Want To Save Some Money Let's Just Get Rid Of The Court':
Louisiana Gov, Bobby Jindal (R) on Friday suggested doing away with the Supreme Court during a speech in Iowa that followed the court's historic ruling on same-sex marriage.
"The Supreme Court is completely out of control, making laws on their own, and has become a public opinion poll instead of a judicial body," he told the crowd, as quoted by The Advocate newspaper. "If we want to save some money lets just get rid of the court."
"Yesterday, Justice Scalia noted that in the Obamacare ruling 'words have no meaning,'" Jindal added, according to The Advocate. "Today, Chief Justice Roberts admitted that the gay marriage ruling had nothing to do with the Constitution. Marriage between a man and a woman was established by God, and no earthly court can alter that." [...]
Jindal, who just launched his 2016 presidential campaign on Wednesday, blasted the decision in a statement issued immediately following the ruling as the first step in an "all out assault" on Christians' religious liberty.
"The government should not force those who have sincerely held religious beliefs about marriage to participate in these ceremonies," he said in that statement. "That would be a clear violation of America’s long held commitment to religious liberty as protected in the First Amendment. I will never stop fighting for religious liberty and I hope our leaders in D.C. join me.”
It looks like Jindal is taking a page straight out of Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback's book, who just made good on his threat to defund his state's judiciary if they didn't vote his way on school legislation.
Welcome to the United States of the Koch brothers if the likes of Jindal and Brownback have their way nationwide.
