Originalists Against Trump
by Dave Blount | October 19, 2016 1:52 pm
Some who climb aboard the Trump Train bark about the Supreme Court as if it is a trump card that will silence opposition and excuse their betrayal of conservativism. This willful naiveté does not fly with Originalists Against Trump:
The Originalists Against Trump effort threatens to undercut one of Trump’s chief arguments for disaffected Republican voters, namely that support for Trump is inextricably tied to filling the Supreme Court vacancy with a nominee in the tradition of Justice Antonin Scalia. The group cites Trump’s “character, judgment and temperament” as among its reasons for opposing his candidacy.
Originalism, a judicial philosophy popularized by Scalia and beloved by conservatives, holds that the Constitution has a static meaning. The adherents to originalism stand in stark opposition to the left-leaning proponents of a “living Constitution,” whose meaning may change based on new historical circumstances.
Incidentally, Trump denounced Antonin Scalia for opposing Affirmation Action.
Law professor Stephen Sachs of Duke University told the Washington Examiner via email that he and William Baude, a University of Chicago law professor, drafted the statement for the movement.
From the statement:
“Many Americans still support Trump in the belief that he will protect the Constitution. We understand that belief, but we do not share it. Trump’s long record of statements and conduct, in his campaign and in his business career, have shown him indifferent or hostile to the Constitution’s basic features — including a government of limited powers, an independent judiciary, religious liberty, freedom of speech and due process of law.”
Regardless of the phony lists he puts forth to placate the gullible, the authors do not trust Trump to nominate qualified judicial candidates, or to respect constitutional limits on his power.
Why would they? This is a guy who proclaimed during a primary debate that he intended to issue explicitly unlawful orders to torture and murder. It would be foolish in the extreme to expect him to suddenly develop respect for limited government after being handed vast power.
His kooky and cognitively challenged national spokesperson Katrina Pierson provides an indication of the caliber of the candidates he would nominate. Obsequious subservience and a willingness to rubberstamp his power grabs will be the only relevant qualifications.
Whichever authoritarian wins next month, the Constitution is in for a continued rough ride. But it has lasted this long. If enough people hold true to conservative principles, it will last another generation.
On a tip from Torcer. Cross-posted at Moonbattery.