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Hypocrisy is always fashionable in Washington, but this appears to be the season for duplicity at its worst.
We have a president whose campaign platform promised
pro-life
judges. The president appoints David Souter
to the Supreme Court. The president says he has no idea how
Souter stands on abortion because George Bush does not
apply litmus tests
to judicial nominees.
Litmus tests may not be all that informative, anyway. Back in my home-brewing days, I once tried litmus paper to determine the acidity of a carboy of wort, so that I could add citric acid if necessary to provide the pH of 5.2 where finicky lager yeast was supposed to thrive. But I soon discovered that the traditional tools of the brewer -- nose and taste buds -- worked much better.
The U.S. Senate should forget about the abortion litmus test and ask Souter about the Constitution that he is supposed to interpret.
For instance, Article I, Section 9, Subsection 7 says
No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in
consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular
statement and account of the receipts and expenditures
shall be published from time to time.
When was the last time that the Central Intelligence Agency or the National Security Agency received a regular appropriation, instead of having the money hidden in other federal accounts? When have the secret agencies' receipts and expenditures ever been published? How would David Souter uphold this part of Constitution?
Or go down to Section 10, Subsection 1, which holds that
No state shall . . . make anything but gold and silver
coin a tender in payment of debts.
So why do we have all this paper money? As for coinage, it was silver when I was a kid, except for the penny and the nickel. Now everything from a dime on up is an alloy innocent of silver, and the copper penny is zinc. The nickel is the only coin that the United States has not debased. Does Souter care about this affront to the Constitution?
There are a lot more interesting questions. Does
Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom
of speech, or of the press
cover photo exhibits in
Cincinnati and rap albums in Florida? Does the prohibition
of involuntary servitude
outlaw a military draft?
Does sending troops to Saudi Arabia by presidential fiat
conform to the Constitution, wherein Congress is given the
sole power to declare war
?
Forget abortion and affirmative action. How does Souter stand on the Constitution, as written? Somebody in Washington should consider heeding the Constitution, and it might as well be a judge. The President and the Congress seem to have forgotten all about it in their concern over litmus tests.
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