"There ought to be enough space for her to act on her conscience and for gay couples to be able to get married." That's what Jeb Bush is now saying after previously standing with the crowd of candidates who understand the importance of the rule of law. Tapping into that vein of Christian conservative angst that wants republican candidates to understand their pain is pretty predictable . Laws enacted by Supreme Court intervention can produce protest behaviors, and gay marriage seems to have a strong wave of opposition.
As understandable and expected as Kim Davis and other contrary clerks who will do this are, these are also the people we expected to be throwing into jail because of inevitable protest against this new law.
Lawyers who make money at these moments have long since positioned themselves for this opportunity and now its time to go to work. Davis' seemed fully equipped with lawyers (hard to say for how long) who knew very well what the judge would be forced to do regarding this case, although they probably anticipated a hefty bail for their sacrificial lamb to help encourage that "Go Fund Me" page and raise major loot from sympathetic supporters.
Feeling a little raped by conservative GoFundMe causes, GoFundMe has altered their policy to counter against such calculated cash raising. Yet, that will only hamper the effort to get rich off of the gay marriage protest, not stop it. With no bail set and no GoFundMe page for Davis, staying in jail could be her back door to martyrdom that fulfills this protest mission with Davis as its face.
SCOTUS Laws Come When Congress Collapses
It would be so great if this conversation REALLY had something to do with gay marriage, but capitalism is a predictable opportunist and the Supreme Court only cares to direct America when Congress Does Not. Enough on that.
Conservative Governors have long since wondered how much they could test the power of Federal control over state laws. With the end of pot prohibition in a couple of states, and undocumented workers having sanctuary states, even liberal leaders are testing a Federal willingness to enforce certain laws exactly as they are written on the books.
Whether these pokes at the Constitutions perimeter have created the leaks in law enforcement that makes Kim Davis wonder if she is duty bound to sign marriage licenses for gays is truly a worthy debate too, but not this time.
This time, we have to point the questions and the fingers at each of the presidential candidates that don't have the integrity or the sense to defend the rule of law at least until after they become president like Obama did.
How any member of congress could find the audacity and verve to complain about a Supreme Court decision given their power to define or redefine law is interesting. How any potential president who is expected to uphold the rule of law would equivocate on such an issue is eye blinking.
Go take your judicial branch Quiz (send a copy to Kim Davis)
| 4. True or false? State courts must follow the holdings of the Supreme Court of the United States. Your answer: The correct answer is "True". State courts as well as federal courts must follow the Supreme Court of the United States. |
5. A Supreme Court decision that a law is unconstitutional can be invalidated by
a. a majority of district and appeals court judges’ rejection of the decision, with a showing of why it was erroneous b. a later decision by the Supreme Court c. a new law enacted by Congress upholding the first law d. an amendment to the Constitution e. a motion by a majority of the justices to rescind the decision
The correct answer is "b and d". All federal and state courts must follow the Supreme Court’s decisions, and Congress may not strike down its decisions. The Supreme Court can overrule its own decision only in a ruling on a new case. Constitutional amendments are rare. |
In the absence of any reasonable alternative to support Kim Davis and her decision to disobey the law, many candidates have chosen the kind of politics that you only do when you know you can't win and you never intend to run for president again.
Either Davis must follow the law as Donald Trump and Lindsey Graham and Hillary Clinton and every lucid candidate has declared, or sit in jail until the statement she's making has been made to her satisfaction (ie., rot in hell if you so choose).
Those who are supporting the actions of Mrs. Davis are either way too low in the polls or way too angry about OPS (other people's sins) for the repercussions to matter much in their calculations.
But they are wrong and waving the white flag on the presidency at the same time. This matters because this is the same rule of law as women's suffrage was or interracial marriage became which both were once illegal because God didn't used to like women or folks with jungle fever. Now, God has reduced his list to disliking only gays who want to marry and maybe people who get abortions- rape exception excluded (I think).
I absolutely agree that God's law supersedes man's laws forcing each of us of faith to draw this line at times. I'm still not sure how I even finished high school science with my big bang skepticism.
Whenever principle forces you to challenge Supreme Court decisions, prepare yourself and your principle to sit in jail (or the principals office) for as long as principle remains your key motivation. Long long ago, America chose it necessary to separate Church from State , and the State won that war of hierarchy.
Kim Davis and Kim Davis alone was elected to fulfill a PAID civic duty. Once Kim Davis is tired of the statement she's making in jail, she must either return to sign every marriage license expected of her according to Kentucky law, until her term is over, or go right back to jail. In her new career after civil service, Davis could become an organized protester since she's getting some background in the work and her jail time should provide a little protester street cred.
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