I was down in Washington on business last Thursday and Friday, and aside from repeatedly running into landmarks that were important in the Chandra Levy investigation (Tryst, Rock Creek Park, the Dupont Circle Washington Sports Club, etc.), I kept noticing Supreme Court protesters everywhere. There were “Save Roe” people right outside Union Station as soon as I got in town, and some anti-abortion group was apparently having its annual convention, independently of the Roberts nomination.
At any rate, it sort of bothers me that nobody in this country gives a rat’s ass about any political issue besides abortion. The court might not even hear another abortion case for ten more years, yet I don’t see anyone out on the streets talking about any issues the court is actually likely to rule on anytime soon. And even worse was the guy who, apparently misinformed about who the nominee is, held up a “Stop Luttig” sign.
Not that New York is immune from the craziness or anything- last night in Union Square, rival anti-Bush groups got into fisticuffs over who-knows-what, as one protester named “Jeffrey” grabbed a megaphone and started reading from the Fourth Amendment and denouncing Mayor Bloomberg, until an opponent of his grabbed a megaphone of his own and started yelling at his foe- “you suck, Jeffrey!,” until a defender of Jeffrey’s jumped up to defend him, and almost immediately started throwing punches. This devolved into a 25-man brawl of indeterminate outcome (we had to go to dinner), the highlight of which was unquestionably when one of the assembled hoodlums was about to join the fight but then paused, removed his shirt, earring, and bling, and then jumped right back in.
All of this, of course, took place in front of a large “Stop Bush” sign, in which the “S” in Bush was a swastika, and as always, everyone screamed about a “police state” even though no police were present. It was all quite reminiscent of past USQ blowouts here, here, and here.
Posted by Stephen Silver at July 24, 2005 11:00 PMI suppose there are Supreme Court protesters everywhere in DC right now because people have been fundraising for this event forever and they have to spend that money on something, even though Roberts looks likely to sail through the Senate pretty easily, notwithstanding the near-certain demands from Chuck Schumer and Ted Kennedy that he violate his professional ethics by prejudging cases and disclosing privileged information.
"At any rate, it sort of bothers me that nobody in this country gives a rat’s ass about any political issue besides abortion."
I'd say we're in complete agreement on that, Steve: the abortion issue completely obscures most larger discussion of the Court, the issues potentially before, and its proper role. Not to get too snarky, but I think you can thank Harry Blackmun for that. He genuinely thought Roe would somehow magically settle the issue forever, rather than increasing its prominence and the polarization over it.
Posted by: Dave J at July 25, 2005 02:08 PM