Judge Not

In the latest and quite possibly the greatest example ever of R hypocrisy, they're turning to their once-derided "activist courts" to do for them what they haven't been able to do legislatively. Only, of course, they don't call it "activist." They've got much better terms than that:

... “What they cannot win in the legislative body, they now seek and hope to achieve through judicial activism,” said Representative Gerald E. Connolly, Democrat of Virginia. “That is such delicious irony, it makes one’s head spin.”... 

... Mr. Morrisey, a Republican, disputed the view of many liberals that conservatives are now looking for help from the activist judges they once derided. “Quite the opposite, it’s a call for adhering to the rule of law,” he said...Mr. Schumer added that the Republican definition of an activist judge was flexible. “They decry the courts’ overruling or implementing things they don’t like,” he said, “but are eager to have the courts implement things they like." 

... Jay Sekulow, chief counsel at the American Center for Law and Justice, countered that conservatives were turning to judges more frequently because of Mr. Obama’s moves to enact sweeping policy on his own, and because gridlock in Washington had prevented Republican efforts to stop him.“The courts are the venue, really, to try to keep the presidential authority in check,” Mr. Sekulow said in an interview. “That’s why the conservatives are turning to the courts.” 

For years, conservatives criticized liberals who sought judicial action on civil rights or social issues...  

... Clark Neily, a senior lawyer at the Institute for Justice ... prefers to call for more “judicial engagement.”...  

... Mr. Pruitt said state officials had no choice but to turn to the courts.“Is that activism?” he asked. “To me, that’s the opposite of activism. It is using the courts to make sure we go back to respect for the rule of law.”

Well, of this we can be sure: we ain't seen nothin' yet. Both parties, of course, have their share of hypocrites. But today's R party has taken it way, way past shameless to a form of high art. It's become a proud part of what they do, how they'll defend the indefensible, how they'll frame their pre-failed policies. But this, this is pretty rich.

Maybe the amusement I feel over this sort of stuff can, in some small measure, mitigate the sense of peril I feel over the rest of it.

Probably not.

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