Senatorial Filibuster: A Curse On Both Houses

I confess I am at a loss to take a clear and decisive stand on the Senatorial filibuster for judicial nominees. The political pragmatism that I and so many of my persuasion embraced just long enough to support a pro-war Democrat over a pro-war Republican is as close to extinction as the Ivory-billed woodpecker.

Try as I will, knowing as I do the profound implications of a regressive and fundamentalist judiciary, I cannot embrace a defense of the Senatorial filibuster. Knowing all the arguments and acknowledging the rich history of the filibuster in Senatorial tradition, I cannot block the knowledge that its most prominent employment, far from protecting the rights of minorities, was in the cause of delaying the Civil Rights Act.

I am undoubtedly naïve. I believe in democracy. I am a man of the Commons. My philosophy runs contrary to the very foundation of the House of Lords. To those who curiously claim that the American democratic experiment is unique, how do you explain this relic of European aristocracy known as the United States Senate?

Contrary to the suddenly popular myth, the only minority interest the Senate has ever served is the elite minority of wealth and privilege. Indeed, as senators were originally not elected but selected by the states, it was designed to that purpose. If there exists a ruling class in America today, it is that regal body of the nation’s wealthiest citizens in the hallowed chamber of the upper house.

Quite simply, the Senate was intended as a check on democracy itself, while the lower house was intended to place a check on the elite. Neither was designed to protect minorities of race, economy or social standing; both are subject to their own tyrannies, be they born of majority rule or privilege and protocol.

It is the judiciary and the judiciary alone that is charged with protecting the rights of the minority and here lies the rub. It is a classic dilemma: We are asked to stand up for the anti-democratic practices of the most anti-democratic institution in government in order to prevent the most enduring radicalization of the courts in memory. The stakes could hardly be higher.

It is not the first time the executive branch has challenged the independence of the judiciary. Notably, Franklin Roosevelt tried to use his party’s dominance to stack the Supreme Court by expanding the number of justices. He failed. Andrew Jackson simply ignored the Supreme Court when it recognized the independent sovereignty of the Cherokee nation. The resultant relocation of the Cherokees came to be known as the Trail of Tears and will be remembered as the shame of the nation to the end of time.

The point here is that the independence of the judicial branch, as a cornerstone of democracy, must be defended as vigorously as the fundamental right to vote (consider that conundrum).

It is rightly observed that we are in the grips of a Republican dominated government. It is the triple witching hour in American politics. With rightwing extremists controlling both houses of congress and the White House, how can we reasonably expect anything but rightwing dominance of the courts?

As evidenced by the public response to the Terri Schiavo case and the steady decline of support for the war and the government in general, the obvious answer is that this government is not representative of the will of the people. It is more the product of democracy’s betrayal than its manifestation in electoral politics. We were betrayed by the lies, deceptions and manipulations of a cynical White House. We were betrayed by a presidential campaign (owing to the archaic and anti-democratic electoral college) conducted in a handful of contested states. We were betrayed by a two-party system that failed once again to offer real and contrasting alternatives. We were betrayed by a system that protects incumbents at all cost and precludes independent input. We were betrayed by a system that deliberately ignored the most egregious violations of voting rights in modern American history. We were betrayed by outright election fraud.

Having suffered all these betrayals and indignities, must we now submit to judicial consequences that may well outlive us all?

A curse on both your houses for having placed us in this sorry state! Shut the government down. For all the good it has declined to do and all the harm it has done, let it govern itself for the next eighteen months.

Let the right wing do what they may (indeed, what they must in order to appease their elitist and fundamentalist sponsors), if the Democrats do not fight back with every weapon at their disposal, we will owe them no allegiance and the betrayal will be complete.

Remember this in the next election. Remember this when dissidents and civil libertarians flee the country for most hospitable climes. Remember this when the vaunted ownership society becomes the homeless masses. Remember this when another thousand soldiers come home in a box. Remember this when the pundits tell you that a vote for independence is a wasted vote. We have already wasted our votes on politics as usual, on the politics of corruption and elitism, and now we will pay the price.

Jazz.

JACK RANDOM IS THE AUTHOR OF THE JAZZMAN CRONICLES (CROW DOG PRESS) AND GHOST DANCE INSURRECTION (DRY BONES PRESS). HIS CHRONICLES APPEAR ON COUNTERPUNCH, DISSIDENT VOICE & OTHER SITES.

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