http://baltimore.indymedia.org/newswire/display/5881/index.phpCHERYL SEAL REPORTS: America in the Balance: Will Sandra Day O'Connor Choose Justice - Or Loyalty to the Old Boy Network?
There is a growing consensus among legal observers and court watchers that the Supreme Court took the Cheney "Secret Energy Task Force List" for one reason only" To protect Cheney, not to deliver justice to the American people. Says Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch: "This is a completely unprecedented attempt to overextend executive privilege. It calls into question the integrity of the court system in this country -- particularly because we're 3-and-0 right now." This means that although THREE COURTS, each higher than the one before, ruled against Cheney, directly or indirectly (the third court refused to even hear the case), FOUR JUSTICES in the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case anyway. This is usually done when the justices in question disagree with the lower court's rulings.
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There is only one hope for America when the case goes to the court, and that is that Sandra Day O'Connor finds her conscience and her voice. I vividly recall the day when O'Connor was confirmed as the first woman Supreme Court justice. What a thrill that was for American females of all ages! Suddenly, here was a new and exciting role model that opened up a bold new horizon. Little girls aspired to be like the "Lady Justice," at least the ideal she represented to them: Strength, clearsightedness, wisdom.
In recent years, alas, O'Connor has marred this ideal by wading into the shallow end of the pool where the scum of corporate politics floats. Instead of proving to the world why Justice is traditionally depicted as a blindfolded woman - the embodiment of compassion, lack of bias, and uncompromising quest for the truth - she has become one of the Old Boys. By 2000, O'Connor seemed to have traded her "blindfold and scales" in for a big fat cigar.
When O'Connor became the "deal breaking" vote in recent weeks in a few extremely critical cases, notably McCain-Feingold, I felt a surge of hope and admiration. Those cannot have been easy decisions for the lady, as she has undoubtedly been badgered, harangued, perhaps even threatened by supporters and/or members of the Old Boy Network. But she showed once more the courage and strength that little girls - and boys - need so desperately to have modeled for them now. Each subsequent decision O'Connor makes out of step with the Old Boys will be more difficult as the resistance grows. But each such step will, in turn, represent a greater triumph for real justice.
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the article ends: "The eyes of little girls everywhere....and the ghosts of her predecessors will be watching."
oh yes, we will be watching to see what kind of courage Sandra has.