Cain: I'll Overturn Supreme Court If They Strike DOMA Down

[Upchurch]

Here is what he really said.

Which is no less stupid and does nothing to make me want to vote for him.

So... hooray for accuracy.

 

[Alferd_Packer]

Has anyone read the book "Juian Comstock?"

The 53rd Amendment, the abolition of the Supreme Court.

 

[BenBurch]

I disagree. See eeyore's post of the actual quote.

Yikes.

 

[eeyore1954]

Which is no less stupid and does nothing to make me want to vote for him.

So... hooray for accuracy.

Who said anything about wanting to vote for him? I was only showing that in my opinion his statement did not show he had no clue about what the president's job is.

I think even my vote would go for Presdient Obama ahead of Herman Cain.

 

[ponderingturtle]

I disagree. See eeyore's post of the actual quote.

So start empeeching justices until you have a favorable court?

 

[Beerina]

As far as I know, the only way to "overturn" a Supreme Court decision is with a Constitutional amendment.

Or the passage of time and persuasion and the slow appointment of new justices. However, in that respect, DOMA is in even more trouble as the general social direction is towards more rights for gay people, not less.


And by the way, you can't even have judges at any level overturning anti-gay legislation until, again, the persuasion factor has started to reach a critical mass with the general population. Some people forget this and look to courts as the heroes, when, in actual practice, they are reflective of general opinion as much as the other branches.


That's why you have things like DOMA in the first place -- persuasion was chugging along, gaining ground over the past several decades, then some people tried to force the issue in courts, thinking said critical mass had been achieved, and there was a backlash. Learn your history, people.

 

[JoeTheJuggler]

So start empeeching [sic] justices until you have a favorable court?

What?

You now think Cain said he would impeach Supreme Court justices so that the SCOTUS could overturn their own decision (assuming they rule DOMA unconstitutional)? [ETA: You do realize that only the House has the authority to impeach a justice anyway, right? And Cain is trying for the presidential nomination; he's not running for a House seat.]

Seriously, Cain is a deplorable candidate for real reasons--no need to make stuff up. On this issue alone, it's bad enough that he's in favor of DOMA.

 

[tyr_13]

Here is what he really said.

Thanks for the info!

 

[JoeTheJuggler]

And by the way, you can't even have judges at any level overturning anti-gay legislation until, again, the persuasion factor has started to reach a critical mass with the general population.

Does the Iowa Supreme Court count as "judges at any level"? Either your general principle is wrong or we have already reached that "critical mass" and legislatures (including Congress) are lagging far behind.

Some people forget this and look to courts as the heroes, when, in actual practice, they are reflective of general opinion as much as the other branches.

That's a long standing debate: whether the judiciary is a megaphone or a mirror to society. It seemed like they led the way in the Civil Rights era.

That's why you have things like DOMA in the first place -- persuasion was chugging along, gaining ground over the past several decades, then some people tried to force the issue in courts, thinking said critical mass had been achieved, and there was a backlash. Learn your history, people.

Indeed. Looking at the history of Civil Rights (desegregation in schools, as one example), it seems that it was important to force the issue in the courts, even when the idea was ahead of its time (and there was indeed backlash--Wallace even threatened to end public education in his state).

I don't think DOMA was really backlash, though. I think it was legislators (and even President Clinton who signed it!) being sensitive to political winds. That's why we have the judiciary, and that's why it was set up to be at least partially insensitive to political winds.

ETA: BTW, I think you've raised issues that are much more interesting to talk about than the bogus claim that Cain wants to restructure government so that the president can overturn Supreme Court rulings by executive order or some such.