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Whatever
I agree with this:
There was absolutely nothing wrong with the president’s criticism of the court’s decision, although as Linda Greenhouse points out, he was less than precise in his description of the holding. But there was also absolutely nothing inappropriate about the justice’s reaction to him. Both the president and the justices are political actors, and all are entitled to screw up their faces and grumble in public as they see fit. Anyone who’s watched Alito at oral argument at the high court knows that he screws up his face and mutters to himself all the time.
The suggestion that he was showboating or grandstanding last night is spectacularly unfair. Unlike several of his colleagues, Alito is meticulously polite, balanced, and measured on the bench, and goes out of his way to shun big drama. I’m sure if Alito could take it back this morning he would. I’m equally sure that if he attends the next SOTU at all, he won’t move so much as a muscle.
As I see it, despite it being unorthodox, the President was hardly that out-of-bounds to challenge the Court in such way. That being said, if Obama is going to choose to challenge the justices directly, I think Alito (or any one of them) had the right to respond.
HT: The Daily Dish
TNR's Jonathan Chait takes it further (HT via the Dish again), and as referenced in the above quote, unlike Joe Wilson, Alito was correct.
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I agree with all of that. The
I agree with all of that. The fact is that the President lied (if he claims to have been merely mistaken, he should return his J.D. to Harvard). To criticize Justice Alito for being somewhat gauche rather than the President for lying is ludicrous. This isn't like the Wilson heckle last year, which I criticized as inappropriate regardless of its accuracy.
With that said, my own opinion is that these kinds of situations are an inevitable byproduct of an unnecessary bit of pageantry. I don't think there is good enough reason for representatives of the third branch or the military to attend the State of the Union speech. Indeed, given my druthers, I would return to the practice of the President fulfilling his SOTU obligations by letter.
agreed
I find it a little disconcerting that Obama, with his obvious legal background, chose to mouth the liberal party line on this issue about thw 100 years of law and so on and so forth.
Prior to McCain-Feingold, we survived. And we will now. I expect Obama, as a 1-time law Professor to answer to a high level of understanding about the constitution and about free speech. I appreciate that a President spouting the party line is an easy throw away whenever the issue is one on which, realistically nothing is going to happen or there are no urgent priorities, and I think this is one of them,
Still, I think Obama could have left off throwing SCOTUS under the bus. As much as I like the guy, I think he needs to rein in the "with all due respect you're an idiot" stuff just a little bit. And the thing about SCOTUS is that to me, they are the least politically polluted branch of effort and the one which I think consistently does the best at demonstrating its good faith effort to do the job they are supposed to be doing. IMO, scotus spoke on the issue, and that's it, it's over.
Besides, they got it right. I really wish we could constrain big money in politics some more, without violating the 1st amendment. And maybe there are some new ways that we can. But I never thought McC-F was quite kosher.
I can only imagine what would be read off of my lips if the President tore me and my team a new @sshole on 5 or 6 simultaneous channels of national TV.
Yeah.
Yeah. I think that was an uncharacteristic lack of restraint on his part, and for a former law professor, he ought to have taken care to be more precise, or to put it bluntly, not get it wrong. As I said, Alito was well within his rights to respond, and as to the point at hand, was correct. This wasn't a Joe Wilson moment.
I feel Alito's pain
As someone who talks to herself when frustrated (and scaring nearby drivers in the process) I feel Alito's pain ;)