Newt Gingrich says he would arrest judges who disagree with him
During last week’s debate in Iowa Newt Gingrich drew the cheers of the audience when he railed against activist judges; while I did enjoy this attack, because I have railed against activist judges many times in the past, I was concerned about the fact that his plan–much like his plan on granting amnesty to illegal aliens–included setting up yet another government bureaucracy, this one granted with subpoena power and tasked with reviewing justices with whom he disagreed.
In the staple of Andrew Jackson and another one of his heroes–FDR–Newt Gingrich declared that he would simply ignore rulings with which he did not agree. This may have precedent and it may play well to conservatives, but isn’t this the same position that Barack Obama took when he ignored the court ruling on lifting the drilling moratorium which has drawn the ire of the right? What is the difference here?
But Newt Gingrich didn’t stop there.
Caught up in the euphoria over his comments in the debate, Newt Gingrich went even further over the weekend when he declared that he would send in Federal Marshalls to arrest justices and force them to testify in front of the Congress if he deemed a decision to be controversial to explain why the decision was made.
Newt Gingrich would apparently have sole power to decide which court rulings were controversial, and we can naturally assume that he would consider any decision made against any of his policies to be controversial. Therefor he would basically be resorting to arresting people who he considered political enemies and we have seen this act play out in Europe in the not so distant past.
You may feel that giving the president power to arrest activist judges is all well and good as long as a person who shares your ideology is in the White House, but what happens when the other party is in power? If the Supreme Court rules that Obamacare is unconstitutional and Barack Obama wins a second term and decided to arrest Justice Roberts, Justice Alito, and Justice Thomas would you still feel the same way? What if Barack Obama decides that the Heller decision was a controversial one and decided to arrest these same justices?
Just food for thought…..be careful what you wish for.
America's Watchtower 
Truthfully?
I’m kinda tired of hearing only about Newt and Mitt and Ron. For the first time ever I watched the debate earlier this week, and what I want to know is . . . who is Huntsman? I was far more impressed with him than all the others combined. Who is this guy, and why aren’t we hearing more about him?
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Huntsman does well in the debates but people do not trust him because he was in the Obama regime as ambassador to China.
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So he wants to throw out rule of law, separation of powers, checks and balances, and any restraint to the president’s power, all in order to punish people he disagrees with. How is this in any way conservative? Think also of the precedent that his actions would set and the tools he would give to future presidents who might be even more reckless, unprincipled, and unpredictable than he is.
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It has been my contention that Newt is not a conservative, and even if he is, he is a big government guy and this is more proof.
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I like Perry, he’s not perfect but all things considered, he’s not that bad, BUT… I have long said, if this field is the best the GOP can field, we are SCREWED…
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There is only about three weeks to go before the New Hampshire primary and I still have no idea who I am going to vote for. Perry’s last two debates have been much better and I am starting to look at him once again.But yes, it is sad this is the best the GOP has to offer, and in a year when Obama should be defeatable.
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Newt just neutered himself as far as I am concerned. This is really hard to believe that we have ended up the way we have regarding candidates. Time for a draft.
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I think so also but it depends on how much play this gets in the media. Can we hit Hillary’s reset button?
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Newt is one of the fellows who came up with the idea of “originalism,” isn’t he? How can he possibly think that this proposal is consistent with what the framers intended?
As to Huntsman – Steve, you’re right when you explain that some GOPers are leery of him because of his association with the Obama administration, but even a cursory examination of his biography indicates that he’s a true-blue American first and Republican second.
The President obviously thought Mr. Huntsman was the best choice to serve as America’s ambassador to China – a crucially important job – and Mr. Huntsman loyally accepted, despite the obvious harm it would do to his own political aspirations. The Republicans who hold Huntsman’s loyal service to his country against him because he was selected by a President of another party should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.This is exactly the sort of thing against which George Washington – a true originalist, by the way – warned us.
We’re seeing the same kind of stupidity today from our Congress – specifically, the Republican House rejecting the plan approved by the Democratic-controlled Senate, apparently for no other reason than that they want to take credit for whatever plan is eventually adopted, rather than simply “go along” with what the other party initiated. How these reputed grownups actually believe they’re viewed as anything other than a bunch of spoiled adolescents by the overwhelming majority of Americans who watch their antics with mouths agape is beyond me.
Take good care and may God bless us all!
TGY
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I don’t understand how Newt could believe this is a good idea or consistent with the constitution, he is the historian isn’t he? Railing against activist judges is red meat to conservatives, myself included, and it seems as if he got caught up in the moment and went too far. But then again maybe he really believes it, I don’t know but we can’t have a person who in the heat of a meeting with an international leader can’t be trusted to hold his tongue when need be.
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Huntsman has actually done very well in the debates and he has spent quite a bit of time here in New Hampshire and appears to be gaining some steam–it will be interesting to see how he does here.
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I do agree that we must get these activist judges under control, but that’s a job for the congress. Congress can stop this in a second but chooses not to. As for the field…well tea party darling Nikki Haley has a moment of truth the other day when she actually stated it wasn’t about nominating the most conservative candidate. This tells you the state of the Republican Party. The establishment has a firm grip on it.
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I agree also John, the Congress has the power to remove these justices but simply doesn’t have the political will–this goes for both sides of the aisle. Newt can’t simply overrule the Congress and he should have known better than this.
The Republican party still does not get it, just look at the field we are left with.
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This must be the moment when Gingrich implodes. You know the moment is coming-this could be it.
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BOOM!
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His 15 minutes are about up. This is his jump the shark moment.
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He is starting to fade; he was the flavor of the day but people realize he isn’t who he says he is.
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I guess we are to be happy that we are exchanging one Left-leaning President that wants total power for a Right-leaning President-to-be that wants total power? Something seems wrong there, I don’t care what party you are affiliated with. Just when I think I have the one I will vote for, that candidate goes and says something stupid and I have to re-evaluate, again. I think I am talking for alot of the public, when I say, at this moment, I do not know WHO I am going to vote for. At this late stage in the game, this can be dangerous.
TGY, I like the term “Spoiled adolescents”, in referring to this Congress.
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I am voting in three weeks and I still have no idea who I am going to vote ofr. This has never happened to me before and it is frustrating not to have a candidate who I feel strongly about.
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