The Last Word
The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday handed down a ruling that struck down so-called affirmative action policies at colleges and universities…the ones that gave preferences to characteristics of birth such as skin color.
The President soon took to a podium at the Oval Office to assure us that the Supreme Court ruling was not the “last word” on this topic.
Forgive me, but that’s exactly what it means.
In our system, the U.S. Supreme Court is the one that rules on whether policies, laws, or rules violate the Constitution…which, as some have forgotten, is the founding document upon which our government is based. So when the Supreme Court rules…literally, that is the “last word”–I hate to correct a former law school teacher like the President on that point, but so be it.
Are there workarounds? Of course, and those who don’t like yesterday’s ruling are already putting new policies in place—some may be legal, others may not.
But it strikes me that those on the left at the highest levels get to come before microphones and say how horrible a court ruling is and undermine the legitimacy of a duly confirmed court…but if anyone on the right dares question a ruling of any court, they’re accused of plotting to overthrow the government and violating the rule of law.
There I go again, pointing out another obvious hypocrisy within our current ruling class. But the stridency with which some of late dismiss court rulings and the Constitution itself just because they don’t like the outcome has broader implications. Witness the recent refrain that there is no justice in a case unless the defendant is found guilty; again, just because you don’t like the outcome does not mean it was not correct. But we’ve conditioned a new generation or two to think this way.
Not all rulings are correct. But to have so many undermined by so-called leaders in the other branches of government has grave implications beyond the next political cycle.
