A lot of court rulings in the news today, and it’s fascinating to hear local talk radio (ie, conservative talk) responding. When the court throws out Tim Eyman’s I-747, because, you know, it violated the Constitution, we get outrage, absolute outrage. And not just at the court, but at the legislature and the governor, who had nothing to do with ruling. (Because that’s the cynical purpose of the outrage, spinning some political advantage for 2008.)
Yet when a federal court throws out the state Pharmacy Board rule requiring pharmacists to fill prescriptions…? [audio:http://horsesass.org/wp-content/uploads/crickets.mp3]
What this tells me is that the folks on the right believe in the rule of law, except when the court rulings don’t go their way, prompting folks like my friend Dori to start talking about an armed tax revolt. Of course, he was only joking. The type of joke that would get a liberal like me labeled a hate talker, or possibly even jailed. But then, we’re the ones with all the guns, so I can understand the distinction.
Speaking of the rule of law, it looks like Lt. Ehrin Watada dodged a bullet — metaphorically this time — when a federal court ruled that military attorneys so totally fucked up his court martial, it would subject Watada to double jeopardy to be tried again. Of course, they could have just discharged Watada for refusing to go to Iraq, say, the way they would a qualified gay soldier who actually believes in this war and wants to fight it, but no, they had to try to make an example of an officer who boldly took a principled stand, whatever the consequences. I’d say the military’s execution of their case against Watada is an apt metaphor for the Bush administration’s execution of it’s war in Iraq: immoral and incompetent.
And nearly as incompetent as the army’s efforts against Watada in the court of law is NBA commissioner David Stern’s efforts on behalf of the Sonics in the court of public opinion:
“If the team moves, there’s not going to be another team there, not in any conceivable future plan that I could envision, and that would be too bad.”
Oh yeah, now that’s going to win you public support. Some rich white guy buys the team and attempts to blackmail local taxpayers out of half a billion dollars… and then you threaten the loyal fans who faithfully supported the team and the league for 40 years? And after one of the team’s Oklahoma City based owners publicly admitted that they never planned to keep the team in Seattle in the first place? Oh, well in that case, here’s your new arena.
Jesus… has Stern bothered to even read our local papers? This is a region where taxpayers refuse to pay for the things they need let alone the things they want, and he’s blaming Frank Chopp? This has nothing to do with Seattle — Clay Bennett and his buddies wanted an NBA team in Oklahoma City, so they went out an bought ours — and if Stern is happy swapping a big market for a little one, that’s up to him. But don’t come back and threaten us that we’ll never get another team because we refused to play ball with a blackmailer.
What an asshole.