Waaaiiiitttt

Ok, so we've all been paying attention to the GOP presidential race, right?  Well, at least a little.  Enough to know that Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are running?  Ok.  Good.

In case you weren't paying close attention, one of the things that Mr. Newt Gingrich has been saying is that, as emperor...erm...president, he'd outright ignore the Supreme Court if he felt like it, actively seek to impeach judges he disagreed with, and abolish entire courts for failing to make rulings as Czar Gingrich sees fit.

Mitt Romney isn't quite as ballsy, but he indicates that the Supreme Court should answer to the people because Congress is too incompetent to review them (though, perhaps he doesn't realize that Congress has no power over the justices once they're in the Court, unless they do something naughty).

Both these ideas draw applause from the (admittedly extreme) audience present at the debate where these ideas issue from the lips of these two esteemed "conservatives."

And "conservative" tools have been crying JUDICIAL ACTIVISM every time a judge does something they don't like for quite some time.  Of course, the term hasn't been limited to use by conservatives, but certainly it has gotten trotted out pretty frequently by them, even landing itself into the GOP platform on a regular basis (1996, 2004, 2008).

But now, all the applause is forgotten, because current (Democratic) Barack (Hussein) Obama has the gall to play the judicial activism card himself. In fact, Mitch McConnell must believe that only he and/or his fellow Republicans must own the phrase "judical activism" as he can say it (at least here, and here, and here), but not (Democratic) President Barack (Hussein) Obama (here).

While I think playing the judicial activism card might be premature, though probably accurate in light of the existence of other programs we must all participate in (via taxes or fees) that result in a benefit of some over another (e.g., Medicare, farm subsidies, mortgage interest refunds, etc.), it's pretty ridiculous that a leader in the Anti-Judicial Activism Party (GOP) would tut tut the president for saying so.

Somehow, I suspect that Mitch McConnell, or at least many of his colleagues, might be extra offended if one used the common phrase, "it's like the pot calling the kettle..." Democrat?