It appears that Congress is not the only branch with falling poll numbers. According to Pew Research Center, the Supreme Court now is viewed favorable by just roughly 50 percent of the public.
Only fifty-two percent of Americans hold a favorable view of the Supreme Court today. Notably, “[t]here are virtually no partisan differences in views of the Supreme Court: 56% of Republicans, and 52% of both Democrats and independents rate the Supreme Court favorably.” Of course, popularity is not a requirement for the Court, which was given jurists with life tenure to protect it from public opinion. The Court has often been the most unpopular when it has been the most right, such as on desegregation.
Yet, it is striking to see how all three branches remain unpopular with most Americans. Once again, it is striking how the public holds its government in such low regard. Yet, citizens feel incapable to forcing change due to the monopoly of power exercised by the two parties. I have previously written how we need to address this crisis with fundamental changes in our system. The Framers gave us the tools to force such changes, including reforming the Supreme Court. I have previously called for the Court to be expanded to 19 members. However, there are other proposals for reform, but none are being considered in a political system locked down by two parties.
Source: Pew
Woosty’s still a Cat
1, May 2, 2012 at 11:39 am
Gene H.
1, May 2, 2012 at 11:19 am
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I love it when you talk like that…… 🙂
I know what you mean … he gives me the shivers when he goes after the Court.
Oro Lee, When I moved to Texas there were quite a few yellow dogs around. They don’t even exist here any more. I don’t know what you call a person that votes republican no matter what.
Andy on May 2, 2012 at 11:08 am
Bette Noir,
“Might it be an indication that people are not paying attention? Another possibility is the crappy news media.”
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“Jim Risen at the National Press Club: Democracy Cannot Survive Without Aggressive Journalism”
http://www.whistleblower.org/blog/42-2012/1966-jim-risen-at-the-national-press-club-democracy-cannot-survive-without-aggressive-journalism
John — “Ron Paul for President 2012 … (even if I have to write him in)…might confuse the Diebold machines anyway…HA!”
Only if the State permits it. In many states “write-in” candidates must be pre-approved/qualified before voters are permitted to vote for them; some states prohibit write-ins for those who lost the primary.
I am fortunate to be old enough (???) to have voted in the last presidential race in which my state used a paper ballot. There were many races in which a Republican was the only candidate.
In each I wrote in “Yellow Dog.” So, TalkingDog if you read this you may know others, but I am the only Yellow Dog Democrat that I know.
Hi all,
Wow the passions seem to surface here as Mike’s post reveals. The trouble is Mike has it absolutley backwards, troubling even more is that way too many American’s are unaware of why Mike Spidell is so wrong.
Beginning with the Progressiive Era of the Court, and FDR’s not so velied threat to change the Court into a polticized branch, which he aceived with what is referrred to as a ‘switch in time that saved nine’, the Court began to use fictions of the law to change perceptions of the Constitution. By fictions of the law I mean ‘an assumption which conceals, or attempts to coneal, that fact that a rule of law has undergone alteraltion, it’s letter unchanged , it’s operation modified.’
Today we are reaping the effects of process theory, or trying to democratize the court to adjust to ever changing poltical pressures. The trouble is we cannot ignore the Constitution, as we have, and try to allow congress to make changes to our organic law, that power is reserved to the people in Artcile V. Those who gripe about the Court seem to have never been educated in our Founding and what a written constiution means.
John, Doesn’t Ron Paul support the Supreme Court’s ruling on Citizens United?
Look on the bright side. They are still ahead of Congress; however, that is not saying much. In a recent poll, Congress polled lower in popularity than herpes.
Ron Paul for President 2012 … (even if I have to write him in)…might confuse the Diebold machines anyway…HA!
“After Obama ran Bush’s third term, I got the clue that they are all just figure heads for whoever is REALLY in charge…” John
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well, I do hope we are not becoming the Country that thinks w/it’s dick……
DonS
1, May 2, 2012 at 12:26 pm
Disclaimer: any rant against Republican neanderthals should not be taken as an endorsement of Democratic or independent neanderthals.
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me too
The only explanations are that people aren’t paying attention to what this court is doing, and that our corporate owned media is doing a lousy job of reporting the news just like their corporate masters want them to.
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Maybe there should be a law that bills, laws and all manner of legal document should be written in plain and common English and be no longer than 18 pages (that’s 2 for ea Justice…), and that those who seek to confound, confabulate and con by usage of un-interpretable crap (whether written or other….) be held responsible….
What Gene said! The Supreme Court majority is bought and paid for and answer only to their corporate masters. They are a prime example why confirmation hearings are important.
Mike Spindell
1, May 2, 2012 at 12:23 pm
This SCOTUS is the fruition of four decades of hard work on the part of those who would change us into a feudalistic country. The five member majority is made up of men incapable of seeing beyond their own limited prejudices and lacking in the ability to feel empathy for their fellow humans
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Yes, thankyou for your succinctness.
there is a lot of talk about the upcoming elections and people having to vote for ‘the lesser of 2 evils…’ which to my mind means that there has been a loss of our Government and the Constitution is just somebodies toilet paper…..
Oro Lee
1, May 2, 2012 at 12:12 pm
Wootsy, how about evil?
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well, I would understand ‘greed’, or ‘threats’, or ‘lawlessness’, or ‘lot’s of other things crusading under the banners of ‘right = mywayorthehighway’ to be a type of ‘evil’ but then again I don’t have all the informaton that the Supreme Court has…..but when Scalia says stuff like “You want me to read this whole bill (in order to make a decision)…” I have to honor that there is something other than reason or law that is being served….is it ‘evil’ ? or is there a real and present danger masquerading as threat? or is it a counter-coup? or stuff I could never even know about…..
It’s hard for me to believe it’s that high, too. Citizens United was bad enough; however, when the court rules you can be strip searched for a TRAFFIC ticket, then something is way out of whack!
The only explanations are that people aren’t paying attention to what this court is doing, and that our corporate owned media is doing a lousy job of reporting the news just like their corporate masters want them to.
Considering that the Pilgrims came as indentured servants of a corporation what else is to be expected. Corporations rule! : (
@Woosty’s still a Cat Actually I had considered that maybe the court is being threatened by a click of the 1% elite that seems hell bent on taking over, not just this country, but others as well….
After Obama ran Bush’s third term, I got the clue that they are all just figure heads for whoever is REALLY in charge…
DonS — “Gotta figure that a large number of those 56% of Republicans ”
And the rest RWA followers?