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| Federal judge compares Bush to Mussolini | |
| 2004-06-21 | |
| By JOSH GERSTEIN, New York Sun EFL Well, at least itâs more original than "Bush = Hitler." Just as silly, but much more original.
"Urk. Excuse me while I remove my foot from my mouth." I am not suggesting for a moment that Bush is Hitler. "I said âMussolini,â not âHitler.â Iâm not a moonbat, really. Donât lump me in with the âBush = Hitlerâ crowd." I want to be clear on that, but it is a situation which is extremely unusual,â the judge said. Judge Calabresi, a former dean of Yale Law School, said Mr. Bush has asserted the full prerogatives of his office, despite his lack of a compelling electoral mandate from the public. âWhen somebody has come in that way, they sometimes have tried not to exercise much power. In this case, like Mussolini, he has exercised extraordinary power. He has exercised power, claimed power for himself; that has not occurred since Franklin Roosevelt who, after all, was elected big and who did some of the same things with respect to assertions of power in times of crisis that this president is doing,â he said. The 71-year-old judge declared that members of the public should, without regard to their political views, expel Mr. Bush from office in order to cleanse the democratic system. Judge From a federal appeals judge, Guidoâs remarks (assuming they have been correctly reported) are not only tendentious and inflammatory, but will serve to further encourage those who call the federal courts politicized and overweeningly liberal.Prof. Eugene Volokh is not so soft: Hitlerâs and Mussoliniâs faults did not include Bushâs supposed fault. Bushâs faults do not include Hitlerâs and Mussoliniâs faults. The supposed analogy that Judge Calabresi is making thus seems to have no basis at all. . . . So what possible legitimate role does the analogy to Hitler and Mussolini have here?The Curmudgeonly Clerk (another lawblogger) notes: . . . Judge Calabresiâs remarks go too far. His speech constitutes an unambiguous violation of the Code of Conduct [for United States Judges]. He has improperly publicly declared opposition to a specific political candidate (and thereby implicitly endorsed another). Such brazen politicking from members of the federal bench cannot be tolerated.Jonah Goldberg astutely notes: . . . demanding a popular uprising to "cleanse" the decadent democratic system in order to sweep your side into power is itself an argument a great many fascists would find very familiar.So whoâs Il Duce now? | |
| Posted by:Mike |
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| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-06-21 11:32:46 PM |
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| Posted by: Frank G 2004-06-21 7:22:36 PM |
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| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-06-21 7:11:18 PM |