Lest You Be Judged

When the final, battle royale in the culture war is joined, we can expect it to come down in the judiciary. Senator John Cornyn's remarks about the connection between courtroom violence and "unaccountable" judges have touched of the latest flare-up, and the New York Times is clamoring for his head.

Yesterday you could watch this bubble up in realtime on lefty blogs.

My first thought was that Republicans could use this to their advantage. Senator Cornyn could be thrown to the wolves, and a slow an painful inquiry could be made into this man's ethics. This would be satisfying to Democrats, and they deserve something nice after losing two branches of government. But unfortunately Cornyn's career seems otherwise noteworthy, and the issue at hand is a serious one. And, in terms of the potential to distract people from substantive public policy, Tom DeLay offers more grist for the mill.

My second thought was that Cornyn's remarks - which are mild on the surface - actually brought to mind Bill Mahr after 9/11. The actions of reprehensible people may be "understandable" - be they jihadists, fundamentalists, other the otherwise disgruntled - but all parties are obligated to work within the structures of constitutional, civil society.

It's a principle that cuts deeply in both directions. Fringe elements from both parties have no choice but to oblige, regardless of whether or not the winds of political fortune happen to be blowing in their direction on any given day.