Order in the court

Sorry posting has been so non-existent in the last few days. I seem to be afflicted with some kind of allergy that's affected by eyeball. Between the itchy eye and the runny nose, I've been too miserable to keep up the pace. Hoping a couple of days of rest will restore me to health. Meanwhile, this caught my good eye.

The Supreme Court is asserting its authority to hear Gitmo cases. With Roberts forced to sit it out on account of a previous lower court ruling he made, and Scalia (who should by rights recuse after this statement) and Alito clearly in the White House camp, it's up to the moderate judges to protect the judiciary.

Justice Stephen Breyer notes, ''If the president can do this, well then he can set up commissions to go to Toledo, and in Toledo pick up an alien and not have any trial at all except before that special commission.'' Souter and Ginsburg note the disturbing signifigance of withdrawing jurisdiction from this court in a pending case and retroactively closing the courts to constitutional challenges.

With Bush declaring the constitution, just a goddamned piece of paper, it's unsurprising that the administration is trying to pull this stunt. It's somewhat comforting to see the Supremes fight back against this usurping of their jurisdiction.