Colbert Announces: What Does It Mean for the Courts?

Last night, National Campaign to Restore Civil Rights' staffers were on the set of The Colbert Report when Stephen Colbert officially announced that he would run for President of the United States of America. While the Campaign cannot officially endorse any person in the already crowded race, we can offer observations about how the next president, and Colbert in particular, may impact the courts, and our democracy.

Our research has thus far yielded very little on Colbert's view of the courts and civil rights. But he has expressed clear disdain for the U.S. Supreme Court. Colbert claimed on the Daily Show that he "has taken the decision to abolish the Supreme Court and since [he] is God there is nothing you can do to stop me!" Why he would abolish the Court is one of the questions we'd like to ask him.

Colbert was also quick to attack the Court for its decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, striking down the military tribunals for Guantanamo Bay detainees as violative of U.S. and international law. Colbert stated that it was "gutless" for SCOTUS to hand down this decision and then ditch town.

Some also question Colbert's close relationship with Justice Scalia. At last year's White House press briefing, Colbert stated:

Justice Scalia is here. Welcome, sir. May I be the first to say, you look fantastic. How are you? [After each sentence, Colbert made a hand gesture, an allusion to Scalia's recent use of an obscene Sicilian hand gesture in speaking to a reporter about Scalia's critics. Scalia is seen laughing hysterically.] Just talking some Sicilian with my paisan.

The question on our minds is what kind of judges would Colbert appoint? Would he appoint judges in the mold of Scalia and Alito? And what about his attorney general? Would Colbert appoint Bill O'Reilly for that position to improve morale? These are important questions Colbert and his close advisors -- rumored to include Karl Rove, Pat Robinson and Beelzebub -- need to address.

There are also concerns about Colbert's openness, and whether his administration would be more transparent than others. Colbert raised red flags when he was banned from Wikipedia. Those concerns only grew following his recent New York Times column in which he wrote, "Dick Cheney's fondest pipe dream is driving a bulldozer into The New York Times while drinking crude oil out of Keith Olbermann's skull." Colbert seems to share that dream, as do many others on the extreme-right.

We hope that Colbert will explain his vision for the Court and our civil rights soon. But if his past comments and associations are indicative, we can expect him to attempt to dissolve the Court. And the Congress. And the media (starting with the Times).

If so, Colbert would essentially be offering more of the same right-wing ideology, which could hurt his chances in the early primary states of Nevada and South Carolina. Perhaps recognizing his vulnerability among voters of color and elderly voters, Colbert announced that he will run as both a Republican, and a Democrat. Whether this sudden about-face is successful is a question the voters will soon answer.

Comments

[Nonamnesiac]

That's why he's seriously considering Vladimir Putin as his running mate. In return, it is rumored that he will be Putin's running mate. In that way, they can abolish Congress, the Supreme Court, the Russian Parliament and both the Russian Mafiya and the U.S. Mafia.

Although this next portion needs further research and though probably untrue but fits into this post, it's my understanding that Putin hails from Georgia (the one that used to be a part of the Soviet Union and is known for having been the birthplace of great Russian rednecks like Stalin) while Stephen hails from South Carolina (the one that's known for being the home of many of the greatest leaders of the Ku Klux Klan).

Surely a marriage made in heaven that will bring peace to the Planet and rid us, in one fell swoop, of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Joe Lieberman, John Kyl, Hillary Clinton, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner and the rest (little loss, as all are pygmies), Clarence Thomas, Alito and Scalia.

Colbert/Putin in 2008.

[Mariel]

Colbert has been asked 3 times by Huckabee to be his V-P. So Colbert replied that if he won the nomination, he'd return the favor and ask Huck to be his VP. Sounds good to me. Could go on for hours why, and HAVE gone on on, another thread, for at least half an hour, but just repeating my statement that Colbert/Huck or Huck/Colbert sounds good to me.

Seriously.

[ParacleteofKavorka]

What if Colbert had to be included in the Republican debates? The ratings would be great.

[mamacat]

Stephen could single handedly raise the Republican debates to a level of relevancy, and the number of viewers would at least double! But they'd better have a lot of ambulances standing by, cause the right wing nuts are liable to have heart attacks, in droves.

[Metacortex]

OMG! This is Man of The Year in real life without Robin Williams. The Son ova bitch just might win. HAHAHA!!!

[UkieOlie]

Beautifully done!
Colbert is brilliant, as opposed to the Resident of the White House.
Colbert would have been better than the fake cowboy we have in Washington.

[nowaterboardUSA]

In a sense, Colbert's run reminds me of Kinky Friedman's run for governor in Texas in 2006. His slogan: Why The Hell Not? He actually got 11% of the vote. I don't think Colbert will take it that far though - I doubt if he's even done any of the paper filing you have to do to REALLY run.

[PADDYWHACK]

He got some snippy coverage from Charlie Gibson last night on this issue,Charlie showed his age on this one .

[Parducci]

Wow! A comedian running for president? How original. This hasn't ever been...oh, wait...Pat Paulsen did the same thing.... in 1968. More recycled and borrowed jokes from Colbert. Yawn.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Paulsen

[ihavenobias]

I can't tell if you're joking with your super dismissive tone.

If so, ignore what I'm about to say (and I apologize in advance).

If not, come on, lighten up and no need to yawn. Is 1968 recent enough to be pop-cultur­e-relevant­? I'm not sure October 8th is still relevant at this point.

But seriously, it's just a mildly amusing publicity stunt.

No reason to criticize him for that...

cnn.com/20­07/SHOWBIZ­/TV/09/20/­colbert.st­olenjoke.a­p/

[Parducci]

I'm not criticizing his stunt, just his lack of comedic originality.

[ParacleteofKavorka]

Wasn't there a Linda Lovelace for President campaign in the '70s?

[WomanInOrangeSweater]

I seem to remember she was gaining a following and blew it.

[magi]

Colbert for president? Maybe Claudette. But not Stephen. Be serious, gang. Who's going to vote for some actor as the decider-in-chief? Remember when that ex-corn belt sportscaster turned Warner Bros. grade B romantic lead Ronald Reagan ran for president? They laughed him right off the podium. Now, the poor man's Stephen Hill, Fred Thompson, is taking a whack at going from mumbling DA to somnabulistic candidate. Who's nuts enough to back that horse? When it comes to entertainers as politicos, I can only quote the late Senator George Murphy: "The buck and wing stops here."

[JustAnotherJoe]

My gut tells me that Mr. Colbert's gut will tell him to keep the Supreme Court intact until after he gets Mike Judge creator of "King of the Hill" confirmed. I mean who can resist having a Judge Judge sitting on the highest court in the land? Then, my gut tells me Colbert's gut will tell him to disband the court and Congress, and let Mike Judge go back to doing his cartoon thing.

[Desiderata]

Does this mean Colbert will join in these endless debates?

I can't wait.

[LizM]

You do realize that Stephen Colbert is, you know, joking...don't you!?

I could be wrong, but I think you guys need to seriously get a grip...and lighten up, too!

[IsaacKuo]

You do realize that Cristóbal Joshua Alex is, you know, joking...don't you!?

Seriously, he's just playing along. Read it again, keeping that in mind. It's funny.

[LizM]

Okay, so it looks as though I'm the one lacking in the sense of humor department! Actually, I didn't even read the whole post before commenting...I have learned my lesson...again!

[webweaver]

He may be. But he is also the court jester who awakened the White House Correspondents Association at that awesome speech last year at the the Correspondents DInner.

Truth to Power with Humor... it may be the only way to shake things up!

[swift goat pet for truth]

Already he has more credibility that the whole Bush Administration, past AND present, put together

[MHainds]

My question is "What would we do without Stephen Colbert?" I would certainly have less to laugh about.

[PADDYWHACK]

The current slate offers us ironic comedy but Colbert is the real deal.Deflating the puffed up egotism of many of the candidates can only be a good thing.He'd pull a lot of votes,people are fed up with the black comedy of our present administration.