Roger Pilon has been doing good, quick work on New Gingrich’s pronouncements on the role of the judiciary in interpreting the Constitution. (Roger read Newt’s 54‐​page “white paper” so you don’t have to!)


I have nothing to add to that assessment of the former House Speaker’s legally questionable and politically unwise views. Instead, I want to share a snippet from this lighter take by Mark Steinberg:

The Supreme Court today held that the United States Congress is unconstitutional and must vacate the Capitol no later than January 1, 2012.


The 8–1 vote followed closely on the heels of statements by Newt Gingrich, now leading the race for the GOP presidential nomination, that as president he would ignore decisions by the courts if he was having “a really bad day”; that Congress should have the power to subpoena and impeach federal judges whose jibs the legislators found un‐​seaworthy; and that the judiciary is “a twig on the governmental tree that the president and Congress can prune and burn in the backyard.”

The piece reads like something from The Onion.


Funny, when I heard that Gingrich was discoursing on the law, I thought he’d be proposing the appointment of sentient robots to be our judicial overlords…


Happy Holidays, everyone!