NEWS: Sandra Day O'Connor Fears U.S. Dictatorship

NPR's Nina Totenberg reported that retired SCOTUS justice O'Conner told a group of lawyers at Georgetown University, "I am against judicial reforms driven by nakedly partisan reasoning... we must be ever-vigilant against those who would strong-arm the judiciary into adopting their preferred policies..."




Is this threat real or has Justice O'Conner gone over the edge? I suspect that the discussion on ATS will follow typical party lines.

Related News Links:
www.npr.org

[edit on 13-3-2006 by df1]

She's very right. Bush is leading this country to a dictatorship. With all the new laws, the next governments could even put a legal dictatorship!

Hell! Let gets our country back!

I'm not going to go as far as to say we're becoming a dictatorship. I am however going to say that the world of a former Supreme Court justice with such a high level of respect ought to be payed attention to. All I'm saying is that she's one of the smartest minds in the country and her words shouldn't be taken lightly.

Good idea Vitchilo.

But how?

Like O'Connor says - our country is now a dictatorship. We have fewer freedoms than people in fascist Germany did.

Like - we do NOT have the freedom to criticize or dissent.

Here's another ATS thread on this subject:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I strongly agree with O'Conner. The article quoted in the original post is absolutely correct. The Totalitarian Tiptoe is in full swing. O'Conner hasn't gone over the edge, but we're about to...

How can anybody question the facts she has pointed out? Over the past few decades the Republican party has been taken over by extemists who are hell bent on eliminating the Democratic party and establishing a one party rule...all you have to do is read or listen to their various spokesmen such as Grover Norquist to know what I am talking about. Even such over the top characters such as Micheal Savage and Ann Coulter are not so out of the republican mainstream as you might think. in 1993 phil gramm said that they would hound democrats and liberals until they were hunting them with dogs and that is just one of the more moderate things they have said. Any attempts be it from republicans or democrats to establish a one party system threatens our system...the big difference now is that the media is in their pockets today.

Well darn.

Where is that thread about the Patriot Act creating a Federal Police Force?

BRB

Here it is:

Patriot Act May Lead to Federal Police Force


When you think about it - a Federal Police Force is necessary, what with all these new laws and everything.


ed to add link

[edit on 14-3-2006 by soficrow]

wow...

so SDO has worries...
what does that ol bat know? (kidding)
that lady is one of the most respected people in Law today... and she has me worried...

My friends might even listen to her...
Most people dont need proof of what SDO says. we see it everyday...
I love it when people in PTS say "provide link"

too easy... I want to ask " from today, or yesterday?"
This administration truly hasn't done too much that other previous ones haven't done first...
the problem is that this administration seems to have done them all though and at once... not over several decades...

Now also... to be fair... look at Clintons last years... I think he stacked the cards that are being played right now...

lets face it, when i logged on today and saw "HomeLand Security in charge of certian religous activities" i pretty much knew the s*** hit the fan and that something is seriously wrong.

just look at all the stuff they have been doing recently and you want to tell me "its in our best interest"? let me tell you something freedom will forever come at a price, but that price should never become freedom itself.

Has anybody been able to find any other source that supports this? If so I would be very interested in viewing it. If these quotes are correct then I would have to say we as citizens need to become more not less involved.

Well as soon as this so called plan is put fully into effect, I mean once the police state comes in full time, then I will know that we are screwed. Until then, I will be enjoying my freedoms to the fullest.

Originally posted by gallopinghordes
Has anybody been able to find any other source that supports this?

"This" being that O'Connor said this?

npr
NewsBusters
Slate

Yes, she said it all right.



[edit on 14-3-2006 by Benevolent Heretic]

I'm not sure what O'Connor meant by this:

"I am against judicial reforms driven by nakedly partisan reasoning... we must be ever-vigilant against those who would strong-arm the judiciary into adopting their preferred policies..."

How is it possible to strong-arm a lifelong appointee? I think David Souter proved that to be false.

Also, I have my qualms about a source that is so obviously sensational, unproven statements:

These are peculiar times, and when Republican politicians appear to endorse the killing of judges who make rulings of which they disapprove, it's maybe understandable that a distinguished judge like Sandra Day O'Connor, expressing views calculated to enrage Republican politicians, might sensibly look to a small podium with a weak sound system for fear of being heard too clearly by the likes of Cornyn and DeLay

The entire paragraph is absurd, as a matter of fact.

And, I know that facts are not as much fun as hysteria, but before we all become paranoid about a "Federal Police Force", read the act and see what it proposes: a uniformed contingent of the Secret Service, to protect embassies and politicians, etc.

For years, I have been an avid reader of all sorts of fiction. Naturally, I have read a lot of science fiction, speculative fiction and books that described scenarios in an alternate history. I have even enjoyed reading "trash" novels such as Jerry Ahern's "The Survivalist" series. All of this reading was purely entertainment and I genuinely never would have believed that an American dictatorship would have been realistically possible.

My paradigm has been shifting quite quickly as of late. Events that I would never have foreseen or imagined have become reality. Now, I sincerely believe that "anything" is possible.

As for an American dictatorship, well all that I can say is that this is no longer an impossibility. I don't like to believe that this could happen. At one time I would have flatly stated that such a thing was impossible but, frankly, this is no longer the case. And while I can only bring myself to say that the possibility of an American dictatorship is "unlikely", I have to admit to myself that I am frightened by the fact that I cannot honestly say that such an "unlikely" event "can never happen" because it can.

The government can not do anything the citizens do not allow it to do. If enough people stand up for what is right, the government has to listen. They are so few and we are so many.

If, as many here believe, President Bush is doing all of the evil things he is accused of, it would be simple to fix. It could have been fixed at the last election. Democrats have to actually show up at the poles and vote. Not to hard. Just vote and go home and have a cold one. In most states now it is so easy it’s beyond strange that so few people vote. Turn on your dvd recorder, go vote and watch that sitcom later.

I personally would like to see a third party candidate win. Change might be possible if that were to start happening.

Not to belittle your post, benevolent tyrant, but other than sharing your feelings on what is possible, what else can you donate to the post, in, say, the way of facts?

So many people seem to be so invested in seeing disaster befall the US that it is depressing after a while. I'm not asking you to live with your head in the sand, but for goodness's sake, have some faith in the spirit of the people of this country for once. Hanging out with the gloom and doomers for too long will have you jumping at your own shadow, fer chrissakes! How can you believe someone that says we have less freedoms than Nazi Germany?

[edit on 14-3-2006 by jsobecky]

[edit on 14-3-2006 by jsobecky]

When a respected person as the former supreme judge makes a comment using the words Dictatorship unless anybody here can prove that she is losing her mind, it is something to be worry about and to take very seriously.

This should not be bluff as just another Bush bashing rhetoric by An activist judge because she is conservative and she was elected by the same people that she now warns us about.

To just brushed out as just another Sensationalist news is just plain wrong and only people that has not regards for the headings of our nation under the present and latest administrations will do that or they are just happy to allowed our nation to become A dictatorship .

Once in while is worth to listen to the voices of reason and wisdom, while putting party loyalties aside.

JS you are so narrow in your views that you will denied that US can become a dictatorship like the one in German Nazi even if Bush hit you with a swastika on your head.

[edit on 15-3-2006 by marg6043]

Originally posted by jsobecky

Not to belittle your post, benevolent tyrant, but other than sharing your feelings on what is possible, what else can you donate to the post, in, say, the way of facts?

So many people seem to be so invested in seeing disaster befall the US that it is depressing after a while. I'm not asking you to live with your head in the sand, but for goodness's sake, have some faith in the spirit of the people of this country for once. Hanging out with the gloom and doomers for too long will have you jumping at your own shadow, fer chrissakes! How can you believe someone that says we have less freedoms than Nazi Germany?

[edit on 14-3-2006 by jsobecky]

[edit on 14-3-2006 by jsobecky]

All that I am saying is that I am surprised -- quite surprised -- that concepts that would have been ordinarily relegated to novels of speculative fiction have become topics for serious discussion. I am alarmed that the previously "unthinkable" has become a scenario that, frankly, is quite possible.

I do not personally believe that these "unthinkable" events will become reality. It is, however, quite a shock to recognize the possibility --- however remote -- being discussed with any degree of plausibility.

I am certain that in pre-war Nazi Germany, people began discussing the improbable idea that it would be a "crime" (sic) to be Jewish. There were those, of course, who thought that such concepts were impossible. But, at the same time, there were "alarmists" among the Jews and the general population who recognized the possibility and they left Germany for England or the United States. In their case, their fears, their paranoia became reality.

Now I am not saying that an American dictatorship is probable. What I am simply commenting on is the fact that this idea has become possible, albeit remotely.

As for sharing my "feelings", well I still live in a free society don't I? My "feelings" are just as valid as your criticism of my "feelings". And, in the same vein, my expressed "feelings" have contributed just as much to this post as your criticisms.

Just for the record. I don't hang out with "gloom and doomers". But I do listen to their rants and ravings. Their diatribes of despair are usually dismissed out of hand. However, lately, I cannot help but note that this type of discussion has become increasingly prevalent and that, in itself, is something that I cannot help but note. That said, I would like to add that, ultimately, I do have faith in the American people and their indomitable spirit.

Originally posted by marg6043
JS you are so narrow in your views that you will denied that US can become a dictatorship like the one in German Nazi even if Bush hit you with a swastika on your head.

I'm not sure why you are so eager to lure me into an argument, but it won't work. You keep throwing out these personal attacks at me because I don't buy into your way of thinking.

Let me say once and for all, I do not appreciate these personal attacks. Please stay on topic.

Originally posted by jsobecky
Let me say once and for all, I do not appreciate these personal attacks. Please stay on topic.

I just posted my opinion after reading how you like to judge other people's post.

You have become very judgemental when it comes to members posting what you do not like.

Look back and see what you have posted JS you have not been nice either.

[edit on 15-3-2006 by marg6043]