Maybe There's Hope Yet

In the news today, Justice Ginsburg issued an order staying the sale of Chrysler assets to Fiat. Whether this means the whole SCOTUS will hear the case is unknown. Most likely, the Justice wanted more time to study the issues before the scheduled sale mooted the case.

Dean had previously blogged about how teacher's police' pension funds were getting the shaft on this cramdown from Obama, in apparent violation of the rule of law, in this case bankruptcy law. However, the state pension funds in Indiana, unlike private firms that Obama can put the muscle on, appealed all the way to the Supremes.

I thought I would cruise over to Daily Kos, to see if any bile was being served up on this issue, despite the fact that Ginsburg is one of the most liberal justices on the court. I wasn't disappointed, some idiot claiming to be Libertarian Friend, was accusing Rush of wishing to make everyone share in the misery of the Chrysler bankruptcy, and was railing against the ruling, arguing that it was in the "public interest." I saw an opportunity to engage in terms that might resonate with the lefties. Here's what my what left wing Doppleganger had to say:

Why can't we judge this case on it's merits under the law? The plaintiffs are public pension funds, teachers and police if I remember correctly, not some whacko right wing nut jobs. To trash pension fund claims just because of the right wing is the worst kind of ad-hominem ill-logic.

We rightly trashed the Bushies for abusing power and ignoring the constitution in the name of fighting the "war on terror." Even if this bankruptcy was decided in the "public interest" that doesn't mean the constitution or the law were followed. I thought we were more principled than that.

(My apologies, I adopt a certain style when I comment on DailyKos and MyDD.) Imagine my shock when this line of reasoning got some traction. There were of course, moronic counterattacks ("the real plaintif is Murcouck" huh?), but more than one person agreed with the position that the rule of law mattered. I was pleasantly surprised at my new plus four rating for arguing for the rule of law on Daily Kos, which of course is Rush's, Dean's and I'm sure, KT's position on the issue as well.

Maybe there's hope yet. You can read the whole thing here. Click on comments and search for BDaddyL to see the responses.