Reading through Bob Herbert’s column, diatribe, screed today, I was struck by this line:
The court said, in effect, that this is not the American way, that ours is not a Marx Brothers republic. Not yet, anyway. (It most likely will be if Mr. Bush gets to appoint one or two more justices to the court.)
The “Marx Brothers republic” is a state in which we no longer have any due process rights. Of course, the idea that we aren’t going to be able to confront witnesses against us, examine the evidence, have counsel present, etc., is absurd and paranoid.
I suspect that 10 years ago (maybe even 5), the editor of the opinion page would have at least struck those last two lines.
Not anymore.
