U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts finally commented on the president's SOTU speech in which Obama called out the Supreme Court on their decision to allow corporations similar freedoms to those of unions in contributing to political campaigns:
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said Tuesday the scene at President Obama's State of the Union address was "very troubling" and the annual speech has "degenerated to a political pep rally."
Obama chided the court, with the justices seated before him in their black robes, for its decision on a campaign finance case.
Responding to a University of Alabama law student's question, Roberts said anyone was free to criticize the court, and some have an obligation to do so because of their positions.
"So I have no problems with that," he said. "On the other hand, there is the issue of the setting, the circumstances and the decorum.
"The image of having the members of one branch of government standing up, literally surrounding the Supreme Court, cheering and hollering while the court — according the requirements of protocol — has to sit there expressionless, I think is very troubling."
Roberts is right of course. Civility in politics has become a rarity, especially since Obama's election to POTUS. When you have a president making comments such as "I won" and "the campaign is over" and otherwise acting like a petulant elitist in any bipartisan setting, the tone has been set and the rest of the party falls in step.
The image of Chuck Schumer hovering over the justices clapping and cheering after the president called them out – with a statement that was factually untrue and deceptively misleading, by the way - just reeks of dirty politics by a bunch of rank amateurs. If there's one thing Obama can claim success at, it is bringing the Chicago way of dirty politics to the national level.
