By far the most disturbing comment I've seen about the Supreme Court case on affirmative action came from US Congressman and Democratic Presidential hopeful Richard Gephardt.
At a candidate forum sponsored by the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, Gephardt is quoted as saying, "When I'm president, we'll do executive orders to overcome any wrong thing the Supreme Court does tomorrow or any other day."
Excuse me?
The whole point of separation of power is to prevent one branch of government from having absolute power. Gephardt would seem to be in need of Civics 101, where he would hopefully learn that even the President of the United States does NOT get to 'overcome' ANYTHING the Supreme Court does. It's not about whether it's right or wrong, or who you think holds the moral high ground. It's about not giving absolute power to one branch of government -- or, in this case, to one man.
Imagine the President saying, "The Supreme Court is wrong to uphold the 4th Amendment. I've issued an executive orders to overcome this wrong decision and give our police the power to seize the houses and other property of anyone who has protested our foreign policy." I would imagine that Gephardt would be one of the first to attack such a notion -- except that, fundamentally, it's not any different than what he himself promised.
When a candidate assures us that he will undo our entire system of government, he can be assured of not getting my vote.
Scary...