Republican Extremists, Merit Retention and Farm Animals

Just in case even the slightest doubt remained about whether extremists have succeeded in high jacking control of the Republican Party, Friday’s announcement of opposition to the retention of three Florida Supreme Court Justices eliminates that doubt.

Justices Pariente, Quince, and Lewis just received 90% approval ratings in a statewide poll of all Florida lawyers from across the full political spectrum. Those most qualified to judge the competence, integrity, and impartiality of Supreme Court Justices have overwhelmingly expressed their confidence in these respected members of the State’s highest court.

So why would the Republican Party leadership throw its weight behind the efforts to unseat three dedicated public servants?

The answer is the desire of a far right wing minority to establish unrestrained POWER-unbalanced power- power free of the constraints of the Florida and U.S. Constitutions.

This effort is nothing less than a frontal assault on the independence of the judiciary, and as John Adams observed in 1774, without an independent judiciary “we have no other fortification against being ridden like horses, fleeced like sheep, worked like cattle and fed and clothed like swine and hounds.”

Casting an informed vote will preserve the independence of our judges and keep all of us from being turned into a bunch of farm animals.