Al-Jazeerah, September 6, 2005

"He was a man of character and dedication. His departure represents a
great loss for the court and for our country." George W. Bush on hearing of
the death of Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist

Let’s not wring out the tears for William Rehnquist. The man was the
worst chief justice to ever serve on the Supreme Court; a complete failure
who disgraced his office and the people he was supposed to serve. Never in
the 200 year history of the nation has the high court sustained more damage
under the stewardship of one man.

Rehnquist’s partisan handiwork rigged the 2000 election and set the
country in a downward spiral to ruin. He cobbled together the coalition of
rogue-jurists who stripped the Florida Supreme Court of their
Constitutionally-guaranteed right to decide the outcome of state elections
and overturned the fundamental principle of democratic government; the right
to have one’s vote counted.

Rehnquist invoked the 14th amendment; the “equal protection” clause to
elevate his friend George W. Bush to president. Prior to that, the amendment
had never even been used in cases other than racial discrimination. Legal
scholars and attorneys alike scoffed at the shaky reasoning that held the
case together. It was a complete travesty that both Republicans and
Democrats disdained. Rehnquist abandoned every principle of judicial
impartiality to shoehorn a derelict-Texan into the Oval Office and to uphold
his standing as a charter member of the ruling class.

Look at the results.

Look what happens when the will of the people is brazenly ignored to
execute an elite agenda.

Iraq, the Cheney Energy papers, 9-11, Enron, Valerie Plame, Abu Ghraib,
Falluja, Guantanamo; the long litany of Bush-crimes should be inscribed on
Rehnquist’s headstone next to the number of casualties produced by his
partisan blunder.

Rehnquist was an ardent class-warrior from his earliest days on the
court. He strongly opposed gay rights, abortion, gun control and affirmative
action, but was a staunch proponent of the death penalty. This tells us that
his sense of justice was shaped by his belief in punishment, not mercy.
Although Rehnquist would zealously defend the right of the state to
exterminate its own citizens, he vacillated on even most basic rights of the
individual.

In case after case, the Rehnquist Court bowed to the authority of the
president; allowing Bush to detain foreign nationals without formally
charging them with a crime and permitting the incarceration of “enemy
combatants” indefinitely at Guantanamo Bay subject to a review by
hand-picked military tribunals.

Rehnquist has repeatedly dodged the Jose Padilla case to allow the
president the tyrannical power of imprisoning an American citizen without
honoring habeas corpus, due process, or the presumption of innocence. His
evasion has upended the fundamental principle of “inalienable rights”, the
cornerstone of the Constitution, and condemned an innocent man to 3 and half
years in solitary confinement.

Padilla has never been charged with a crime. It is a disgrace that should
enrage every American.

Justice John Paul Stevens’ summarized the feelings of most Americans who
reject the idea that citizens can be stripped of their rights according to
presidential edict. He said, the results of the Padilla case pose "a unique
and unprecedented threat to the freedom of every American citizen... At
stake is nothing less than the essence of a free society... For if this
Nation is to remain true to the ideals symbolized by its flag, it must not
wield the tools of tyrants even to resist an assault by the forces of
tyranny."

Rehnquist had every opportunity to watch Bush’s dismal war on terror.
He knew that the “forces of tyranny” had been greatly exaggerated to carry
out a global-militaristic strategy. Never the less, he consistently chose to
bolster the powers of the executive rather than defend the basic rights of
the citizen.

Rehnquist fancied himself a “strict constructionist”; a judge who simply
applied the constitution according to its literal meaning. As it turns out,
he was entirely unwilling to defend any part of the Bill of Rights
(excluding the revered 2nd amendment) and significantly eroded the
institution he was supposed to preserve.

Forget the state ceremonies for the deceased Chief Justice. Just put a
crease in the soil at Potter’s field and kick a few leaves over the
hardening carcass.

If it was up to me, Rehnquist would never be buried on American soil. The
man betrayed his country and his name should be struck from the history
books.

He did nothing to shore up civil liberties or to preserve the
constitution. His tenure at the high court merely paved the way for the
Imperial Presidency and the further savaging of the rule of law.
Let Bush and his ilk sing Rehnquist’s praises. What difference does it
make? The man was a miserable American and a dead-loss as a chief justice.