Newt Gingrich Wants To Rule Judicial Branch With An Iron Fist

If Newt Gingrich becomes the next President of the United States it could be a very sad day for the judicial branch of the United States. In a Sunday interview with Face the Nation Gingrich drove home his view that judges are dispensable and should bow down to the Commander in Chief.

Speaking to Bob Schieffer Gingrich said:

“One of the things you say is that if you don’t like what a court has done, that Congress should subpoena the judge and bring him before Congress and hold a Congressional hearing … how would you enforce that? Would you send the Capitol Police down to arrest him?” Gingrich didn’t back down, responding, “If you had to. Or you’d instruct the Justice Department to send a US Marshal.”

That conversation wasn’t the first time that Gingrich showed his disgust for the judicial branch, during Thursday’s debate he said as President of the United States he would ignore any Supreme court ruling that he believed infringed on his authority as the Commander in Chief.

Gingrich also recently revealed that he would be willing to impeach “activist judges” and close down entire court systems that he thought were acting “radically anti-American.”

Following his interview remark Schieffer asked:

“Mr. Speaker, you know, the old saying in legal circles is that the Supreme Court is not last because it’s right. It’s right because it’s last. There comes a point where you have to accept things as the law of the land. How does the president decide what is a good law — and I’m going to obey the Supreme Court– or what’s a bad law and I’m just going to ignore it.”

To which Gingrich responded:

“I think it depends on the severity of the case,” and “I’m not suggesting that the Congress and the president review every decision. I’m suggesting that when there are decisions … in which they are literally risking putting civil liberty rules in battlefields. I mean it is utterly irrational for the Supreme Court to take on its shoulders the defense to the United States. It is a violation of the constitution.”

It has long been the responsibility of the U.S. Supreme Court system to determine what is constitutional based only on the facts of the cases they are presented with, the moment that choice is taken away from the court and placed in the biased hands of a Republican or Democrat leader is the day we can expect to see our liberties stripped away.

It may start with issues of battlefields and international inquiries but how long before Gingrich is taking over issues of abortion and gun rights?

[Image via Christopher Halloran /]