SCALIA ACCEPTS BACHMANN’S INVITATION?…. A few weeks ago, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) talked up her plans for the new Congress, including “weekly classes” on the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights for like-minded lawmakers.
Asked who’ll lead these “classes,” Bachmann said she hoped to get conservative Supreme Court justices, but would probably settle for unhinged activists like David Barton, the pseudo-historian and Glenn Beck ally.
It never occurred to me Bachmann might actually get a sitting justice of the high court to participate in something like this, but the frightening Minnesotan appeared on Lou Dobbs’ radio show late last week, and boasted about Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s decision to lead the first “class.”
Dobbs: You’ve got a terrific idea that you’re going to implement with the new Congress: a course on the Constitution for incoming Congressmen and women. Tell us about that.
Bachmann: We’re going to do what the NFL does and what the baseball teams do: we’re going to practice every week, if you will, our craft, which is studying and learning the Declaration, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Justice Scalia has graciously agreed to kick off our class.
(Here’s the video of the exchange.)
It’s possible Bachmann is mistaken. I haven’t seen confirmation of her claim elsewhere, and one never knows if the voices in her head lead her to say things that aren’t true. Perhaps Scalia was invited, but has not yet said whether he’ll attend.
But if Bachmann’s right, this is truly bizarre, even for conservatives. A sitting Supreme Court justice is going to teach a class on constitutional interpretation to a separate branch of government? Seriously?
My friend Kyle at Right Wing Watch asked, “Am I the only one who senses a possible problem with having a sitting Supreme Court Justice essentially coaching members of Congress on how to vote in accordance with the Constitution?”
As a matter of fact, no, you’re not the only one.
