Calling for resignation

The NY Post blasts Judge Guido Calabrese today. Calabrese is a member of the American Constitution Society -- a liberal Constitution-as-a-living-document group set up to counter the Federalist Society, which is basically nonpartisan despite being decried as a bunch of right-wing nutters by the mainstream media. Calabrese is also a judge on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals -- the Court that has appellate jurisdiction over federal district courts in Vermont, Connecticut and New York. Last weekend Calabrese compared Bush's win in the Bush v. Gore decision to Mussolini's and Hitler's accensions in Italy and Germany because, his honor said, "[s]omebody came to power as a result of the illegitimate acts of a legitimate institution that had the right to put somebody in power."

Now the notion that the Supreme Court acted illegally or even wrongly despite -- (1) the Florida Supreme Court's repeated rulings contravening Article II of the U.S. Constitution; (2) the illegitimate actions of the Gore campaign in Florida to taint the vote; (3) the 7-2 decision by the US Supreme Court finding equal protection violations in the Florida Supreme Court's ultimate ruling (the final 5-4 decision reversing the Florida Supreme Court was for the remedy of finalizing the vote counts, two other justices agreed with the majority that voters' rights would be violated); (4) the ultimate recounts by the media (WSJ, Miami Herald, WaPo, NYTimes, etc.) that showed Bush won Florida -- is just stupidity on stilts. A comparison of Bush's accension to Mussolini's and Hitler's is both disgusting and ridiculous on its face. Finally, Calabrese's ultimate solution -- vote out Bush because it is the only way to restore legitimacy -- is partisanship dressed up in theoretical flourish. A Bush win in the election would be no less legitimate under Calabrese's perverse theories.

Here's the rub, courtesy of the NYPost editorial: Calabrese thinks that none of this was in any way political: "I'm a judge, and so I'm not allowed to talk politics," he told the audience.

Which means he doesn't comprehend judicial propriety.

And he's not dealing with reality.


UPDATE: I just noticed that yesterday Andrew Sullivan gave Calabrese a Begala Award Nomination -- for liberal hatemongering and intentional deception named for Clinton hack Paul Begala [contrasted with the Derbyshire Award for conservative hatemongering; the Sontag Award for loopy liberalism; the poseur alert for written drivel disguised as allegedly incisive thoughts, etc.]. Go to Sullivan's site (link at left) and scroll down.

And here is Eugene Volokh on the analogy Calabrese used and its accuracy.