Lester Maddox Would Have Loved Newt Gingrich

Newt Gingrich is giving fair warning to judges and courts across the country: If he becomes president, the judiciary won’t reign supreme. The former House Speaker and current Republican presidential front-runner convened a conference call with reporters on Saturday to expand on his call for Congress to subpoena judges or even abolish courts altogether if they make wrong-headed decisions.

"It is emphatically the duty of the Judicial Department to say what the law is." Marbury v. Madison, 5 US 137 (1803)

That has been the settled law of this country for over two centuries. Congress passes laws, the Executive enforces laws and the courts interpret laws. If the Congress or the Executive don't like the rulings of the courts, they can try again. If the Constitution mandates a result, then they can try to change that.

The last vocal group of politicians to claim that they did not have to follow the rule of law were the segregationists in the 1950s-1970s. They would have loved a President Grinch Gingrich.