By Judith Gayle | Political Waves
It’s been Supremes this, Supremes that, all week long. Well, except for non-stop reports on soccer, a sport which righty pundit Ann Coulter declared un-American. There is evidently a sports footnote included in the Patriot’s Handbook, which one can read only if one knows the secret handshake.
Coulter takes no discomfort insinuating that civilization-at-large has Some Nerve calling the international event in question the “World Cup,” when the highly exceptional US of A has so little interest in it. I suppose that the approximately 25 percent of American citizens who know the secret handshake agree with her.
The Supreme Court is like a huge balloon filled with explosively hot and often toxic gas, traditionally leaking its load just before session’s end by releasing long awaited legal decisions like sky rockets — or hand grenades, depending on which side of the wrangle you’re on. This week we’ve received a series of rulings in hotly contested explosions or happily celebrated fireworks, based on one’s philosophical leanings. The Hobby Lobby decision, saved back as the judicial climax of the season, is to be announced on Monday.
Early in the week, the Supreme Court gave civil rights an unexpected win by unanimously affirming Fourth Amendment protections of privacy, making it illegal to search a person’s cell phone without first obtaining a warrant. This decision is based upon the enormous amount of personal information one can store in such a device, which should a) send up privacy flags for all of us who carry one, and b) point an accusing finger at the NSA for gobbling up as much data as it has capacity to hold without said warrant.