A Tyrannical Act

Written By: Terence Jeffrey  |  Posted: Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

The day after the House approved the health care bill, a reporter asked White House spokesman Robert Gibbs about the lawsuits some states were threatening against the legislation on the grounds that the provision forcing all Americans to buy health insurance was unconstitutional.
"I think there's pretty longstanding precedent on the constitutionality of this, " Gibbs said, without offering any substantive explanation. Later in the briefing, another reporter pressed Gibbs on the question. "You say there's established law, established precedent, " said the reporter. "On what? What is it? What is the established precedent?" "On the regulation of interstate commerce, " said Gibbs.

The reporter then asked how the mandate in question was part of interstate commerce. "Well, that's - I think, again - look, I'm not a lawyer, right, " said Gibbs. "And neither am I, " said the reporter.
"Right, " said Gibbs, "so we're both in a pool where we can't either see or touch the bottom."
Gibbs, of course, has every right to profess ignorance of the Constitution. Who knows, in this instance, he might be telling the truth. But he has no right to denigrate the ability of other Americans to
understand the Constitution, and it is fatuous for him to suggest only lawyers can.

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