History Repeats Itself, Still as Tragedy

First it was the President, and now his snippy little press secretary, publicly harshing on the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Insty’s got your roundup already, and the only reason I hadn’t hit on this yet was that something was nagging at me about it — but it took until just now to figure out what that was.

The last time I can think of a President dismissing the country’s highest judge was another Democrat, Andrew Jackson. And his famous quip that Chief Justice “John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it!” Or to put it in (strangely appropriate) playground language, “You and what army?”

The result of Jackson ignoring the Marshall Court’s decision was the Trail of Tears — some of the most brutal and shameful actions in American history.

I wonder what will come if Obama continues to dismiss the Roberts Court.