When opponents of Obamacare started fighting the healthcare law, they filed lawsuits.
It took more than two years for the Supreme Court to rule in a case brought by the National Federation of Independent Business, and the business group lost. Three years later, opponents lost again at the Supreme Court.
When opponents fought President Obama’s executive action on immigration, the answer was more lengthy lawsuits.
A federal appeals court ruled in favor of opponents, shutting down key pieces of Obama’s plan. The Supreme Court maintained that ruling in a 4-4 decision.
Obama’s opponents lost, then they won. But both cases had one thing in common: they took a long time.
Justice often takes a long time, and the reality in America is that justice is the process. Those who lose in court have to satisfy themselves that they could at least take advantage of a system that lets all sides chime in, sometimes for years.
Now that it’s their turn, however, Democrats are showing they don’t have much patience for the process known as justice.
Democrats spent the weekend arguing President Trump’s executive order on immigration was unconstitutional. So far, it’s just an argument, not anything that’s been confirmed by any court.
By Monday night, just three days after Trump’s order was issued, President Obama’s holdover at the Justice Department, Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, said enough was enough, and decided on her own that the order wasn’t legal.
Or at least, that might have been what she decided. It wasn’t quite clear.
“At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities, nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful,” Yates wrote in a letter that essentially served as her resignation letter.
Trump predictably fired Yates. But Democrats, content with Yates’ decision to deem Trump’s order a violation of the law, predictably held up Yates as a champion of the law, or at least, what passes for law and process among Democrats.
“The firing of Sally Yates underscores how important it is to have an attorney general who will stand up to the White House when they are violating the law,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Schumer often mocks Trump’s tweeting by saying U.S. policy can’t be settled in just 140 characters. Nor should Democrats pretend that complex legal arguments can be fully explored and settled in half as many hours.
