Government 101

It appears that a certain U.S. Representative needs to break out his old government textbook and take a look at the section about checks and balances. Politico reports that Rep. Louie Gohmert from Texas has submitted a bill that would bring the detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the grounds of the Supreme Court, allowing the highest court in the nation to "more effectively micromanage the detainees.” What this senator seems to believe is that the judiciary, as well as other members of Congress, are dipping their hands into the affairs of the government bodies that control Gitmo, as it has been called, namely the executive branch and the military.

What this representative seems to be forgetting is a little thing I'd like to call oversight. Just read the Constitution. The whole thing was centered around the fear that one government entity might gain too much power. Thus measures were put in place in order to allow the separate branches to "check" the power of one another. In other words, in a sense the branches are supposed to interfere with the actions of the other branches if boundaries are being overstepped.

So, what Gohmert is doing is attacking the heart of how our government was meant to function. Sure, perhaps he sees it differently. Perhaps he sees that the keepers of Gitmo are well within their legal mandates and the Supreme Court is the one involving itself in matters that is ought not to involve itself in. However, with much of the nation so wary about the happenings at the Cuban military site, I think it is safe to say that the Supreme Court is probably performing the kind of judicial review that it was designed to do.