The abortion decision
It seems likely that today's 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the partial-birth abortion ban will earn the same scorn heaped on the decision which ultimately led to it, the 5-4 decision in Bush vs. Gore which handed the presidency to George W. Bush in 2000. Both were political decisions aimed at accomplishing political ends.
Elections, even tainted ones, have consequences. Bush, aided by the fanaticall discipline of the majority Republicans in Congress, was able to put John Roberts and Samuel Alito, both rightwing conservatives, on the high court. Both voted today to uphold the ban, as did Reagan appointee Anthony Kennedy and Bush-41 appointees Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. The latter two, incidentally, urged the Court in a concurring statement to overturn other abortion precedents, meaning Roe v. Wade. The majority even coached their decision in terms of protecting women from making wrong decisions, perhaps the most patronizing and demeaning language ever uttered by Justices in modern times.
The right can smell blood, and the anti-abortion forces are dancing in the street. They dream of this court overturning Roe v. Wade on another 5-4 decision. But somewhere, sometime, a woman will die in childbirth because of this decision, or have her insides so ripped apart she can never have children again. It will be up to the coming Democratic president and post-2008 Congress to legislatively overturn this decision.
This just in: McCain loves today's abortion decision.