Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA)
Gov. Bobby Jindal might want to brush up on his understanding of the Constitution before he thinks more seriously about running for president in 2016. The Louisiana Republican has
some interesting ideas about blocking marriage equality:
“We’re a nation of laws, that’s why I said I want the Supreme Court not to overturn our laws,” he said on CNN’s “New Day” on Tuesday.
“If the Supreme Court were to do this, I think the remedy would be a constitutional amendment in the Congress to tell the courts you can't overturn what the states have decided. “
Hoo boy. First, Bobby, the Supreme Court gets to decide if a law is constitutional. That's its job. We're a nation of laws, and the Supreme Court has a role in determining those laws, which is something you might want to look into before spouting off.
Second, "a constitutional amendment in the Congress" is not a remedy to anything except specific members of Congress being able to brag to their constituents about having voted for a thing. That's because Congress does not pass constitutional amendments on its own. You have to get 38 states to ratify what two-thirds of each house of Congress has first passed. That's not going to happen, and Jindal's preferred remedy of Congress passing an amendment doesn't change the Constitution in any way.
Of course, Jindal is probably posturing here, trying to wrap himself in the Constitution to appeal to the tea party types who carry copies of the Constitution everywhere they go but don't understand what it says, projecting their own views onto it rather than seeking to understand. As anti-equality bluster goes, it's probably more palatable to the masses than shouting about "Adam and Steve," but that's what it is at base, with a layer of ignorance about the Constitution added on top.