Between the death of Kim Jong Il and Newt Gingrich’s descent in the polls, it’s been a tough couple of days for fans of tubby megalomaniacs. But Newt, undaunted, is at least carrying on one of Kim’s legacies: He’s gone to war against the principle of an independent judiciary.
The Newtster’s newest harebrained crusade is to strip courts of the right of judicial review, which our republic has managed to live with since the Supreme Court headed by John Marshall (arguably America’s first great conservative) propounded it in 1803. If Congress or the president doesn’t like a court decision, Gingrich told Bob Schieffer on “Face the Nation” on Sunday, the offending judges should be called before Congress — U.S. marshals could haul them in — to justify their decision. If Congress didn’t like the explanation, the lawmakers could impeach them. It’s as simple as that.
In September, 2009 Atlantic Monthly named 
