Republicans Are Lawless

If Republicans see a court ruling they don't like, they ignore it or declare they won't enforce it. After all, what are the courts going to do, as Steve Benen explains.

I can appreciate the fact that some Iowa Republicans are unhappy with the fact that consenting adults can now get married in their state. But that's no excuse for nonsense like this. (thanks to readers B.D. and M.M.)

"If I have the opportunity to serve as your next governor," Bob Vander Plaats told a crowd of about 350 people at a rally, "and if no leadership has been taken to that point, on my first day of office I will issue an executive order that puts a stay on same-sex marriages until the people of Iowa vote, and when we vote we can affirm and amend the Constitution."

When told that governors don't have that kind of legal authority, Vander Plaats, in the midst of his third gubernatorial campaign, said he would defy the courts anyway: "I believe it is fully within the governor's rights and as a matter fact, it's his responsibility to step forward to issue an executive order to say we're going to take a time out until the people have an opportunity to vote."

It's a genuine shame this is necessary, but let's go ahead and take a moment to remind our right-wing friends about a concept they should have learned in junior-high civics class: Governors can veto legislation passed by state legislatures; governors cannot veto rulings from state Supreme Courts. State officials can't pick and choose, following court rulings they like, nullifying court rulings they don't.

Bush did it for years. Now the rest of the GOP will do it because Bush got away with it.

Will Democrats do anything about this? Probably not.