Judge Lefkow, who was the target of one murder plot and whose family was murdered by a man who had appeared in her courtroom, spoke on Capital Hill the other day. Part of her testimony was a call for Congresspeople to “publicly and persistently repudiate gratuitous attacks on the judiciary” since “Fostering disrespect for judges can only encourage those that are on the edge, or on the fringe, to exact revenge on a judge who displeases them.”
I’m not going to address the content of her remarks, but the possible spin that could be put on them. I can easily see her remarks being denounced as an assault on the Constitution and/or the First Amendment – she’s calling for restriction on speech after all. Just because it’s voluntary wouldn’t stop the spin and complaining. Don’t agree? Just consider Ari Fleischer’s remark about watching what you say and the hornet’s nest he stirred up.
OK, so what’s my point? My point is how we all filter people’s words and actions through our own thoughts and feelings towards them and their associations and can react oppositely to essentially the same words or actions depending on who’s doing the talking or taking the action.
