Two Supreme Court decisions that defied conventional wisdom

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) spoke loud and clear last week on two issues that have divided America for the past several years. In a surprising 6-3 vote, the Court voted in favor of the Affordable Care Act, much to the chagrin of Republicans across the nation and especially those in office who have campaigned long and hard about the necessity of gutting or abolishing the same act for the 33rd time since Obama has been President. As everyone knows, the Supreme Court is made up of presidential appointees, confirmed by Congress, and the Presidents who nominated them fully expected them to toe the party line. But much to the chagrin of many, sometimes the Justices base their opinions on law rather than political persuasion.

This happened again last week. Chief Justice John Roberts, who was appointed by George W. Bush, voted for the second time to uphold the Affordable Care Act along with Justice Anthony Kennedy who was appointed by Ronald Reagan. This vote stuck in the craw of conservative Republicans across the country because they figured the Justices appointed by Republican Presidents would vote the Republican way. But they didn't.

And then a day later, in a decision that rocked the country for those same Republican partisans, the Court declared, in a 5-4 decision, that gay marriage was a federal issue instead of a state one and declared that all 50 states should recognize gay marriage.

It should be noted that the Court is currently composed of five Justices nominated by Republican Presidents and four Justices nominated by Democrat Presidents. So one would think, based on party loyalty, that the Republicans would win every case.

But that doesn't happen when you consider the rule of law rather than political persuasion. And it didn't happen in these two landmark decisions either. These decisions were not made by a liberal Court, they were made by a conservative Court which shocked rank-and-file Republicans down to their very core!

No matter what Republican Presidential candidates say from now on to cater to their base, the Affordable Care Act is now a part of our lives and it provides health care for literally millions of people who couldn't get it before.

The bigger topic was declaring same sex marriage to be implemented in every state in the Union, regardless of what the people in that state believe. And that's the way it should be because the majority is often wrong.

They were wrong about the earth being the center of the Universe, they were wrong about the earth being flat, they were wrong about blacks being less than human, they were wrong about a woman's place in the home being barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen and they will be wrong again.

How can we rail against gay marriage when traditional marriage has the history it has in America? The number of domestic abuse cases continues to climb where one spouse physically abuses another spouse.

According to the Huffington Post, one third of all children in America were physically assaulted by a family member between 2013 and 2014. 1.3 million children were abandoned by their families (number of.net).

One in five girls and one in twenty boys were sexually assaulted and in a vast majority of those, the perpetrator was either a parent or a relative.

How can people praise the virtues of 'traditional marriage' when you face statistics like that and combine it with a divorce rate in this country that is over 50 percent and has been for the past 40 years? If you do, your arguments don't hold much substance.

I'm not gay so I don't fully understand how a person can fall in love with someone of the same sex. All I know is that they do and IF they do, they have as much right to be married as the rest of us do, whether it works out for them or not. I know they can't produce children by themselves but, in some cases, that's a good thing because of the data quoted above.

And even though producing children was the primary concern in Bible days because there weren't many Christians in the world then and they had to insure that their belief system survived, that certainly isn't the case anymore.

There's a thing about sensitivity, understanding and tolerance. So when Republicans want to gut health care, kick out all the illegal immigrants who came here to save their lives and the lives of their children, make sure that everyone who wants a weapon has one regardless of their past, cut taxes on the richest one percent of the people in this country, debunk a woman's place in the workforce, rally around the Rebel flag which was never an issue until the early 1960s when the Southern states started flying it as an objection to the Civil Rights movement, and attract racists who are much more likely to join the Republican Party than the Democrat party, there's not a very good chance of them ever winning another national election, regardless of who their candidate is.

I know that Karl Rove said the opposite thing several years ago but he didn't have the votes and the Democrats do. This is about being kind to our fellow man. This is about fighting poverty, not the people who are IN poverty. This is about our future and not our past.

This is about dignity, respect and honor for our fellow man, regardless of their sexual preference, their gender or the color of their skin.

We weren't alive when the Constitution was written but if we read every word of it and we understand the context in which it was written instead of quoting several words or sentences out of context as many do to make a point, it speaks to all of us.

It tells us what it means to be an American.