Yesterday's news that a federal court judge had overturned Wonderboy's drilling moratorium could be big, big news for the Rookie's presidential career.
Of course, his DOJ immediately filed an appeal. I didn't notice if the venue is one of the dyed-in-the-wool liberal appellate panels, or not.
But the news reminded me of Amity Schlaes book, The Forgotten Man, which I was reading at this time last year.
Unbeknownst to most people, the event which began to unravel the New Deal, and, most significantly, the NRA, was when the government lost its suit against the Schecters, Jewish butchers in New York City. The details wouldn't seem to be important anymore, but the nature of them actually could be.
New Deal regulation was so minute that it forbid butchers to offer customers a choice of which fowl to purchase and have, well, butchered. The Schecters were found to be in violation of this, which was a 'wages and hours' type of crime. When the whole mess ended, the Schecters went free and the NRA's basis was undermined.
I heard some of the language of yesterday's superior court decision. The judge rather sensibly noted that just because BP's rig exploded is no reason to believe that every offshore rig in US waters is also about to explode.
I don't know the basis on which the appeal has been lodged. It matters, of course, because appellate courts judge and rule on the application of laws, not the full case, itself.
Should be an interesting show to watch, because you can bet the company which brought the suit, a drilling services firm, if I recall, is sure to appeal any reversal of the superior court up to the Supreme Court.
FDR's larger New Deal fell apart on a case involving plucking and butchering chickens.
Will Wonderboy's term lose momentum and begin to die over a hastily, ill-advised and deceptively-presented (i.e., the lie that seven engineers had argued for the ban) offshore drilling ban?
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