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The Watcher’s Council

The Council has spoken, the votes have been cast and the results are in for this week’s Watcher’s Council match up!

This week was an important one in the history of our beloved Republic. The Supreme Court of the United States heard arguments for a ruling they’ll make in June or so on ObamaCare’s constitutionality. It will determine whether the tide of Big Government continues sweeping our freedoms before it, or whether the turning of the tide has started.

This week’s winner, Joshuapundit’s The Supreme Court Begins Hearing Arguments On ObamaCare was an attempt at examining the key issues at stake and giving the reader a preview of how the Court might rule and why. Here’s a slice:

President Obama’s solicitor general, Donald B. Verrilli Jr. also said the case should move forward, saying, “This case presents issues of great moment, and the Anti-Injunction Act does not bar the court’s consideration of those issues.”

He also argued that the penalties in ObamaCare aren’t a tax, which is interesting because one of his main defenses for the individual mandate is that it’s legal and constitutional because – wait for it – it falls under congress’s authority to levy taxes!

Justice Scalia as usual was quick to see the innate hypocrisy: “Today you are arguing that the penalty is not a tax. Tomorrow you will be back and arguing that the penalty is a tax.”

The individual mandate,the vile heart of ObamaCare is scheduled for arguments tomorrow, and as Justice Scalia pointed out, that’s exactly the position Verrilli is going to be in.

Where might the Court ultimately go on this?

They could certainly uphold the law as written, ruling that Congress had the power to enact this law, no matter how the public feels about it. This would endorse the continued distortion of the Commerce Clause and uphold the individual mandate as part of Congress’s power to impose taxes. The court would basically be telling the American people that elections have consequences and that the remedy is to vote out the lawmakers if you want an unpopular law repealed.

Another possibility is that the SCOTUS could find the individual mandate unconstitutional and thus overturn the entire law because the statute doesn’t have a “severability clause” — standard language the Democrats somehow forgot to include that says if one part of the law is overturned, the rest of it is still in force.To me, that would be an absolutely hilarious and appropriate finish. As then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi famously said, “You have to read the bill to see what’s in it.”

In our non-Council category, the winner was an old Watcher’s Council favorite, Sultan Knish with It Doesn’t Matter If You’re Black or White submitted by The Noisy Room. It’s a refreshingly honest look at the race issues surfacing in the Trayvon Martin case. Definitely give it a look.

Here are this week’s full results. Only New Zeal was unable to vote this week, but was not affected by the 2/3 vote penalty:

Council Winners

• *First place with 2 2/3 votes! – Joshuapundit – The Supreme Court Begins Hearing Arguments On ObamaCare
• Second place *t* with 1 2/3 votes – The Independent Sentinel – Interview With A Tea Party Leader About A RINO’S Views on NPV
• Second place *t* with 1 2/3 votes – Simply Jews – From purveyors of hate to Mohamed Merah
• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Noisy Room – Leveraging Racism for Chaos – Gateway to Communism
• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Colossus of Rhodey – As the Trayvon Martin case proceeds…
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – Gay Patriot – In the current crisis, Santorum would be a lousy nominee
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – The Glittering Eye – Not To Use But To Sell
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – VA Right! – Democrats on ObamaCare “I meant to do that!”
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – Rhymes With Right – Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman, Barack Obama, And Me
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Bookworm Room – “Alien Encounters” — The subtle propaganda of a pseudo-documentary
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Madame Sec
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Right Planet – Race Pimps
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – The Razor – Crown Romney and Be Done With It

Non-Council Winners

• *First place with 3 votes! – Sultan Knish – It Doesn’t Matter If You’re Black or White submitted by The Noisy Room
• Second place with 2 2/3 votes – Via Meadia – Top Saudi Cleric Issues Fatwa: Destroy Churches submitted by The Razor
• Third place with 1 2/3 votes – The New Statesman – The G-d Wars submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
• Fourth place with 1 1/3 votes – Doug Ross @ Journal – Top 15 Signs at the #RallyForReligiousFreedom You’ll Never See in Legacy Media submitted by Rhymes With Right
• Fifth place with 1 vote – Frida Ghitis – Europe’s blind spot on anti-Semitism submitted by The Watcher
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Mental Recession – Why is the U.S. Charging Robert Bales With the Murder of an Unborn Child, But Didn’t Charge Nidal Hasan? submitted by VA Right!
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Ralph Peters – Soldiers Murder Afghans, Generals Murder Soldiers submitted by Joshuapundit
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Townhall – Video: Obama Argues Against Obamacare submitted by The Independent Sentinel
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Nick Cohen – Playing Politics With Murder submitted by Simply Jews
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – TPM Barnett’s Globlogization – In Tough Times, America’s ‘Dirty Harry’ Streak Re-Emerges submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Breitbart.Com – The Crane Chronicles, Part I: How and Why Ed Crane Pushed the Koch Brothers Conspiracy Theory submitted by The Right Planet
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Lyle Denniston/SCOTUSBlog – Argument preview: Health care, Part I — The power to decide? submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote – White House Dossier – Michelle Hosts ‘Biggest Loser’ Workout in the East Room submitted by Bookworm Room
• Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote – Mychal Massie – Sharpton and Obama Prostituting Martin Shooting submitted by The Political Commentator

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