This is really scary stuff. At "Remedies to Judicial Tyranny," a conference among conservatives on the independence of the judiciary, a number of fairly powerful right wingers finally showed their true beliefs about American government. Dana Milbank has the story for The Washington Post:

Not to be outdone, lawyer-author Edwin Vieira told the gathering that Kennedy should be impeached because his philosophy, evidenced in his opinion striking down an anti-sodomy statute, "upholds Marxist, Leninist, satanic principles drawn from foreign law."

Ominously, Vieira continued by saying his "bottom line" for dealing with the Supreme Court comes from Joseph Stalin. "He had a slogan, and it worked very well for him, whenever he ran into difficulty: 'no man, no problem,' " Vieira said.

The full Stalin quote, for those who don't recognize it, is "Death solves all problems: no man, no problem." Presumably, Vieira had in mind something less extreme than Stalin did and was not actually advocating violence. But then, these are scary times for the judiciary. An anti-judge furor may help confirm President Bush's judicial nominees, but it also has the potential to turn ugly.

A judge in Atlanta and the husband and mother of a judge in Chicago were murdered in recent weeks. After federal courts spurned a request from Congress to revisit the Terri Schiavo case, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) said that "the time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior." Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) mused about how a perception that judges are making political decisions could lead people to "engage in violence."

It is simply appalling that someone like Vieira would have the audacity to even imply that Stalinist tactics be used against judges. Talking about violence against judges is against the fabric of this country and makes every American less safe.

Josh Marshall addresses the larger push by the right to rid the country of an independent judiciary in an intelligent way.

How high on the list of national priorities for the American people do you figure disciplining the federal judiciary is? Higher than the economy? Terrorism? Health care? Iraq? Social Security? Long-term care? Road quality?

Perhaps it is time for the Democrats simply to embrace their destiny as the party of grown-ups. No members of congress threatening judges. No gonzo federal legislation cooked up in the middle of the night to game a family struggle in Florida. Borrowing money and saving money are not the same thing. A reasonable respect for the rules under which the country has long been governed. Congressional staffers will neither steal work material from members of the opposition party nor stand on principle when caught. Bribes tendered on the floor of Congress will be frowned upon ...

Marshall has stumbled upon what could prove to be the most coherent set of ideas to come out of the Democratic Party in years. While it will still be difficult for the Dems to protect the filibuster against the nuclear option, they now have strong moral and political footing for their position: a defense of the independent judiciary. Now, even if they lose on the nuclear option, they have done so in protecting the rule of law for every American.

By tying this action to previous steps taken by the Republicans -- bribes of the House floor, trampling the state and federal judiciary, etc. -- the Democrats can show the American people what the Republican Congress really stands for. If there's any way of ciponhing votes away from the libertarian and moderate wings of the GOP at the same time, this is it. These are scary times, but perhaps there is a spark of hope for the future...