(ThyBlackMan.com) Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich’s pronouncement to have “activist judges” arrested by federal law enforcement authorities at the President’s direction isn’t the first assault on lawyers and the judiciary branch. In the late 16th century Shakespearean play, King Henry the VI—portraying an era of possible revolt and political instability—there was a decisive call made by treacherous “Dick The Butcher,” in Act IV: “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” Newt Gingrich’s statement couldn’t have come at a more historically relevant time, with our recent celebration of the 220th anniversary of the passage of the Bill of Rights.
In his quest to restore American values and the powers of the Commander and Chief to act absolutely, by recommending the abolishment of the “radical” judicial branch, Newt Gingrich has reduced himself to a villainous stock 
character out of a Shakespearean play, while reinforcing the necessity of lawyers and judges to ensure that fundamental rights such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and separation of powers, as enshrined by our Bill of Rights and U.S. Constitution, are safeguarded.
However, with grassroots movements for change afoot, such as the Tea Party and Occupy movement, it could be argued that Newt Gingrich’s sentiments reflect a larger trend to centralize power, homogenize thought, and stifle dissent and civil unrest. Are more than just liberal and radical judges and lawyers under attack? Are Newt Gingrich’s comments a reminder that also under assault are our fundamental civil liberties and freedoms?
As the Iowa Caucuses near, could Newt Gingrich’s irrationally dystopian comments be evocative of the Orwellian police state decried by his GOP presidential competitor Ron Paul—a staunch civil libertarian who rejects domestic wars against drugs and foreign preemptive interventions? It appears that a Ron Paul victory in Iowa may not be such an alternative outcome, with younger voters favoring him. Many don’t like it when a candidate blatantly treads on their liberties and freedoms.
There are two recent pieces of legislation that have civil libertarians furious, suggesting that the Pandora’s Box Newt Gingrich opened with his controversial views on justice is bigger than Newt Gingrich himself.
The recently passed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), would “allow the use of the military inside the United States, against U.S. citizens and residents, and to allow their indefinite military detention based merely on suspicion of being engaged in hostilities against the U.S,” according to Kevin Zeese, attorney and organizer of Occupy Washington, D.C., who co-chairs Come Home America and Our Economy. U.S. Minnesota Senator Al Franklin in a recent Huffington Post Op-Ed called the NDAA “unacceptable” and “inconsistent with the liberties and freedoms that are at the core of the system our Founders established.”
Then there is Stop Internet Privacy Act (SOPA), which technology leaders disapprove of because of its potential to impede tech innovation. And it’s not just techies critical of this legislation; some activists are concerned about the legislation’s free speech implications. According to Zeese, “Internet activism and organizing is a critical part of our success. It is also a key foundation to the democratization of the media. SOPA has the potential to undermine that democratization through an indirect attack on internet free speech through protection of copyrights.”
Newt Gingrich, while putting his foot in his mouth, may have just been keeping it real about the growing tension in a political climate of discontent, regarding the application of the rights our Founding Fathers guaranteed over two centuries ago.
Staff Writer; Joy Freeman-Coulbary
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