Elementary, My dear His Virtualness

His Virtualness has captured a damning quote from Judge Roberts that suggests he buys into the New Deal view of the Commerce Clause (that government power is unlimited). It all turns over cloning, whether Congress would have the power to ban it.

ROBERTS: But it would seem to me that Congress can make a determination that this is an activity, if allowed to be pursued, that is going to have effects on interstate commerce. Obviously if you were successful in cloning an animal, that's not going to be simply a local phenomenon. That's going to be something people are going to...
SCHUMER: We can leave it at that. That's a good answer, as far as I am concerned.

Yes, it's a damn good answer for a self-important lasagna like Schumer. Reynolds dislikes it on two grounds: he prefers cloning be left alone along with most other science, and he prefers that we have a Constitution. Both are good points, although I admit I share widespread discomfort with where science must lead us.

But moral and quasi-moral stuff like this has always led us astray when it comes to government power. A lot of people think the Commerce Clause was blown up by the New Deal. Truth is, it was the Lottery Cases that started us down this long path to unified government.