Ecuador & the USA: Majorities who hate their judges

I was reading about the unrest in Ecuador, having not followed it at all. Apparently, for the past year or so, President Lucio Gutierrez has been in conflict with his supreme court, having tried to fire them all last year. Recently huge demonstrations... 10,000 marching and banging pots and pans... have led to a state of emergency. Quoting the BBC:

The crisis began in December, when Mr Gutierrez first fired the Supreme Court, alleging that the magistrates were biased against him....

The UN and the US criticised his dismissal of the Supreme Court in December, and opposition politicians have accused him of behaving like dictator.

Hmmm.... it sounds vaguely familiar... oh yes...currently our House Majority leader Tom DeLay and Senate Majority leader Bill Frist are both at war with our judiciary, who were only respectable branch of government during the Terri Schiavo sideshow.

The bright side is that "Since 1997, two presidents of Ecuador have been forced out of office by street protests." The downside is that in the US public outcry just led to close election, interpreted as a mandate by extreme conservatives.

Congress needs about 10,000 angry pots and pans banging away at their dangerous crusade.