It looks to me like the neo-conservatives want ministers on the bench. Ayatollah ... I mean Senator Delay's comment about the judges in the Terri Schiavo case that "the time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior" is very revealing.
This is leadership? No, this is terrorism. Delay is feeding the frenzy surrounding the Schiavo case, just as surely as the fundamentalist Muslim clerics incite the insurgents to violence in the Middle East through words. Judge Greer had already received death threats for not ruling to reinstate Shiavo's feeding tube before Delay's remark.
Still not convinced that the religious right, and their congressional puppets, want a theocracy, not a democracy? Read on.
"Judge Whittemore has engaged in a gross abuse of judicial power," said Burke J. Balch of the National Right to Life Committee.
Richard Viguerie, conservative direct mailing guru, said: "It could be the opening shot in the Supreme Court nomination battle that we expect sooner rather than later."
Tom Delay said: "It is more than just Terri Schiavo. This is a critical issue for people in this position, and it is also a critical issue to fight that fight for life, whether it be euthanasia or abortion. I tell you, ladies and gentlemen, one thing God has brought to us is Terri Schiavo to elevate the visibility of what's going on in America."
The right wing of the GOP wants to exchange the Constitutional freedoms and the rule of law for religious law. They don't argue constitutionality; they invoke the word of God. And they are committed to changing Senate rules to ensure the appointment of arch-conservatives to the federal bench.
Long the champions of small government and states' rights, Republicans have become the party of big-government and intrusion into individual lives. They've become a tool for the religious right, led by an angry and ethically challenged House Republican leader in Tom Delay. They are not debating constitutional law. They want nothing less than a fundamentalist Christian nation.
Look at a few of the people Bush has nominated to the courts.
Terrence Boyle (re-nominated to the Fourth Circuit): This former aide to Jesse Helms holds an honorary degree from radical-right Bob Jones University. He has declared that states are not obligated to adhere to equal opportunity laws in hiring when the state's "culture" does not approve of women working in certain fields.
Janice Rogers Brown (D.C. Circuit): This California justice suggested that the First Amendment protects racially discriminatory speech in the workplace, and that the Social Security system is unconstitutional, going so far as accusing senior citizens of "blithely cannibalizing their grandchildren."
William H. Pryor (11th Circuit): Attorney General for Alabama and a member of the Federalist Society, this bulldog argued against the Voting Rights Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Violence Against Women Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the Clean Water Act.
Christian and political leaders make clear their intent when they speak.
Jerry Falwell: "After more than 25 years since I formed the Moral Majority and began mobilizing evangelicals to participate in the political process, I actually realized the fruit of my labors nationwide as I watched the election returns into the early hours of Wednesday. I could not hold back the tears of joy. Hour by hour, we observed a "slam dunk" as the Church of Jesus Christ made the difference in initiating the return of this nation to moral sanity and the Judeo-Christian ethic."
Pat Robertson said that God had spoken with him. "I think George Bush is going to win in a walk. I'm hearing from the Lord that it's going to be a blowout."
Does the White House encourage the idea that God has put Bush there? Bush has never said as much. He simply lets the speeches and quotes from friends and supporters intimate as much.
Listen carefully to what they say, and decide if you want to exchange freedom for a Christianocracy.
Yes, it can happen here.
Mike Davis is a freelance writer and columnist living in Magnolia.[[In-content Ad]]
