Author: Gareth

Just a reminder to Kansans reading this: get out and vote today. There is, of course, only the slightest chance that enough of us could get out there to defeat the Gay Marriage amendment, but a slight chance is better than no chance at all.

As I’ve said before, the American Taliban will continue to push their agenda down our throats only for as long as we sit by and let them.

Case in point, again for my fellow Kansans:

Here’s a lovely little bit of Christian Fascism being proposed by our dear Senator, Sam Brownback: The “Constitution Restoration Act” (CRA).

Introduced in the Senate by Brownback and fellow Republicans Richard Shelby (AL) and Richard Burr (NC), the CRA would singlehandedly turn the United States into a theocracy by allowing government and its representatives to promote religion with impunity.

Sounds too far-fetched to be true, doesn’t it…..well, see for yourself. Here’s the relevant text of the bill:

The Supreme Court shall not have jurisdiction to review, by appeal, writ of certiorari, or otherwise, any matter to the extent that relief is sought against an entity of Federal, State, or local government, or against an officer or agent of Federal, State, or local government (whether or not acting in official or personal capacity), concerning that entity’s, officer’s, or agent’s acknowledgment of God as the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government.

The law adds new sections to Chapters 81 and 85 of Article 28 of the U.S. Code, which concern federal and Supreme Court jurisdiction over certain kinds of cases. This portion of federal law takes its cue from Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which states that the Congress can regulate, and make exceptions to, the Supreme Court’s appellate jurisdiction – i.e. its status as the court of last resort.

Now, one would think this bill would violate a little thing called the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; […]

This is a nice little bit of legal jiggery-pokery. Rather than actually establishing a government religion, the proposed law says the Supreme Court cannot declare illegal acts of religious establishment by local, state or federal government, or by representatives or agencies of government. So the United States may not make a law that says Christ Is Our Savior; but if federal officials put giant neon nativity scenes or “Christ is our Lord” posters, or Ten Commandments plaques, up in the lobbies of every government office, the federal judges can’t do anything to stop them. In fact, if the CRA becomes law, if judges try to stop that, they can be impeached.

It’s disturbing —Even if you ignore the fact that the CRA amends existing judicial review laws in a way never intended by the Founding Fathers; or that it does irreparable injury to separation of powers; or that it aims to allow precisely the kind of endorsement of religion by government against which this country was founded….even if you ignore all of those, the most frightening thing is the fact that the CRA explicitly prevents citizens from availing themselves of the judiciary – the one mechanism they have to protect them from tyranny of the majority. This is precisely the sort of quiet barring of options that characterizes the legislative agenda of every fascist state, and should scare anyone.

Kansans should contact Brownback and express their distaste over this Fundamentalist strong-arming. He’s at least supposed to listen to his constituents, after all. Every one else reading this should contact their representatives and tell them to vote against the CRA. It has come up once before, and was voted down….but the Congress is much more right-wing now, and Richard Shelby claims that he’s got the votes to pass it.

American Taliban, yet again.

Just a reminder to Kansans reading this: get out and vote today. There is, of course, only the slightest chance that enough of us could get out there to defeat the Gay Marriage amendment, but a slight chance is better than no chance at all.

As I’ve said before, the American Taliban will continue to push their agenda down our throats only for as long as we sit by and let them.

Case in point, again for my fellow Kansans:

Here’s a lovely little bit of Christian Fascism being proposed by our dear Senator, Sam Brownback: The “Constitution Restoration Act” (CRA).

Introduced in the Senate by Brownback and fellow Republicans Richard Shelby (AL) and Richard Burr (NC), the CRA would singlehandedly turn the United States into a theocracy by allowing government and its representatives to promote religion with impunity.

Sounds too far-fetched to be true, doesn’t it…..well, see for yourself. Here’s the relevant text of the bill:

The Supreme Court shall not have jurisdiction to review, by appeal, writ of certiorari, or otherwise, any matter to the extent that relief is sought against an entity of Federal, State, or local government, or against an officer or agent of Federal, State, or local government (whether or not acting in official or personal capacity), concerning that entity’s, officer’s, or agent’s acknowledgment of God as the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government.

The law adds new sections to Chapters 81 and 85 of Article 28 of the U.S. Code, which concern federal and Supreme Court jurisdiction over certain kinds of cases. This portion of federal law takes its cue from Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which states that the Congress can regulate, and make exceptions to, the Supreme Court’s appellate jurisdiction – i.e. its status as the court of last resort.

Now, one would think this bill would violate a little thing called the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; […]

This is a nice little bit of legal jiggery-pokery. Rather than actually establishing a government religion, the proposed law says the Supreme Court cannot declare illegal acts of religious establishment by local, state or federal government, or by representatives or agencies of government. So the United States may not make a law that says Christ Is Our Savior; but if federal officials put giant neon nativity scenes or “Christ is our Lord” posters, or Ten Commandments plaques, up in the lobbies of every government office, the federal judges can’t do anything to stop them. In fact, if the CRA becomes law, if judges try to stop that, they can be impeached.

It’s disturbing —Even if you ignore the fact that the CRA amends existing judicial review laws in a way never intended by the Founding Fathers; or that it does irreparable injury to separation of powers; or that it aims to allow precisely the kind of endorsement of religion by government against which this country was founded….even if you ignore all of those, the most frightening thing is the fact that the CRA explicitly prevents citizens from availing themselves of the judiciary – the one mechanism they have to protect them from tyranny of the majority. This is precisely the sort of quiet barring of options that characterizes the legislative agenda of every fascist state, and should scare anyone.

Kansans should contact Brownback and express their distaste over this Fundamentalist strong-arming. He’s at least supposed to listen to his constituents, after all. Every one else reading this should contact their representatives and tell them to vote against the CRA. It has come up once before, and was voted down….but the Congress is much more right-wing now, and Richard Shelby claims that he’s got the votes to pass it.

Sick to Death: Schiavo, The American Taliban and the Media

I’m glad Terry Schiavo is finally dead.

She’s been dead for 15 years, and it was finally time to take her off the life support.

Naturally, the religious conservatives in this country are up in arms over the whole issue…made worse by the limp-dick cowards that now pass for journalists in this country. I almost threw a brick through my television set last night, when I heard CNN refer to the Schiavo case as “a controversy which has divided a nation!”

EXCUSE ME?

Every single goddamned poll released during this shameful exercise has shown a HUGE majority of Americans, ranging from between 62 and 80 percent, depending on the poll, supported the idea that the feeding tube should be removed, that the woman had the right to die, that her husband had the right to make that decision, and that the government AND the Christian Right should stay the fuck out of it. That’s a “controversy which has divided a nation?”

The news media in this country is so worried about being (blacklisted/retaliated against/shot “accidentally” in Iraq, take your pick) that they refuse to report the facts when its staring them in the face. If it has “Conservative” or “Religious” stamped on it, they’ve got a hands-off policy. Nobody talked about the fact that the protesters in Florida (who were outnumbered by the media) were all anti-abortion wack-jobs, complete with panel-vans plastered with bloody foetus pictures. Nobody talked about the fact that the “family spokesman” for Terri Schiavo’s parents was Randal Terry, the extreme fundamentalist anti-abortion nut. When the Republicans hijacked State’s Rights in a blatant power-grab on behalf of the Christian conservatives by passing their late-night Schiavo law, where were the Democrats, the non-religious Republicans, or the media?

Now, Tom Delay, the ethics-challenged asswipe from Texas who spearheaded the thing, has committed a felony: on Thursday, he said “the time will come for the men responsible” for the death of Terri Schiavo “to answer for their behavior.” The comments, which he has refused to retract or even to clarify what he meant, appear to violate a federal criminal statute, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 115 (a)(1)(B). That law states: Whoever threatens to assault…. or murder, a United States judge… with intent to retaliate against such… judge…. on account of the performance of official duties, shall be punished by up to six years in prison. The thing is, assault isn’t limited to physical action, legally speaking. Simply threatening someone qualifies. Not to mention the fact that I’m sure the brownshirts of the abortion-clinic-bombing American Taliban will take Delay’s threat as a call to action.

I am sick of the Christian right. I am tired of a small group of small-minded, bigotted, backward-looking fascists hijacking this country. The time is long since past for the massive majority of Americans, Democrat, Republican, or Other, to stand up and say Enough is Enough. Pack up your bibles, your “culture of life” and your “family values” and move to Utah or something. We’ll let you secede. Either that, or shut the fuck up and join the rest of us in the 21st century.

Of course, for that to happen, the news media will have to grow some balls.

The Civil Rights movement only succeeded after the media started showing the entire country what was happening in the South, and how ugly it was. Normal moderate Americans suddenly faced with that reality found themselves discovering that they didn’t want to be associated with that ugliness, once it was shown in the full light of day. The same thing needs to happen with the American Taliban. Cameras need to be focused on every red-faced, screaming, hate-mongering nut who’s out there thumping a bible. Show them for what they are. Then let the majority decide if that’s who we want dictating our culture, and the country that our children will inherit.