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Today's Cultural Warfare Update
Jul. 1st, 2005 12:37 pmAs everyone reading this knows by now, Justice O'Connor, a Reagan appointment and swing vote on many church-state separation cases as well as votes upholding Roe v. Wade, has announced her retirement. It will take several hours for most of the fundamentalist groups to react, but since nothing much will go on this weekend anyway, that's no big deal.
This is, of course, one of the moments that the fundamentalist movement has been waiting for. (Part of their effectiveness comes from the fact that they don't want for one moment; they work for many. That's something other groups could learn from.) They may have lost the filibuster battle, but do not think that they will be less effective for it. They won't be. They've been keeping the fires stoked; they've been keeping their people ready. And they have promised everything they delivered last time, and more.
Do not expect that President Bush will pick a libertarian-leaning justice as a compromise. He has said since day one of his campaign that he wants more Scalias and Thomases on the court, and I cannot imagine he won't try.
I don't suppose I need to remind the readers of this journal that both Scalia and Thomas aren't just reliable votes against abortion rights, but also voted to uphold laws criminalising the lives of gayfolk. Scalia in particular is also strongly hostile to minourity religions, writing just last week that the concerns of polytheists and atheists could simply be ignored in the law. Scalia has also written that any religious practice may be banned by government, as long as oppressing the religion is not the specific and stated goal of the legislation.
Neither of these justices share any great love for liberty in general - only in the specific and narrow areas they prefer. They may have voted the right way in Kelo v. New London - and I applaud them for that, tho' I see it very much a case of the stopped clock being right twice a day - but in almost every other way, they are a disaster for the freedom of the person.
And they're what President Bush has said, repeatedly, consistantly, from 2000 to as recently as late last year, that he wants more of on the courts.
And now, the news.
ABC News's story - investigation into "gay conversion" camp called off;
Focus on the Family story supporting Republicans on the hill agitating for more judicial replacements, also talking about using funding restrictions to block enforcement of court rulings;
FotF article talking up two of their preferred judicial nominees - both of whom are stridently anti-abortion - includes action item to support overturning the filibuster compromise;
FotF rails against gay male couples raising children and surrogate-mother agencies who work with gay couples as, "another attempt to marginalize traditional values" and "legitimize the homosexual lifestyle";
Maryland sex-ed case (FotF story) results in settlement where school board agrees not to "denigrate" fundamentalist religious beliefs;
FotF notes, in a tiny, buried article, that Spain extended marriage rights to gayfolk; Catholic bishops issue a call for defiance, but don't say how;
FotF rails against Canadian parliamentary extension of marriage rights, calls for resistance and legislative action at the provincial level;
FotF newsbrief AND secondary action item against the Today Show for allowing gay couples in states with legal marriage to participate in their marriage contests;
Sen. Tom Coburn trying to get the FDA to remove information showing that condoms help prevent transmission of many STDs;
Today's Family News in Focus;
Concerned Women for America is on top of the retirement story - this is very quick for them. First a press release demanding another Scalia or Thomas;
CWFA story on retirement with audio component... which is so far broken, but I'll keep trying: "This is the moment [we] have been gearing up for";
CWFA story: new Supreme Court nominee will not be "Borked" - includes immediate action item, no waiting for an actual nominee;
CWFA attacks AMA for saying pharmacists who refuse to dispense legal medications for religious reasons should make an "immediate referral to an appropriate alternative dispensing pharmacy without interference" - note that there have been a flurry of cases of pharmacists refusing to hand back prescriptions and berating customers over medications they find objectionable;
CWFA demands vote on an appeals court judge who is known for being particularly anti-abortion-rights;
AFA says that the "company looks pretty good to me from here," talks about being proud of being part of the anti-gay alliance;
Slate lists their shortlist of probable nominees, with some background information on each;
CWA rails against UN stand on reproductive rights - in general, in terms of control over having sex, control over birth control, not just abortion; they're unhappy because it includes women under 18;
Family Research Council issues statement: nominate a Scalia or Thomas - "We will wage an unprecedented effort [to support such a nominee] through the mobilization of 20,000 churches across the nation, weekly conference calls in targeted states, the strengthening of the FRC team and activation of grassroots through www.frc.org";
FRC: "10 Commandments suffer blow" in previous Supreme Court ruling;
Focus on the Family gets their act together and sends out a special report calling for another Thomas or Scalia to be nominated, as pledged in his election campaign.
( Excerpts and transcriptions )
This is, of course, one of the moments that the fundamentalist movement has been waiting for. (Part of their effectiveness comes from the fact that they don't want for one moment; they work for many. That's something other groups could learn from.) They may have lost the filibuster battle, but do not think that they will be less effective for it. They won't be. They've been keeping the fires stoked; they've been keeping their people ready. And they have promised everything they delivered last time, and more.
Do not expect that President Bush will pick a libertarian-leaning justice as a compromise. He has said since day one of his campaign that he wants more Scalias and Thomases on the court, and I cannot imagine he won't try.
I don't suppose I need to remind the readers of this journal that both Scalia and Thomas aren't just reliable votes against abortion rights, but also voted to uphold laws criminalising the lives of gayfolk. Scalia in particular is also strongly hostile to minourity religions, writing just last week that the concerns of polytheists and atheists could simply be ignored in the law. Scalia has also written that any religious practice may be banned by government, as long as oppressing the religion is not the specific and stated goal of the legislation.
Neither of these justices share any great love for liberty in general - only in the specific and narrow areas they prefer. They may have voted the right way in Kelo v. New London - and I applaud them for that, tho' I see it very much a case of the stopped clock being right twice a day - but in almost every other way, they are a disaster for the freedom of the person.
And they're what President Bush has said, repeatedly, consistantly, from 2000 to as recently as late last year, that he wants more of on the courts.
And now, the news.
ABC News's story - investigation into "gay conversion" camp called off;
Focus on the Family story supporting Republicans on the hill agitating for more judicial replacements, also talking about using funding restrictions to block enforcement of court rulings;
FotF article talking up two of their preferred judicial nominees - both of whom are stridently anti-abortion - includes action item to support overturning the filibuster compromise;
FotF rails against gay male couples raising children and surrogate-mother agencies who work with gay couples as, "another attempt to marginalize traditional values" and "legitimize the homosexual lifestyle";
Maryland sex-ed case (FotF story) results in settlement where school board agrees not to "denigrate" fundamentalist religious beliefs;
FotF notes, in a tiny, buried article, that Spain extended marriage rights to gayfolk; Catholic bishops issue a call for defiance, but don't say how;
FotF rails against Canadian parliamentary extension of marriage rights, calls for resistance and legislative action at the provincial level;
FotF newsbrief AND secondary action item against the Today Show for allowing gay couples in states with legal marriage to participate in their marriage contests;
Sen. Tom Coburn trying to get the FDA to remove information showing that condoms help prevent transmission of many STDs;
Today's Family News in Focus;
Concerned Women for America is on top of the retirement story - this is very quick for them. First a press release demanding another Scalia or Thomas;
CWFA story on retirement with audio component... which is so far broken, but I'll keep trying: "This is the moment [we] have been gearing up for";
CWFA story: new Supreme Court nominee will not be "Borked" - includes immediate action item, no waiting for an actual nominee;
CWFA attacks AMA for saying pharmacists who refuse to dispense legal medications for religious reasons should make an "immediate referral to an appropriate alternative dispensing pharmacy without interference" - note that there have been a flurry of cases of pharmacists refusing to hand back prescriptions and berating customers over medications they find objectionable;
CWFA demands vote on an appeals court judge who is known for being particularly anti-abortion-rights;
AFA says that the "company looks pretty good to me from here," talks about being proud of being part of the anti-gay alliance;
Slate lists their shortlist of probable nominees, with some background information on each;
CWA rails against UN stand on reproductive rights - in general, in terms of control over having sex, control over birth control, not just abortion; they're unhappy because it includes women under 18;
Family Research Council issues statement: nominate a Scalia or Thomas - "We will wage an unprecedented effort [to support such a nominee] through the mobilization of 20,000 churches across the nation, weekly conference calls in targeted states, the strengthening of the FRC team and activation of grassroots through www.frc.org";
FRC: "10 Commandments suffer blow" in previous Supreme Court ruling;
Focus on the Family gets their act together and sends out a special report calling for another Thomas or Scalia to be nominated, as pledged in his election campaign.
( Excerpts and transcriptions )
