Today's Cultural Warfare Update
Apr. 11th, 2005 11:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbird* Today's primary Focus on the Family broadcast is about "judicial tyranny" again, but it's a good one - theme: the Supreme Court is destroying the country, not only must Senate rules be changed, but a Federal amendment is needed to change the balance of power; you not only get to hear them rail against Lawrence v. Texas and Roe v. Wade and Marlbury v. Madison (1803), but for bonus points: Griswald v. Connecticut, which legalised birth control in all states! Includes action items;
* Second FotF article about Levin and changing the Federal balance of powers via Constitutional amendment;
* Today's Family News in Focus;
* Attempt to file a formal Federal complaint against Judge Greer of Florida - by some random-ass businessman from Texas. Good luck getting standing to proceed there;
* Washington Post article on the drive to impeach Justice Kennedy of the US Supreme Court;
* St. Louis Post-Dispatch article on the filibuster/court-rebuilding/impeachment efforts building up;
* Families Northwest, an anti-marriage-rights group who also complains about "No-Fault Divorce experiment," has a fundraising drive going - someone gave them $150,000 in matching funds, too, so they've got some cash to slosh around.
----- 1 -----
Focus on the Family
Daily Broadcast
James Dobson
April 11, 2005
Unmasking Judicial Tyranny
Guest: Mark Levin
http://www.oneplace.com/Ministries/Focus_on_the_Family/Default.asp
Talk show host Mark Levin discusses his book, "Men in Black," which details how the Supreme Court has stepped outside the bounds of its authority to unravel our nation's moral fabric.
"One of the greatest problems facing our country - judicial activism." Guest Mark Levin - "I sure like the way he thinks, and more than that, I like the way he writes." New book: _Men in Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America_. On NYT best seller list - nr. 7, has been nr. 3. Introduction by Rush Limbaugh, who recommends it highly. Sean Hannity of Hannity and Combs (Fox News) is a big fan, called to say that Dobson "had to have Mark Levin on [your] broadcast." Levin is president of the Landmark Legal Foundation. Top advisor to several members of the Reagan cabinet.
Dobson: "Very very timely, given the Terri Schievo tragedy, and the crisis in the American judiciary, because those things are linked, I think... The subtitle of your book is "How the Supreme Court is Destroying America... Why don't you start by kind of explaining how that is manifest."
Levin: "I have never understood the high moral authority of the court when you look at it throughout history..." Compares Roe v. Wade to be on the same terms as Dredd Scott, the internment of Japanese Americans, and the old Separate-but-Equal rulings - "From slavery, to internment, to abortion... this court has been wrong!"
Dobson: "Even though they contradict the vast majority of the American people, and yet what they say becomes the final arbiter of the great moral issues of our time."
Levin: "What's fascinating about that is that it started way back in 1803, and has only gotten worse..." Rails against Marlbury v. Madison (1803) again. Quotes Jefferson: "Despotism of an ogliarchy."
Dobson: "And it is destroying us! ... destruction is a strong word, how is it destroying this country?"
Levin: "Because every time these lawyers, and that's all they are... they hit the lottery, Dr. Dobson, they managed to get on the Supreme Court... most Americans don't know who they are... some of them have been senile racists and crooks... these are imperfect human beings like the rest of us... and the idea that a handful of lawyers should be setting policies in this country... whether it's our school systems, or the death penalty, or when life begins or when it ends... when they confer rights on the enemy, which they just did... when they uphold cyberspace child pornography as legal... none of this is supported by the Constitution... they undermine the representative branches and they disenfranchise us when they make these decisions from on high and impose them upon us."
Dobson: "I was on CNN... I talked about the courts... unelected, unaccountable, arrogant judges." Wolf Blitzer contradicted him, claims Blitzer "implied that checks and balances is irrelevant! ... talk about separation of powers..."
Levin: "The constitution creates, in essense, a bare-bones structure for the judiciary... creates a Supreme Court, with certain basic power, then leaves it to congress to determine what other jurisdiction the Supreme Court has... If the courts were looking at the constitution rather than foreign law, rather than emanations or whatever they want to look at or concoct, ... we wouldn't have a problem with 'em! ... Our problem comes when one branch undermines the separation of powers, undermines checks and powers... we will decide for all purposes when the other branches are acting unconstitutionally and whether all the states are acting unconstitutionally... is outrageous! The courts are less perfect than the others... Unaccountable, unelected, who happen to be lawyers, who happen to be plucked out of society... it goes to their heads, they live in these cloistered environments, where one works off the other... this was one of the concerns of one of the great founders of our time... Robert Yeats, from New York [who wrote that the role of the judiciary was inadequately defined in the Constitution]... Congress and the President need to protect their territory... because you and I and our audience, the only way we have to infludence our government is at the ballot box, and if they aren't going to protect their authority, then nobody's going to"
Dobson: "We can't get our hands on the supreme court, or on any other Federal judge, they're appointed for life, they're behind reach of any authority!
Levin: "There are three things I propose here. Number one: we took a baby step in the Scheivo case, in terms of the Federal case. In that case, they actually expanded, very slightly, the right of courts to intervene... we have courts going overseas to assert authority they don't have... conducting tests and doctrines to determine the Constitution... we have Congress _telling_ the courts to [intervene] and they rejected it... somebody needs to pay a political price for that! ... When Judge Greer obstructed those Congressional soepoenas he needs to be held in contempt! ... There are more systemic things we need to do. Here's two suggestions I have: first, I would term limit the Federal justices to 12 years and off... the longer they're on there, they more the 'evolve,' even some of these Republican or so-called conservative justices... we're a country of 300 million people, there's about 1000 Federal judges, there needs to be some turnover... second and more importantly, we should not leave it on the Supreme Court to have the final say in all cases... Congress [should] have the same power it has with respect to the pResident... I think Congress should have the same power to overrule a Supreme Court decision with a supermajority 2/3 vote - it's not mobocracy, it's not tyranny of the majority..."
Dobson: "Kennedy... scares me more than any other Supreme Court justices.... the decisions he's handing down just take my breath away... his recent pronouncements about basing the decisions of the court not on international law, but on international opinion! In other words, they are pulling this out of their, ah, they select the countries they want support from, and it's usually from Western Europe, which is extremely liberal, or Canada, and base their opinions on that... this recent case on striking down the death penalty for minours was particularly egregious in that regard, because they did say they based it on public opinion... and they also said they were going to continue to do this! DOes that worry you?"
Levin: "Six of the current justices out of the nine... have said they're going to rely more and more on foreign law and foreign court decisions... obviously what gangs are going to do now is going to create younger and younger assassins...t he court creates more and more outrageous mechanisms to skirt the Constitution. It will play around with research studies... it won't look at foreign law when it restricts abortion, it won't look at foreign law that allows the execution of convicted juvenile murderers..."
Dobson: "Or it won't look at Asia or it won't look at Africa..."
Levin: "Why in the world is the highest court in the land looking outside the country? I thought we had the greatest judicial system in the world! I thought we had the greatest representative government in the world! ... I believe that any justice that goes outside the Constitution ought to be impeached... that's not a radical view, former Atty. General Ed Meese shares the same view.
Moderator: "I heard someone [on the radio] talk about Terri Schievo's strange and torturous journey... [and how that's what the courts are there for, to arbitrate these disputes] how did the courts get so powerful?"
Levin: "I dare anyone to describe to me where it is in our constitution... If they're going to decide all the complex moral issues of the day, because if that's the case, we're in deep trouble. The courts have a say. They're supposed to have a say. But they're not the final authority. ... Because the courts seized this power early on in our history, and that's why I urge the supermajority vote to veto some of these Supreme Court decisions."
Dobson: [Congress hasn't been willing to "reign in the court" and overturn Judicial decisions - not just this one, but others.] "The people in this country must demand that their legislators represent their vews better... but you start talking about that and you run headlong into the filibuster. What's your position [on the filibuster]?"
Levin: "Well, the filibuster of judicial nominees in my view is utterly unconstitutional. It hasn't been done in the past, in this context... we're talking about 10 nominees who have either been filibustered or have been threatened to be filibustered... the Senate has been obstructed from giving its advise and consent by a small cabal of radical left-wing senators... if you're upset by a court that's out of control, the first thing we need to do is take the confirmation process back from these radical groups, many of which are funded by Hollywood, and give them back to the people... they are going to filibuster whomever George Bush nominates because that's how they raise money, they are going to filibuster whomever George Bush nominates because the only way they can advance their radical agenda is by having them imposed upon us by a radicial judiciary!"
Dobson: [Do you think Republicans will have the "moxie" to do it?]
Levin: "We gotta make sure they have the moxie - I'm not impressed, up till today... just do it! We need to be the infantry beyond them, not only will we support them if they do it, we will oppose them if they don't!"
Dobson: "I beg our listeners to convey that message! ... For four years in George Bush's first term, they did absolutely nothing about it! Now, maybe it was because they didn't have the votes... on the other hand, somebody's got to make this case to the American people, and frankly, I have not heard George Bush do it. I know he believes it, because of the kind of judges he's appointing, but nobody will tell the American people what you're telling them today, Mark"
Levin: "The president needs to get behind this... the Republican leadership in the Senate better get behind this... If they're not going to get behind this, if they'r enot going to defend the Constitution...
Dobson: "Do you believe that Lawrence vb. Texas, which unbelievably found that there was a constitutional right to sodomy in this country, was one of the worst decisions ever handed down?"
Levin: "It will be, because it's laying the groundwork for same-sex marriage in this country... there was no rash of sodomy prosecutions in this country... they plucked [a sodomy prosecution] out of Texas, to create the argument that the 14th Amendment protects same-sex sodomy... you won't find it in the Constitution... you won't even find the word Sodomy _in_ there... the liberals like Anthony Kennedy, and believe me, he is one... looks at [these cases] to build a foundation for same-sex marriage.... That's what they did in Roe v. Wade... they created the foundation for the so-called privacy right [via birth control rulings] to legalise abortion! [he's talking about Griswold v. Connecticut. He's railing against the decision that legalised birth control.]
Dobson: "Kennedy was confirmed by 96 members of the senate... Ginsberg was confirmed by either 96 or 97 votes in the Senate... Democrats play by different rules!" [Ed Note: Scalia was confirmed by 99 Senators.]
Levin: But the elites... they don't matter! Because all three branches of the government belong to _us_.
Dobson; Justice Scalia referred to his colleges on the court as black-robed masters! Isn't that incredible?
Levin: I'm starting to think, just so we can knock them down a notch... they should be required to wear those white-powdered wigs.
Dobson: I heard a minister... talking about the great injustice and evil of the men in _white_ robes, the Klu Klux Klan, that roamed the country and the South; they did great wrong to civil rights and to morality, and now we have black-robed men, and that's what you're talking about. [Yes, he's comparing the Supreme Court to the Klu Klux Klan.] It is my perspective... that all of the issues I care about... from the sanctity of marriage to the importance of the family to the preservation of the family and the unborn child and embryonic stem cell research and cloning... the great moral issues... are all dependent upon the whims of the supreme court and because of them the lower courts. And we simply have to get a handle on that. And in order to that, we have got to get a handle on our senators, primarily.
Levin: [If it seems hopeless, it isn't, keep going.]
Dobson: [Asks for a call to action]
Levin: "Yank at the earlobes of our representatives and make it clear to them that we want them to assert their authority on our behalf, and limit the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to rule on some of these issues; we want to change the constitution to rebalance the balance of power between the three branches to the way it was intended to be be, so Congress [can overturn S.C. court decisions], and finally, we want to limit [justices] to one term, 12 years.... and finally... we must get engaged, we must insure that serious originalists... get onto the court."
Dobson: "That's going to be world War III, isn't it?"
Levin: "Yeah, but somebody has to win it, and we will."
Moderator:
Judicial tyranny... activist judges... and what we can do about it. Our guest just outlined what our representatives in Congress have to hear... when you call... be respectful, be polite, use your own words... let us suggest that you stop by family.org... you can email our legislators right from our website, it's handy, I've done it a number of times... [gives phone number also]. They also have Levin's book for sale.
----- 2 -----
Bold New Steps You Can Take to End Judicial Tyranny
Focus on the Family
April 10, 2005
Attorney Mark Levin tells Dr. Dobson that constitutional changes need to be made to rein in the out-of-control federal courts.
http://family.org/cforum/extras/a0036157.cfm
Attorney and conservative commentator Mark Levin says bold action is needed on the part of the American people to “recalibrate” the balance between the federal courts and the other branches of government.
Speaking on Monday’s “Focus on the Family” broadcast, Levin – author of the book “Men in Black” – tells Dr. James Dobson that everyday Americans must urge their congressman and senators to amend the constitution on two important fronts:
• Limiting federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, to one term of 12 years on the bench. Currently, all federal judges are appointed for life.
• Giving Congress the power to override a Supreme Court decision by a two-thirds majority in both houses. The House and the Senate currently have this power as it relates to the presidential veto of legislation.
If you would like to ask your congressman and senators to push for such reforms, you can find contact information for them – including easy-to-use e-mail forms – by visiting the CitizenLink Action Center and typing your ZIP code in the space provided.
----- 3 -----
Family News in Focus
Focus on the Family
Monday, April 11, 2005
* More soul-searching by liberals over their losses in the past elections, as a researcher looks at the way Mom's and Dad's appear to be voting.
"If you're a parent of children under 18, the odds are you voted for the GOP... Family Policy Institute offers suggestions [to Democrats]..." "ANd the president we have now, he cares about those issues, how our kids are going to be growing up, what they're going to be wearing... and I've seen REpulicans do that." "Parents are very concerned about the state of the... culture. They feel that they're fighting a losing battle for the hearts and minds of their chidlren..." "Say to parents that your work has great worth and honour ... and we want to help you." The Family Research Council wants the Democrats to "separate themselves from some of their core constituency..." such as gay-rights groups and abortion-rights supporters."
* Tens of thousands of American children await adoption into loving families. We take a look at the State of Adoption in America.
4. National Council for Adoption celebrates 25th anniversary. "There's still plenty of work to do... we want to continue to promote a positive culture of adoption in the United States and around the world..." "To show that adoption is normal and healthy for families." "I would love to see basically a general re-education on the subject of adoption." "Adoption is a win-win solution for families and mothers who have an unplanned pregnancy."
* Are teens less likely to get involved in danger today? Studies conflict, but what's certain: teens today face a world their parents never knew.
6. Foundation for Child Development says teens have become less likely to get involved in dangerous activities in the last decade. (Violent crime, teen pregnancy, smoking, binge drinking, drug use.) Mental Health Services Administration study "shows otherwise." 1993-2001 survey cited showing rise in binge drinking from 18-21 year-olds. [Ed: are those considered children?] Talks about negative influence of media, removal of prayer from schools being a "huge factor" in the increase in negative behaviour by teens.
* Newly elected Oklahoma Senator, Dr. Tom Coburn, is embroiled in a contest with the Senate Ethics Committee over whether he should be allowed to practice medicine AND be a Senator.
3. "The ethics panel says it's a conflict of interest, which Coburn denies." "Coburn campaigned on the idea that he would be a citizen legislator... says... it's a matter of maintaining medical skills."
* A new poll says the Republican faithful in the rank and file are deeply divided over whether a Marriage Amendment would be a good thing. The figures are being disputed.
2. ONly one percent of Republicans support the FMA than oppose it. "Vast numbers of Americans regardless of party..."vote for anti-marriage amendments instates. "What matters is people who vote."
* The Secretary of Education says that No Child Left Behind is going to get a face lift featuring more flexibility.
5. "Margaret Spellings... a common-sense approach to the 'no-child left behind' law." "Today, we announce, raising achievement - a new path for No Child Left Behind. It will focus on results: raising student achievement and closing the achievement gap."
----- 4 -----
Formal Complaint Filed Against Greer in Schiavo Case
The Empire Journal
04.02.05
http://www.theempirejournal.com/04020503_formal_complaint_filed.htm
The Empire Journal’s intensive investigative coverage of the Terri Schiavo case has apparently been the impetus for a Texas businessman to file a formal complaint against Florida’s Sixth Circuit Court Judge George W. Greer for his handling of the case.
[More at URL]
----- 5 -----
Washington Sketch
And the Verdict on Justice Kennedy Is: Guilty
By Dana Milbank
Saturday, April 9, 2005; Page A03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38308-2005Apr8.html
Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy is a fairly accomplished jurist, but he might want to get himself a good lawyer -- and perhaps a few more bodyguards.
Conservative leaders meeting in Washington yesterday for a discussion of "Remedies to Judicial Tyranny" decided that Kennedy, a Ronald Reagan appointee, should be impeached, or worse.
Phyllis Schlafly, doyenne of American conservatism, said Kennedy's opinion forbidding capital punishment for juveniles "is a good ground of impeachment." To cheers and applause from those gathered at a downtown Marriott for a conference on "Confronting the Judicial War on Faith," Schlafly said that Kennedy had not met the "good behavior" requirement for office and that "Congress ought to talk about impeachment."
Next, Michael P. Farris, chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association, said Kennedy "should be the poster boy for impeachment" for citing international norms in his opinions. "If our congressmen and senators do not have the courage to impeach and remove from office Justice Kennedy, they ought to be impeached as well."
Not to be outdone, lawyer-author Edwin Vieira told the gathering that Kennedy should be impeached because his philosophy, evidenced in his opinion striking down an anti-sodomy statute, "upholds Marxist, Leninist, satanic principles drawn from foreign law."
Ominously, Vieira continued by saying his "bottom line" for dealing with the Supreme Court comes from Joseph Stalin. "He had a slogan, and it worked very well for him, whenever he ran into difficulty: 'no man, no problem,' " Vieira said.
The full Stalin quote, for those who don't recognize it, is "Death solves all problems: no man, no problem." Presumably, Vieira had in mind something less extreme than Stalin did and was not actually advocating violence. But then, these are scary times for the judiciary. An anti-judge furor may help confirm President Bush's judicial nominees, but it also has the potential to turn ugly.
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
'Activist' judges are rewriting Constitution, conservatives say
By ED RONCO
Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau
04/10/2005
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/newswatch/story/AA75D8F50FF70C5186256FDF0044D582?OpenDocument&highlight=2%2C%22judges%22
WASHINGTON - Conservative activists, authors, religious leaders and other people of faith who assembled in Washington last week agreed: to put God back into government, "activist" judges must be stopped.
And they say Congress, despite its Republican majority, isn't doing enough toward that goal.
"Confronting the Judicial War on Faith" was the name of the conference, organized by the Judeo-Christian Council for Constitutional Restoration, based in Lufkin, Texas. The group believes federal judges have abandoned a strict interpretation of the Constitution.
Judges have been the target of ire for many on the right, especially after federal courts refused to hear appeals in the case of Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman who died March 31 after courts ruled against having her feeding tube reinserted. 
The debate over federal judges is working its way into the Senate, too. Republican leaders have threatened to exercise what critics are calling a "nuclear option," which would allow them to forbid Democrats from filibustering President George W. Bush's nominees to the federal bench.
Rep. Todd Akin, R-Town and Country, was among the speakers Thursday evening, sitting on a panel discussing "The Real Constitution."
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Families Northwest presents its...
Sixth Annual “Spring Challenge” Kick-off!
http://www.familiesnorthwest.org/fnw.aspx?pid=216
Your past partnership has given Families Northwest the ability to make tremendous strides in keeping families strong and healthy. It’s because of your generous support that...
...hundreds of thousands of people in the Northwest who read, watched and listened to the news finally received a clear and positive blueprint defending marriage from redefinition and institutional erosion.
...hundreds of couples attended events where they were encouraged in their roles as husbands and wives, fathers and mothers.
...many young children do not have to choose between their mother and father because improved marriage preparation is helping to preserve families.
This is a critical time to advance the vision of Families Northwest. The No-Fault Divorce experiment and the related slide in sexual morality have dealt a serious blow to the permanence of marriage. And within the next three months, our State Supreme Court could permanently alter the definition of marriage just as the State Supreme Court of Massachusetts already has.
God’s design of marriage - the union between one man and one woman - is at a crossroads. Families Northwest is called to publicly defend marriage. We must push forward to strengthen marriages and preserve the institution of marriage if we are going to see the Northwest become the world’s best place for families and children. But, in order to increase our training of leaders, production of resources, and presence in the media, we must have the financial support of partners like you. My team and I are being called on like never before to speak, interview, strategize and support marriage and families.
Your 2005 Spring Challenge gift will help support the following areas:
• Preservation of Marriage Campaign
• Website Outreach
• Expanding Media Communications
• Radio Programs
• Research and Surveys
• Public Seminars
• Leadership Training
• Publications and Educational Materials
• Lobbing Efforts
• Community Transformation Work
• Capacity Expansion
* Second FotF article about Levin and changing the Federal balance of powers via Constitutional amendment;
* Today's Family News in Focus;
* Attempt to file a formal Federal complaint against Judge Greer of Florida - by some random-ass businessman from Texas. Good luck getting standing to proceed there;
* Washington Post article on the drive to impeach Justice Kennedy of the US Supreme Court;
* St. Louis Post-Dispatch article on the filibuster/court-rebuilding/impeachment efforts building up;
* Families Northwest, an anti-marriage-rights group who also complains about "No-Fault Divorce experiment," has a fundraising drive going - someone gave them $150,000 in matching funds, too, so they've got some cash to slosh around.
----- 1 -----
Focus on the Family
Daily Broadcast
James Dobson
April 11, 2005
Unmasking Judicial Tyranny
Guest: Mark Levin
http://www.oneplace.com/Ministries/Focus_on_the_Family/Default.asp
Talk show host Mark Levin discusses his book, "Men in Black," which details how the Supreme Court has stepped outside the bounds of its authority to unravel our nation's moral fabric.
"One of the greatest problems facing our country - judicial activism." Guest Mark Levin - "I sure like the way he thinks, and more than that, I like the way he writes." New book: _Men in Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America_. On NYT best seller list - nr. 7, has been nr. 3. Introduction by Rush Limbaugh, who recommends it highly. Sean Hannity of Hannity and Combs (Fox News) is a big fan, called to say that Dobson "had to have Mark Levin on [your] broadcast." Levin is president of the Landmark Legal Foundation. Top advisor to several members of the Reagan cabinet.
Dobson: "Very very timely, given the Terri Schievo tragedy, and the crisis in the American judiciary, because those things are linked, I think... The subtitle of your book is "How the Supreme Court is Destroying America... Why don't you start by kind of explaining how that is manifest."
Levin: "I have never understood the high moral authority of the court when you look at it throughout history..." Compares Roe v. Wade to be on the same terms as Dredd Scott, the internment of Japanese Americans, and the old Separate-but-Equal rulings - "From slavery, to internment, to abortion... this court has been wrong!"
Dobson: "Even though they contradict the vast majority of the American people, and yet what they say becomes the final arbiter of the great moral issues of our time."
Levin: "What's fascinating about that is that it started way back in 1803, and has only gotten worse..." Rails against Marlbury v. Madison (1803) again. Quotes Jefferson: "Despotism of an ogliarchy."
Dobson: "And it is destroying us! ... destruction is a strong word, how is it destroying this country?"
Levin: "Because every time these lawyers, and that's all they are... they hit the lottery, Dr. Dobson, they managed to get on the Supreme Court... most Americans don't know who they are... some of them have been senile racists and crooks... these are imperfect human beings like the rest of us... and the idea that a handful of lawyers should be setting policies in this country... whether it's our school systems, or the death penalty, or when life begins or when it ends... when they confer rights on the enemy, which they just did... when they uphold cyberspace child pornography as legal... none of this is supported by the Constitution... they undermine the representative branches and they disenfranchise us when they make these decisions from on high and impose them upon us."
Dobson: "I was on CNN... I talked about the courts... unelected, unaccountable, arrogant judges." Wolf Blitzer contradicted him, claims Blitzer "implied that checks and balances is irrelevant! ... talk about separation of powers..."
Levin: "The constitution creates, in essense, a bare-bones structure for the judiciary... creates a Supreme Court, with certain basic power, then leaves it to congress to determine what other jurisdiction the Supreme Court has... If the courts were looking at the constitution rather than foreign law, rather than emanations or whatever they want to look at or concoct, ... we wouldn't have a problem with 'em! ... Our problem comes when one branch undermines the separation of powers, undermines checks and powers... we will decide for all purposes when the other branches are acting unconstitutionally and whether all the states are acting unconstitutionally... is outrageous! The courts are less perfect than the others... Unaccountable, unelected, who happen to be lawyers, who happen to be plucked out of society... it goes to their heads, they live in these cloistered environments, where one works off the other... this was one of the concerns of one of the great founders of our time... Robert Yeats, from New York [who wrote that the role of the judiciary was inadequately defined in the Constitution]... Congress and the President need to protect their territory... because you and I and our audience, the only way we have to infludence our government is at the ballot box, and if they aren't going to protect their authority, then nobody's going to"
Dobson: "We can't get our hands on the supreme court, or on any other Federal judge, they're appointed for life, they're behind reach of any authority!
Levin: "There are three things I propose here. Number one: we took a baby step in the Scheivo case, in terms of the Federal case. In that case, they actually expanded, very slightly, the right of courts to intervene... we have courts going overseas to assert authority they don't have... conducting tests and doctrines to determine the Constitution... we have Congress _telling_ the courts to [intervene] and they rejected it... somebody needs to pay a political price for that! ... When Judge Greer obstructed those Congressional soepoenas he needs to be held in contempt! ... There are more systemic things we need to do. Here's two suggestions I have: first, I would term limit the Federal justices to 12 years and off... the longer they're on there, they more the 'evolve,' even some of these Republican or so-called conservative justices... we're a country of 300 million people, there's about 1000 Federal judges, there needs to be some turnover... second and more importantly, we should not leave it on the Supreme Court to have the final say in all cases... Congress [should] have the same power it has with respect to the pResident... I think Congress should have the same power to overrule a Supreme Court decision with a supermajority 2/3 vote - it's not mobocracy, it's not tyranny of the majority..."
Dobson: "Kennedy... scares me more than any other Supreme Court justices.... the decisions he's handing down just take my breath away... his recent pronouncements about basing the decisions of the court not on international law, but on international opinion! In other words, they are pulling this out of their, ah, they select the countries they want support from, and it's usually from Western Europe, which is extremely liberal, or Canada, and base their opinions on that... this recent case on striking down the death penalty for minours was particularly egregious in that regard, because they did say they based it on public opinion... and they also said they were going to continue to do this! DOes that worry you?"
Levin: "Six of the current justices out of the nine... have said they're going to rely more and more on foreign law and foreign court decisions... obviously what gangs are going to do now is going to create younger and younger assassins...t he court creates more and more outrageous mechanisms to skirt the Constitution. It will play around with research studies... it won't look at foreign law when it restricts abortion, it won't look at foreign law that allows the execution of convicted juvenile murderers..."
Dobson: "Or it won't look at Asia or it won't look at Africa..."
Levin: "Why in the world is the highest court in the land looking outside the country? I thought we had the greatest judicial system in the world! I thought we had the greatest representative government in the world! ... I believe that any justice that goes outside the Constitution ought to be impeached... that's not a radical view, former Atty. General Ed Meese shares the same view.
Moderator: "I heard someone [on the radio] talk about Terri Schievo's strange and torturous journey... [and how that's what the courts are there for, to arbitrate these disputes] how did the courts get so powerful?"
Levin: "I dare anyone to describe to me where it is in our constitution... If they're going to decide all the complex moral issues of the day, because if that's the case, we're in deep trouble. The courts have a say. They're supposed to have a say. But they're not the final authority. ... Because the courts seized this power early on in our history, and that's why I urge the supermajority vote to veto some of these Supreme Court decisions."
Dobson: [Congress hasn't been willing to "reign in the court" and overturn Judicial decisions - not just this one, but others.] "The people in this country must demand that their legislators represent their vews better... but you start talking about that and you run headlong into the filibuster. What's your position [on the filibuster]?"
Levin: "Well, the filibuster of judicial nominees in my view is utterly unconstitutional. It hasn't been done in the past, in this context... we're talking about 10 nominees who have either been filibustered or have been threatened to be filibustered... the Senate has been obstructed from giving its advise and consent by a small cabal of radical left-wing senators... if you're upset by a court that's out of control, the first thing we need to do is take the confirmation process back from these radical groups, many of which are funded by Hollywood, and give them back to the people... they are going to filibuster whomever George Bush nominates because that's how they raise money, they are going to filibuster whomever George Bush nominates because the only way they can advance their radical agenda is by having them imposed upon us by a radicial judiciary!"
Dobson: [Do you think Republicans will have the "moxie" to do it?]
Levin: "We gotta make sure they have the moxie - I'm not impressed, up till today... just do it! We need to be the infantry beyond them, not only will we support them if they do it, we will oppose them if they don't!"
Dobson: "I beg our listeners to convey that message! ... For four years in George Bush's first term, they did absolutely nothing about it! Now, maybe it was because they didn't have the votes... on the other hand, somebody's got to make this case to the American people, and frankly, I have not heard George Bush do it. I know he believes it, because of the kind of judges he's appointing, but nobody will tell the American people what you're telling them today, Mark"
Levin: "The president needs to get behind this... the Republican leadership in the Senate better get behind this... If they're not going to get behind this, if they'r enot going to defend the Constitution...
Dobson: "Do you believe that Lawrence vb. Texas, which unbelievably found that there was a constitutional right to sodomy in this country, was one of the worst decisions ever handed down?"
Levin: "It will be, because it's laying the groundwork for same-sex marriage in this country... there was no rash of sodomy prosecutions in this country... they plucked [a sodomy prosecution] out of Texas, to create the argument that the 14th Amendment protects same-sex sodomy... you won't find it in the Constitution... you won't even find the word Sodomy _in_ there... the liberals like Anthony Kennedy, and believe me, he is one... looks at [these cases] to build a foundation for same-sex marriage.... That's what they did in Roe v. Wade... they created the foundation for the so-called privacy right [via birth control rulings] to legalise abortion! [he's talking about Griswold v. Connecticut. He's railing against the decision that legalised birth control.]
Dobson: "Kennedy was confirmed by 96 members of the senate... Ginsberg was confirmed by either 96 or 97 votes in the Senate... Democrats play by different rules!" [Ed Note: Scalia was confirmed by 99 Senators.]
Levin: But the elites... they don't matter! Because all three branches of the government belong to _us_.
Dobson; Justice Scalia referred to his colleges on the court as black-robed masters! Isn't that incredible?
Levin: I'm starting to think, just so we can knock them down a notch... they should be required to wear those white-powdered wigs.
Dobson: I heard a minister... talking about the great injustice and evil of the men in _white_ robes, the Klu Klux Klan, that roamed the country and the South; they did great wrong to civil rights and to morality, and now we have black-robed men, and that's what you're talking about. [Yes, he's comparing the Supreme Court to the Klu Klux Klan.] It is my perspective... that all of the issues I care about... from the sanctity of marriage to the importance of the family to the preservation of the family and the unborn child and embryonic stem cell research and cloning... the great moral issues... are all dependent upon the whims of the supreme court and because of them the lower courts. And we simply have to get a handle on that. And in order to that, we have got to get a handle on our senators, primarily.
Levin: [If it seems hopeless, it isn't, keep going.]
Dobson: [Asks for a call to action]
Levin: "Yank at the earlobes of our representatives and make it clear to them that we want them to assert their authority on our behalf, and limit the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to rule on some of these issues; we want to change the constitution to rebalance the balance of power between the three branches to the way it was intended to be be, so Congress [can overturn S.C. court decisions], and finally, we want to limit [justices] to one term, 12 years.... and finally... we must get engaged, we must insure that serious originalists... get onto the court."
Dobson: "That's going to be world War III, isn't it?"
Levin: "Yeah, but somebody has to win it, and we will."
Moderator:
Judicial tyranny... activist judges... and what we can do about it. Our guest just outlined what our representatives in Congress have to hear... when you call... be respectful, be polite, use your own words... let us suggest that you stop by family.org... you can email our legislators right from our website, it's handy, I've done it a number of times... [gives phone number also]. They also have Levin's book for sale.
----- 2 -----
Bold New Steps You Can Take to End Judicial Tyranny
Focus on the Family
April 10, 2005
Attorney Mark Levin tells Dr. Dobson that constitutional changes need to be made to rein in the out-of-control federal courts.
http://family.org/cforum/extras/a0036157.cfm
Attorney and conservative commentator Mark Levin says bold action is needed on the part of the American people to “recalibrate” the balance between the federal courts and the other branches of government.
Speaking on Monday’s “Focus on the Family” broadcast, Levin – author of the book “Men in Black” – tells Dr. James Dobson that everyday Americans must urge their congressman and senators to amend the constitution on two important fronts:
• Limiting federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, to one term of 12 years on the bench. Currently, all federal judges are appointed for life.
• Giving Congress the power to override a Supreme Court decision by a two-thirds majority in both houses. The House and the Senate currently have this power as it relates to the presidential veto of legislation.
If you would like to ask your congressman and senators to push for such reforms, you can find contact information for them – including easy-to-use e-mail forms – by visiting the CitizenLink Action Center and typing your ZIP code in the space provided.
----- 3 -----
Family News in Focus
Focus on the Family
Monday, April 11, 2005
* More soul-searching by liberals over their losses in the past elections, as a researcher looks at the way Mom's and Dad's appear to be voting.
"If you're a parent of children under 18, the odds are you voted for the GOP... Family Policy Institute offers suggestions [to Democrats]..." "ANd the president we have now, he cares about those issues, how our kids are going to be growing up, what they're going to be wearing... and I've seen REpulicans do that." "Parents are very concerned about the state of the... culture. They feel that they're fighting a losing battle for the hearts and minds of their chidlren..." "Say to parents that your work has great worth and honour ... and we want to help you." The Family Research Council wants the Democrats to "separate themselves from some of their core constituency..." such as gay-rights groups and abortion-rights supporters."
* Tens of thousands of American children await adoption into loving families. We take a look at the State of Adoption in America.
4. National Council for Adoption celebrates 25th anniversary. "There's still plenty of work to do... we want to continue to promote a positive culture of adoption in the United States and around the world..." "To show that adoption is normal and healthy for families." "I would love to see basically a general re-education on the subject of adoption." "Adoption is a win-win solution for families and mothers who have an unplanned pregnancy."
* Are teens less likely to get involved in danger today? Studies conflict, but what's certain: teens today face a world their parents never knew.
6. Foundation for Child Development says teens have become less likely to get involved in dangerous activities in the last decade. (Violent crime, teen pregnancy, smoking, binge drinking, drug use.) Mental Health Services Administration study "shows otherwise." 1993-2001 survey cited showing rise in binge drinking from 18-21 year-olds. [Ed: are those considered children?] Talks about negative influence of media, removal of prayer from schools being a "huge factor" in the increase in negative behaviour by teens.
* Newly elected Oklahoma Senator, Dr. Tom Coburn, is embroiled in a contest with the Senate Ethics Committee over whether he should be allowed to practice medicine AND be a Senator.
3. "The ethics panel says it's a conflict of interest, which Coburn denies." "Coburn campaigned on the idea that he would be a citizen legislator... says... it's a matter of maintaining medical skills."
* A new poll says the Republican faithful in the rank and file are deeply divided over whether a Marriage Amendment would be a good thing. The figures are being disputed.
2. ONly one percent of Republicans support the FMA than oppose it. "Vast numbers of Americans regardless of party..."vote for anti-marriage amendments instates. "What matters is people who vote."
* The Secretary of Education says that No Child Left Behind is going to get a face lift featuring more flexibility.
5. "Margaret Spellings... a common-sense approach to the 'no-child left behind' law." "Today, we announce, raising achievement - a new path for No Child Left Behind. It will focus on results: raising student achievement and closing the achievement gap."
----- 4 -----
Formal Complaint Filed Against Greer in Schiavo Case
The Empire Journal
04.02.05
http://www.theempirejournal.com/04020503_formal_complaint_filed.htm
The Empire Journal’s intensive investigative coverage of the Terri Schiavo case has apparently been the impetus for a Texas businessman to file a formal complaint against Florida’s Sixth Circuit Court Judge George W. Greer for his handling of the case.
[More at URL]
----- 5 -----
Washington Sketch
And the Verdict on Justice Kennedy Is: Guilty
By Dana Milbank
Saturday, April 9, 2005; Page A03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38308-2005Apr8.html
Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy is a fairly accomplished jurist, but he might want to get himself a good lawyer -- and perhaps a few more bodyguards.
Conservative leaders meeting in Washington yesterday for a discussion of "Remedies to Judicial Tyranny" decided that Kennedy, a Ronald Reagan appointee, should be impeached, or worse.
Phyllis Schlafly, doyenne of American conservatism, said Kennedy's opinion forbidding capital punishment for juveniles "is a good ground of impeachment." To cheers and applause from those gathered at a downtown Marriott for a conference on "Confronting the Judicial War on Faith," Schlafly said that Kennedy had not met the "good behavior" requirement for office and that "Congress ought to talk about impeachment."
Next, Michael P. Farris, chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association, said Kennedy "should be the poster boy for impeachment" for citing international norms in his opinions. "If our congressmen and senators do not have the courage to impeach and remove from office Justice Kennedy, they ought to be impeached as well."
Not to be outdone, lawyer-author Edwin Vieira told the gathering that Kennedy should be impeached because his philosophy, evidenced in his opinion striking down an anti-sodomy statute, "upholds Marxist, Leninist, satanic principles drawn from foreign law."
Ominously, Vieira continued by saying his "bottom line" for dealing with the Supreme Court comes from Joseph Stalin. "He had a slogan, and it worked very well for him, whenever he ran into difficulty: 'no man, no problem,' " Vieira said.
The full Stalin quote, for those who don't recognize it, is "Death solves all problems: no man, no problem." Presumably, Vieira had in mind something less extreme than Stalin did and was not actually advocating violence. But then, these are scary times for the judiciary. An anti-judge furor may help confirm President Bush's judicial nominees, but it also has the potential to turn ugly.
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
'Activist' judges are rewriting Constitution, conservatives say
By ED RONCO
Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau
04/10/2005
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/newswatch/story/AA75D8F50FF70C5186256FDF0044D582?OpenDocument&highlight=2%2C%22judges%22
WASHINGTON - Conservative activists, authors, religious leaders and other people of faith who assembled in Washington last week agreed: to put God back into government, "activist" judges must be stopped.
And they say Congress, despite its Republican majority, isn't doing enough toward that goal.
"Confronting the Judicial War on Faith" was the name of the conference, organized by the Judeo-Christian Council for Constitutional Restoration, based in Lufkin, Texas. The group believes federal judges have abandoned a strict interpretation of the Constitution.
Judges have been the target of ire for many on the right, especially after federal courts refused to hear appeals in the case of Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman who died March 31 after courts ruled against having her feeding tube reinserted. 
The debate over federal judges is working its way into the Senate, too. Republican leaders have threatened to exercise what critics are calling a "nuclear option," which would allow them to forbid Democrats from filibustering President George W. Bush's nominees to the federal bench.
Rep. Todd Akin, R-Town and Country, was among the speakers Thursday evening, sitting on a panel discussing "The Real Constitution."
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Families Northwest presents its...
Sixth Annual “Spring Challenge” Kick-off!
http://www.familiesnorthwest.org/fnw.aspx?pid=216
Your past partnership has given Families Northwest the ability to make tremendous strides in keeping families strong and healthy. It’s because of your generous support that...
...hundreds of thousands of people in the Northwest who read, watched and listened to the news finally received a clear and positive blueprint defending marriage from redefinition and institutional erosion.
...hundreds of couples attended events where they were encouraged in their roles as husbands and wives, fathers and mothers.
...many young children do not have to choose between their mother and father because improved marriage preparation is helping to preserve families.
This is a critical time to advance the vision of Families Northwest. The No-Fault Divorce experiment and the related slide in sexual morality have dealt a serious blow to the permanence of marriage. And within the next three months, our State Supreme Court could permanently alter the definition of marriage just as the State Supreme Court of Massachusetts already has.
God’s design of marriage - the union between one man and one woman - is at a crossroads. Families Northwest is called to publicly defend marriage. We must push forward to strengthen marriages and preserve the institution of marriage if we are going to see the Northwest become the world’s best place for families and children. But, in order to increase our training of leaders, production of resources, and presence in the media, we must have the financial support of partners like you. My team and I are being called on like never before to speak, interview, strategize and support marriage and families.
Your 2005 Spring Challenge gift will help support the following areas:
• Preservation of Marriage Campaign
• Website Outreach
• Expanding Media Communications
• Radio Programs
• Research and Surveys
• Public Seminars
• Leadership Training
• Publications and Educational Materials
• Lobbing Efforts
• Community Transformation Work
• Capacity Expansion
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no subject
Date: 2005-04-11 08:00 pm (UTC)i wonder if the FotF folks read the same Bible i do, cuz they're fighting causes in a manner NOT CONSISTENT w/ Christ's teachings IMHO
*whimper*
no subject
Date: 2005-04-12 12:27 am (UTC)In the near corner, we have a cigarette-smoking cowboy. In the far corner, we have a short, elderly politician. Let the cage match begin!
no subject
Date: 2005-04-12 12:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-12 12:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-12 12:43 am (UTC)