Love America, Hate Bush
Saturday, November 27, 2004
Every time the so-called Christian Right has tried to turn
this country into a theocracy, those pesky federal courts
have stymied things.
So now according to the liberal Americans United for Separation
of Church and State the right-wingers have come up with
a new scheme. All they plan to do is to strip the federal judges
of their right to hear cases involving the separation of
church and state.
Reportedly, such leaders as the Rev. Jerry Falwell and
Republican Rep. John Hostettler of Indiana, flush with
what they see as a successful right-wing revolution, believe
they can make the federal courts virtually powerless.
Rep. Hostettler, addressing a special legislative briefing
of the Christian Coalition last month in Washington, reportedly
talked at length about a bill he plans to introduce. It would
deny federal courts the right to hear cases challenging
the Defense of Marriage Act, which bans same-sex marriage.
"Congress controls the federal judiciary, "
Rep. Hostettler was quoted as saying. "If Congress
wants to, it can refer all cases to the state courts. Congress
can say the federal courts have limited power to enforce
their decision."
Apparently, the Hoosier congressman has not heard of the
balance of power among the three arms of our government.
He was quoted as telling the Christian Coalition members:
"When the courts make unconstitutional decisions,
we should not enforce them. Federal courts have no army
or navy... The court can opine, decide, talk about, sing,
whatever it wants to do. We're not saying they can't
do that. At the end of the day, we're saying the court
can't enforce its opinions."
Another congressman, Alabama Republican Robert Aderholdt,
was quoted as advocating court stripping as a means to protect
state-sponsored Ten Commandment displays, such as the
one erected by former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice
Roy Moore.
And then there was Sheila Cole, executive director of the
Republican Study Committee, a group of ultra-conservative
House members. She said federal judges who refuse to listen
to Congress might well be impeached.
Others in attendance at the session called for more direct
action to render the federal courts powerless. During
a question-and-answer period, a member reportedly said
that in such cases as the Ten Commandments display, people
should form a human barrier, if neccessary, to prevent
removal.
Rep. Hostettler apparently liked that idea. In such a case,
he allegedly said, federal marshals would have to be called
out.
"If the president does that, " he was quoted
as saying, "who will have a say in the next presidential
election?"
The Rev. Falwell spoke of what he called an evangelical
awakening sweeping this nation, and boasted that the Religious
Right now controls the Republican Party, according to
Americans United.
Many of the legal scholars consulted by Americans United
said the court-stripping scheme was of dubious legality.
Michael Gerhardt, a professor at William & Mary Law
School, testified before Congress twice recently, arguing
that the plan violates the U.S. Constitution.
Constitutional or not, the scary part of all this is realizing
how dizzy success has made these people. A week or two after
the presidential election, I happened to tune in to the
Rev. Pat Robertson's program. He was chortling and
practically jumping up and down with elation.
He kept saying what a great opportunity the Christian Right
now had to change the nation.
It sounds as if they intend to begin by ripping apart the
Bill of Rights.
Blog editor's note: The following petition is from
the web site of the Christian Coalition.
Whereas: Our Founding Fathers never intended that the
branch they wanted to be the weakest of the 3 branches of
American government - the federal judiciary - to be as strong
as it is today; Our Founding Fathers never intended for
the federal judiciary to be able to issue tyrannical judgments
similar to those edicts that the British government was
issuing before the American Revolution; Our Founding
Fathers never intended a run-away-judiciary to be able
to override the will of the American people,
Whereas: For the past 50 or so years, our federal judges
have indeed been overriding the will of the American people
and legislating from the bench: taking prayer out of schools
(1962;) ruling that abortion on demand is legal in its "Roe
vs. Wade" decision (1973;) taking the Pledge of Allegiance
out of schools because of the words "Under God"
(2003;) taking the 10 Commandments out of the public square
(2003;) and removing God from all public places in America
through hundreds of tyrannical decisions,
Whereas: The United States Congress for over 50 years has
shirked its constitutional responsibilities and refused
to rein in liberal tyrannical federal judges,
Be It Resolved: We strongly declare our support for the
efforts by some Members of Congress to stop judicial tyranny
in America.
We support the efforts of Indiana Congressman John Hostettler
whose amendments to prevent enforcement of the removal
of the 10 Commandments Monument in the Alabama judicial
building and to prevent enforcement of the ban of reciting
the Pledge of Allegiance by school children in America
won overwhelmingly (the first passed by 260-161 and the
second amendment won by 307-119.) Days after Congressman
Hostettler's 10 Commandments amendment won, a liberal
federal judge, Myron Thompson, issued a dictate that the
state of Alabama had to remove the 10 Commandments Monument
installed by Chief Justice Roy Moore a couple of years before.
He set a deadline for removal during the congressional
recess, before the U.S. Senate had time to vote on the Hostettler
Amendment.
We support Alabama Congressman Robert Aderholt's
"10 Commandments Defense Act of 2003, " H.R.
2045, which would reserve the power of displaying the 10
Commandments to the States and not to run-away federal
judges.
We support Missouri Congressman Todd Akin's "Pledge
Protection Act of 2003, " H.R. 2028, which will not
allow lower federal court judges to hold hearings or to
make rulings on the recitation of the "Pledge of Allegiance."
Renegade federal judges in San Francisco earlier this
year on the most liberal circuit court of appeals in America
decreed that school children could no longer recite the
Pledge of Allegiance because of the words "Under
God."
We support North Carolina Congressman Walter Jones'
"Houses of Worship" bill which will remove
the IRS' ban over political speech in our nation's
houses of worship.
We support Colorado Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave's
Federal Marriage Amendment which will save marriage as
we know it, the union of one man and one woman.
We support South Carolina Congressman Henry Brown's
"Real and Virtual Child Pornography Ban Constitutional
Amendment" which will end actual and virtual child
pornography in America.
We declare our determination to support the efforts of
the United States Congress to Take America Back from a liberal
and tyrannical federal judiciary.
We the undersigned support the efforts by Members of Congress
to stop judicial tyranny in America. For some 50 or more
years, past Congresses refused to take back their constitutional
authority from run-away liberal federal judges. We support
the efforts of Congressman John Hostettler whose amendments
to protect the 10 Commandments and Pledge of Allegiance
passed the U.S. House overwhelmingly in July. We the undersigned
strongly support Congressman Robert Aderholt's
"Ten Commandments Defense Act of 2003, " H.R.
2045, as well as Congressman Todd Akin's "Pledge
Protection Act of 2003, " H.R. 2028, which would
keep the words "Under God" in the "Pledge
of Allegiance".
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