Tom Maguire and Talk Left provide the two sides of the debate on this piece by Paul Gerwitz examining judicial activism.
More Persecuted Christians
And, just to let you know that Tony Perkins never sleeps, we have this:
The investigation into whether some cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy went too far in preaching Christianity has generated a separate controversy. Pro-family conservatives now say evangelical Christians might be suffering discrimination at the hands of the Air Force.
“I am concerned that efforts to address a few unfortunate incidents may become an excuse for discrimination against evangelical Christians,” Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, wrote in a letter to Gerald A. Reynolds, chairman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Chairman (USCCR).
Perkins was referring to the investigative council established by the Air Force in May to study allegations of “religious intolerance” at the academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The “intolerance” allegedly included senior cadets harassing non-Christians by denying them off-campus passes to attend other religious services; cadets uttering anti-Semitic slurs and academy professors “proselytizing” in class.
Between May 10 and 13, the 16-member investigative council, headed by Lt. Gen. Roger Brady, personally met with more than 300 cadets, instructors, and academy personnel.
As a result, the Air Force on June 22 promised in a press release that it would “work on developing wider cultural awareness,” among the students and staff at the academy and that it would remind commanders to make sure individual religious beliefs were accommodated.
So, when the Air Force finds that things aren’t kosher, that people were acting out of line, and that things need to be addressed even though the conclusion is the abuses are not systematic, the FRC worries that those alleged to be causing the problem might be persecuted.
The best defense is a good offense, and we know how these guys (Perkins and crew) love to play the victim card. After all, it is your Commanding Officer’s right to tell you that you have to believe in his God or burn in the fiery pits of hell. Everyone knows that. At least, everyone at the FRC.
The Eternal Sunshine of the Clueless Mind
Sometimes you just have to laugh at the right wing of my party. President Bush asks the mkindly to pipe down about Supreme Court nominees, because, quite frankly, they are looking like a bunch of salivating extremists, and this is the response:
“The only ones who could make somebody sound extreme,” said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, a conservative group, “are some of the president’s allies talking in an inappropriate way and themselves sounding extreme, which then gets tagged to the nominees.”
The wingnuts, of course, got the message and extended a middle finger to the President:
Gary Bauer, president of American Values and a Christian conservative candidate for the 2000 Republican presidential nomination, said, “A lot of people feel that the administration shouldn’t be reluctant to talk about the values we hope the nominee will embrace.”
“If all my side does is talk about process – ‘we want a fair hearing, etc.’ – while Ted Kennedy is talking about ‘we are not going to let somebody on the court who is going to take away the rights of individuals,’ as silly as I think that is, it will affect the way people think about the battle,” Mr. Bauer said.
Tom Minnery, director of public policy for Focus on the Family, an evangelical group and broadcaster based in Colorado Springs, blamed leftist advocates for the “decibel level” of judicial confirmation debates and said his group planned to continue to address mainly social and cultural issues “to get our constituents to understand how important this battle is.”
Officials of several Christian conservative groups, who did not want to be identified because of what they said was pressure by the White House, said they were continuing to urge the president not to nominate Mr. Gonzales.
Tuesday evening, Focus on the Family transmitted an e-mail message to supporters with the title, “Bush Defends Gonzales. Some conservatives wonder if attorney general is right for Supreme Court.”
Other groups circulated a statement from a prominent opponent of abortion rights, C. J. Willkie, describing what he said were private statements from Mr. Gonzales on the subject in an effort to discredit him further with social conservatives.
“Go to hell, President Bush- we got you elected,” seems to be the consensus. And don’t forget this rundown of what they want.
The Eternal Sunshine of the Clueless MindPost + Comments (9)
Celestial Drops
Katherine Harris is going to be a real gift to bloggers web magazines in the upcoming election. I don’t even know where to begin with this story:
Four years ago, as the state labored to eradicate citrus canker by destroying trees, officials rejected other disease-fighting techniques, saying unproven methods would waste precious time and resources.
But for more than six months, the state, at the behest of then-Secretary of State Katherine Harris, did pursue one alternative method — a very alternative method.
Researchers worked with a rabbi and a cardiologist to test “Celestial Drops,” promoted as a canker inhibitor because of its “improved fractal design,” “infinite levels of order” and “high energy and low entropy.”
But the cure proved useless against canker. That’s because it was water — possibly, mystically blessed water.
The “product is a hoax and not based on any credible known science,” the state’s chief of entomology, nematology and plant pathology wrote to agriculture officials and fellow scientists after testing Celestial Drops in October 2001.
In the same letter, Wayne Dixon recommended that the state break off its relationship with the promoters of Celestial Drops.
If you collect enough Celestial Drops, do you get Jesus juice? Seriously- this sounds like the start of a joke:
“A rabbi, a cardiologist, and a politican all walked into a bar and ordered Celestial Drops…”
My Sad Future
This could be a possibility:
James Henry Smith was a zealous Pittsburgh Steelers fan in life, and even death could not keep him from his favorite spot: in a recliner, in front of a TV showing his beloved team in action.
Smith, 55, of Pittsburgh, died of prostate cancer Thursday. Because his death wasn’t unexpected, his family was able to plan for an unusual viewing Tuesday night.
The Samuel E. Coston Funeral Home erected a small stage in a viewing room, and arranged furniture on it much as it was in Smith’s home on game day Sundays.
Smith’s body was on the recliner, his feet crossed and a remote in his hand. He wore black and gold silk pajamas, slippers and a robe. A pack of cigarettes and a beer were at his side, while a high-definition TV played a continuous loop of Steelers highlights.
“I couldn’t stop crying after looking at the Steeler blanket in his lap,” said his sister, MaryAnn Nails, 58. “He loved football and nobody did (anything) until the game went off. It was just like he was at home.”
I am trying to figure out what games I would want playing on inifinite loop. The back to back wins against the Eaglers and the Patriots from last year would be a good start.
This Is Pretty Insane
To the klink with Judith Miller:
A federal judge today ordered Judith Miller of The New York Times to be jailed immediately after she again refused to cooperate with a grand jury investigating the disclosure of the identity of a covert C.I.A. operative.
Another reporter who had been facing jail time on the same matter, Matthew Cooper of Time magazine, agreed today to testify to a grand jury about his confidential source on the same matter, thus avoiding jail. Mr. Cooper said he had decided to do so only because his source specifically released him from promises of confidentiality just before today’s hearing.
The judge, Thomas F. Hogan of Federal District Court in Washington, rejected a request by Ms. Miller and her lawyers that she be allowed to serve her detention at home or in Connecticut or elsewhere, and ordered that she be put in custody and taken to a jail in the District of Columbia area until October, or until she changed her mind about testifying.
“There are times when the greater good of our democracy demands an act of conscience,” Arthur Sulzberger Jr., chairman of The New York Times Company and publisher of The New York Times, said in a statement. “Judy has chosen such an act in honoring her promise of confidentiality to her sources. She believes, as do we, that the free flowof information is critical to an informed citizenry.”
Bill Keller, the newspaper’s executive editor, said outside the courthouse that Ms. Miller’s decision to go to jail rather than disclose her source was a “brave and principled choice.”
“This is a chilling conclusion to an ultimately confounding case,” he said.
I really don’t care what the law is or how complicit some say the Times is in creating this situation, I just find it a little disturbing that the government has the power to jail people for not disclosing anonymous sources- particularly when the reporter hasn’t even written (to my knowledge- I may be wrong) a story about the issue.
*** Update ***
The general consensus in the comments is that I am full of shit (no news flash there).
Busy…
Busy working on a number of things, so occupy yourself with today’s flame war:
The reason Hillary Clinton has fat ankles is because Prescott Bush had Nazi ties…