Echo2
04-05-2005, 11:17 AM
J Dread
4/4/05
You may have noticed that in the furor over the circumstances surrounding the death of Terri Schiavo, the radical right-wingers have gone a bit, um, over the top. Highlights of several stories - a man arrested for trying to steal a gun from a firearms store so he could "save Terri," a radio host who suggested that Jeb Bush should take her into custody and advocated the "killing of anyone who interferes with such rescue," a man arrested for offering a $250,000 reward for killing Terri's husband Michael, plus a $50,000 bonus for killing Judge Greer. The threats continued last week, extending as far as Michael Schiavo's family in Pennsylvania.
All of which makes Tom "The Snake" DeLay's (or is it DeLies) remarks last week particularly disturbing, if not downright dangerous. After learning of Terri Schiavo's passing, DeLay appeared in public and said, "This loss happened because our legal system did not protect the people who need protection most, and that will change. The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior, but not today." Compare this to a quote from one of the nuts who called to threaten the Schiavos: "Your time will come. The time will come, for all of us, for all of us. Time will come. I wonder which way you will get to go when time does come." Creepily similar aren't they?
And I guess I'm not the only one who thought the House Majority Leader's comments sounded like a threat. Sen. Frank Lautenberg sent an official letter to DeLay last week which read in part, "You should be aware that your comments yesterday may violate a Federal criminal statute, 18 U.S.C. §115 (a)(1)(B) ... Threats against specific Federal judges are not only a serious crime, but also beneath a Member of Congress." When will Republicans wake up and realize what kind of people are leading their party?
Power-hungry Maniacs
Mind you, DeLay's outrageous comments are just the tip of the iceberg. It's becoming clear that for the right-wing radicals, the point of this whole exercise is to grab control of the only branch of government they don't have total power over yet - the judicial branch. DeLay also referred last week to "an arrogant, out of control, unaccountable judiciary that thumbed their nose at the Congress and the president." I mean, wow. How dare the judiciary not rubber-stamp all of Bush and DeLay's unconstitutional actions.
Radical groups were lining up last week to jump on the judge-bashing bandwagon - like the Council for Constitutional Restoration (whatever that means) who issued a press release saying "Our purpose is to draw up a plan of action to oppose the liberal judges who have abrogated our most precious human rights - including Terri Schiavo's right to life." Aha! Now we come to the crux of the matter. It's the liberal judges who are ruining America. You know, it often amazes me how much damage the liberals have done since Republicans gained control of the House, Senate, and White House.
So let's take a quick look at some of the liberal judges who've participated in the "murder" of Terri Schiavo. There was obviously the aforementioned Judge Greer - a conservative Christian and Republican. But there were plenty of other judges whose liberal credentials leave a little to be desired. Salon.com's breakdown of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals - who upheld the decision to not force-feed Terri Schiavo - reveals that "Of the appeals court's 12 active judges, only two dissented ... The remainder ... included six Republicans: Reagan appointee and Chief Judge J.L. Edmondson; George H.W. Bush appointees Carnes, Stanley Birch, Joel Dubina, Susan Black; and, most ironically, William Pryor Jr., who was given a recess appointment by George W. Bush two years ago in the midst of controversy and filibuster by Democratic senators." For those of you who are intersted, one of the two dissenting judges who thought that Schiavo's feeding tube should be reinserted was appointed by Bill Clinton. Oh yes, and let's not forget that the U.S. Supreme Court - who turned down the case five times - is comprised of a majority of Republicans.
In fact, Judge Birch - who, it should be noted, is an extremely conservative Republican - wrote that, "In resolving the Schiavo controversy, it is my judgment that, despite sincere and altruistic motivation, the legislative and executive branches of our government have acted in a manner demonstrably at odds with our Founding Fathers' blueprint for the governance of a free people - our Constitution."
Let's face it - there's no such thing as a "liberal judiciary." This is just a ploy by the radical right-wing to gain control of the judicial branch and fill it with their own radical right-wing judges. Sure, Republicans say they hate judicial activism - but then they used to hate interference by the federal government until they got control of it. Just wait until they get their own radical activists on the bench.
4/4/05
You may have noticed that in the furor over the circumstances surrounding the death of Terri Schiavo, the radical right-wingers have gone a bit, um, over the top. Highlights of several stories - a man arrested for trying to steal a gun from a firearms store so he could "save Terri," a radio host who suggested that Jeb Bush should take her into custody and advocated the "killing of anyone who interferes with such rescue," a man arrested for offering a $250,000 reward for killing Terri's husband Michael, plus a $50,000 bonus for killing Judge Greer. The threats continued last week, extending as far as Michael Schiavo's family in Pennsylvania.
All of which makes Tom "The Snake" DeLay's (or is it DeLies) remarks last week particularly disturbing, if not downright dangerous. After learning of Terri Schiavo's passing, DeLay appeared in public and said, "This loss happened because our legal system did not protect the people who need protection most, and that will change. The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior, but not today." Compare this to a quote from one of the nuts who called to threaten the Schiavos: "Your time will come. The time will come, for all of us, for all of us. Time will come. I wonder which way you will get to go when time does come." Creepily similar aren't they?
And I guess I'm not the only one who thought the House Majority Leader's comments sounded like a threat. Sen. Frank Lautenberg sent an official letter to DeLay last week which read in part, "You should be aware that your comments yesterday may violate a Federal criminal statute, 18 U.S.C. §115 (a)(1)(B) ... Threats against specific Federal judges are not only a serious crime, but also beneath a Member of Congress." When will Republicans wake up and realize what kind of people are leading their party?
Power-hungry Maniacs
Mind you, DeLay's outrageous comments are just the tip of the iceberg. It's becoming clear that for the right-wing radicals, the point of this whole exercise is to grab control of the only branch of government they don't have total power over yet - the judicial branch. DeLay also referred last week to "an arrogant, out of control, unaccountable judiciary that thumbed their nose at the Congress and the president." I mean, wow. How dare the judiciary not rubber-stamp all of Bush and DeLay's unconstitutional actions.
Radical groups were lining up last week to jump on the judge-bashing bandwagon - like the Council for Constitutional Restoration (whatever that means) who issued a press release saying "Our purpose is to draw up a plan of action to oppose the liberal judges who have abrogated our most precious human rights - including Terri Schiavo's right to life." Aha! Now we come to the crux of the matter. It's the liberal judges who are ruining America. You know, it often amazes me how much damage the liberals have done since Republicans gained control of the House, Senate, and White House.
So let's take a quick look at some of the liberal judges who've participated in the "murder" of Terri Schiavo. There was obviously the aforementioned Judge Greer - a conservative Christian and Republican. But there were plenty of other judges whose liberal credentials leave a little to be desired. Salon.com's breakdown of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals - who upheld the decision to not force-feed Terri Schiavo - reveals that "Of the appeals court's 12 active judges, only two dissented ... The remainder ... included six Republicans: Reagan appointee and Chief Judge J.L. Edmondson; George H.W. Bush appointees Carnes, Stanley Birch, Joel Dubina, Susan Black; and, most ironically, William Pryor Jr., who was given a recess appointment by George W. Bush two years ago in the midst of controversy and filibuster by Democratic senators." For those of you who are intersted, one of the two dissenting judges who thought that Schiavo's feeding tube should be reinserted was appointed by Bill Clinton. Oh yes, and let's not forget that the U.S. Supreme Court - who turned down the case five times - is comprised of a majority of Republicans.
In fact, Judge Birch - who, it should be noted, is an extremely conservative Republican - wrote that, "In resolving the Schiavo controversy, it is my judgment that, despite sincere and altruistic motivation, the legislative and executive branches of our government have acted in a manner demonstrably at odds with our Founding Fathers' blueprint for the governance of a free people - our Constitution."
Let's face it - there's no such thing as a "liberal judiciary." This is just a ploy by the radical right-wing to gain control of the judicial branch and fill it with their own radical right-wing judges. Sure, Republicans say they hate judicial activism - but then they used to hate interference by the federal government until they got control of it. Just wait until they get their own radical activists on the bench.