When our forefathers authored our Constitution, the backbone of this great
nation, they took careful precautions in it to make sure that one branch would
never out weigh the other. They understood the desire man inherits to hold
ultimate power and to
protect the United States from that, they developed a system of checks and
balances that clearly states the authorities given to each branch, and the
authority of the other branches to over see it.
Now we are facing new times, a time when we have leaders like George Bush and
Tom Delay wanting to shake that tree and become the trunk that gives life to
those branches.
In an article published by the
Washington Post today, they talk about a small
town Kentucky judge who has received threats on his life. This is not a new
things, people have threatened judges throughout the history of man, but it is a
rising epidemic in America.
It is leading to a fall of our civilization. The radical-right is also
supporting this behavior. They want the judges to make their rulings based upon
the beliefs of the Bible toting neo-conservatives we have in power and not upon
their interpretation of the law. Tom Delays now infamous quote regarding the
rulings in the Terri Schiavo case is a perfect example of this. “The
judges need to be intimidated, If they don’t behave, we’re going to go
after them in a big way.” In other words, Tom Delay wants himself and the others
who are in his neo-conservative circle to be the trunk that supports the
branches of government.
In April, conservative leaders met in Washington to discuss “Remedies to
Judicial Tyranny”. In this discussion they all agreed that Justice Kennedy
should be impeached. They were still fuming over the ruling that we can not
execute minors (something that is a favorite past time in Texas). Phyllis
Schlafly, author and true friend to the Republicans, said Kennedy’s
opinion forbidding capital punishment for juveniles “is a good ground of
impeachment.”. She is yet another example of breaking the balance of justice in
our country and shifting it to the right.
“The country’s principal problem is not Iraq or the federal budget but
whether we as a people acknowledge that God exists.” This fine example of the
need to shift our country even further to the right was delivered by former
representative William Dannemeyer (R-Calif.) right after Schlafly’s speech.
The irony here is that these two people were upset over not being able to
execute minors, but think abortion is a heinous crime and the ruling to remove
Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube was just as bad. They demand a right to life unless
it is for their sole entertainment of watching a child fry.
Perhaps they are upset because they look at the statistics involving abortion
and realize that more are done on a population that has a greater chance of
committing crimes punishable by death. If these mother’s abort their unborn
child, that might be one less child execution for them to watch.
The sad part is all this has come to big debate lately because of Terri Schiavo. The woman who’s last hours on this planet were smeared in the spot
light by politicians grandstanding to further their political careers. This was
proven by the memo from the office of Florida
Republican Sen. Mel Martinez. The memo cited the political advantage of the
Schiavo case and gave key talking points.
Now the greatest hypocrisy of them all is that our President himself stood
arm in arm with his neo-con cronies in supporting Terri Schiavo’s right to life. President Bush, when he was still Governor of
Texas signed into law the “Texas
Futile Care Law”. This was done one year before he won his first
Presidential election. This same law would have let Terri Shiavo die. But times
are different now, and the Republicans must stand strong together and advance
their political agendas.
It is truly upsetting that all these actions and agendas are increasing the
threats to our judges. These problems are growing at an alarming rate, and it is
so under the watch of George Bush. If this continues, it will be the fall of the
Country we love and lead to our own dictatorship, something that our forefathers
tried to prevent when they wrote the Constitution.