Sunday Bloody Sunday
The motherfuckers at the Family Research Council (motto: Meddling in the private lives of American families since 1983) are sponsoring "[Mockery of] Justice Sunday" on April 24 (hey, that's just a few days before "Real Women" descend upon DC to sing lame songs about Terri Schiavo and talk about how women who have abortions are sluts--a twofer!):

On that date, just around the corner, FRC will host a nationwide, live simulcast to engage values voters in this all-important issue of reining in our out-of-control courts.

The simulcast will originate from Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky. Participants joining me include Dr. James Dobson, Dr. Al Mohler, Chuck Colson, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.

Excellent. A radical cleric who sees a homosexual conspiracy in a cartoon about a freaking sponge, the President of the Southern Baptist Convention's "flagship" seminary (he also hosts a radio show and serves on the Board of Reference for The Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, whatever the hell that is), a convicted felon, and a cat-killer. The gang's all here, fellas.

And they mean business:

For years activist courts, aided by liberal interest groups like the ACLU, have been quietly working under the veil of the judiciary, like thieves in the night, to rob us of our Christian heritage and our religious freedoms. Federal judges have systematically grabbed power, usurping the constitutional authority that resides in the other two branches of government and, ultimately, in the American people.

We now have a President who is committed to nominate judicial candidates who are not activists, but strict constructionists -- judges who will simply interpret the Constitution as it was written. We now have a majority in the U.S. Senate that will confirm these nominees. However, there is a radical minority that has launched an unprecedented filibuster against these outstanding men and women.

[snip]

They are requiring a super majority, 60 votes, to proceed on these nominees. This liberal minority does not respect the will of the people: they want judge-made law because our elected officials will not give them the social anarchy they demand.

The Senate Majority Leader, Bill Frist of Tennessee, is committed to returning Constitutional order to the Senate by requiring an up-or-down vote on these nominees. To do this, he urgently needs the help of every "values voter." Without doubt, this will be the most important vote cast in the United States Senate in this term. If this effort fails, the best we can hope for are likely to be mediocre judges who meet the approval of Ted Kennedy, Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

We must stop this unprecedented filibuster of people of faith.

Note the strategy:

1) Tar the opponents with the ACLU brush;
2) Look, Ma, Christianity is under attack!
3) Even Our Strong President is thwarted;
4) Filibusters are "radical" and "unprecedented";
5) Evil Liberals want social anarchy!
6) Bill Frist just wants to restore order;
7) Ted Kennedy! Hillary Clinton! Bad!

Folks, this is not a new strategy--this is the same crap they've been pulling for like a decade. Letters from the Anti-Defamation League, however welcome, and speeches by Harry Reid, however ballsy, are not going to fix this problem. We have to be prepared to respond if and when Frist decides to go with the nuclear option. Screaming about the hypocrisy of the Repukes' record on Clinton's nominees is pointless. Saying "it won't happen" gets us nowhere. It very likely will. Frist is controlled by the FRC and the Council for National Policy and the rest of the theocrats. A little thing like two hundred years of Senate tradition or the protection of the minority through checks and balances isn't going to stop him. Call your Senators and let them know you will support them if they shut down the legislative process in response to the Republicans' bullying tactics. Don't allow the media to portray the Democrats as obstructionist. Write letters to the editor. This is our country, too.

P.S.--Meanwhile, the Rude Pundit says the same thing, only better.
- posted by TJ @ 8:38 PM