HOLY SHIT! Analysis of the Split Decision: SALON / War Room
[ "... sometimes the Court chooses to decide cases on the principle that government cannot favor religion, and sometimes it does not ..." ] That's IT?!?
Da Rev wishes the outcome in the Texas case were the same as that in the Kentucky case, but he must admit that he's relieved that the split decisions weren't something worse.
PFAW president Ralph Neas said in a statement:
The affirmation of the constitutional principle of government neutrality toward religion is the most important aspect of these rulings. While we disagree with how the Court applied that principle to the facts in Texas, we are very pleased that the court has rejected efforts to dismantle church-state separation.
Meanwhile, Justice Breyer (who twisted hither & thither so as to come down on both sides of the now-shredded veil of separation between religion and gummint) remains, for me, the least consistent and, perhaps, the least reasoned justice on the Court. Tim Grieve, writes in SALON:
We could guess what the religious right is going to make of Breyer's analysis, but we really don't have to. Antonin Scalia has told us already. In his dissent in the Kentucky case, Scalia wrote that it's judges' opinions - and not context and consequences - that change from case to case.
"In a revealing footnote, the court acknowledges that the 'Establishment Clause doctrine' it purports to be applying 'lacks the comfort of categorical absolutes,'" Scalia wrote.
"What the Court means by this lovely euphemism is that sometimes the Court chooses to decide cases on the principle that government cannot favor religion, and sometimes it does not."
Well, Little Jimmy Madison is rollin' in his grave - again. Tom Jefferson might kick Justice Breyer's ass. And Judge Scalia, on one hand, Madison and Jefferson, on the other, would, nevertheless, form a mutual loathing society.
The Constitution says what it means and means what it says and the Establishment Clause is not well-served by those who do NOT take it as an ABSOLUTE! There should NEVER have been ANY dispensation for - chaplains in Congress or the military - prayers to open sessions of Congress or the Supreme Court - theistic mottoes on our national currency - a change to reflect a theistic reference in The Pledge of Allegiance, and on and on . . .
With this split decision The Scotus has ensured that the courts will continue to have plenty of work to do just sorting out religious incursions into tax-supported venues during the remaining years of The Republic.
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UNSUBSCRIBED: (Click) VENTRILOQUIST PAUL WINCHELL
(in Da Rev's "UNSUBSCRIBED" Photo Album)
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(Click on thumbnail to view The Master of War)
Tim Grieve @ SALON / War Room says he thinks he got the gist of it: Rumsfeld on Rumsfeld on Meet The Press with Tim Russert, Sunday."You know, the suggestion that things go nicely or good in a war is just not the case. . . . Mm-hmm. . . . I see people look at it and say, 'Well, my goodness, what about this? What about that?' Well, that's always been true. . . ."
"I don't remember . . . . Well, there are various ways to measure it. . . . Now, what does that mean? Does it mean that the insurgency's stronger? Is it in its last throes? The last throes could be violence, as you well know from a dictionary standpoint. . . . "
"Who knows? Time will tell. . . . I just don't know. I can't speak to that. . . . I never estimated the cost of the war. And how can one estimate the cost in lives or the cost in money? I've avoided it consistently. And how can that be a misestimate?"
"Tough to know. I don't know the answer to the question. I didn't then and I don't know. . . ."
"I don't do politics. . . ."
"I didn't say that. . . ."
"No. I think -- maybe I'm wrong. I don't go to these meetings. "
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HILLARY REMAINS UNSCATHED BY ED'S BOOK
Dick Morris has already trashed the book, and, according to a piece in today's New York Times, a lot of voices from the right are now piling on. Peggy Noonan, who knows of what she speaks, says Klein's book is "poorly written, poorly thought, poorly sourced and full of the kind of loaded language that is appropriate to a polemic but not an investigative work." John Podhoretz calls "The Truth About Hillary" one of "most sordid volumes" he's ever read. And Bill O'Reilly said he won't invite Klein to appear on his show because of the book's "personal attacks."
Ed Klein says they're just jealous. So there.
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DIANA - YOU WERE NO MARILYN MONROE!
SALON / The Fix - A new book by a friend of the late Princess Diana, optimistically titled "Diana: The Last Word," includes the claim that Diana had a steamy one-nighter with John F. Kennedy Jr. According to Diana-buddy-turned-author Simone Simmons, Diana and JFK Jr. hooked up at a New York hotel and had a night of "pure lust," which Diana rated a "10 out of 10." (The Sun via the Scotsman)
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Here's a nod to ABC's issue of 20/20 which gave a great expose on the Jewish Kaballah cult. Sure, it's a cult, a rip-off, and a Scientology-like scam (complete with high-intellect celebrities like Paris Hilton and Ashton Kutcher). They even have $40 water that cures cancer, $28 bracelets made of string, and Hebrew text that protects your "energy" -- even if you don't speak Hebrew!
But what I liked the best is the huge mansions, owned by the cult, where the practitioners live. Beautiful mansions, yet on paper they've taken a vow of poverty. Their defense? Simple. "If the Catholics can do it, so can we". They're right on that one!
Remember -- your taxes pay for this. Everything they make, they keep. You pay taxes for them!
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Good fortune. Please spread the meme.
COMMENT! Don't smoke in bed . . .
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