Alito confirmation reflects national division
http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=1782
The Christian Century - USA
Alito confirmation reflects national division
by Robert Marus
A new era began this month at the Supreme Court as Samuel Alito took a
crucial seat on the bench.
The close Senate confirmation vote—58 to 42—reflected the nation's division
over the Court's future. Of those who voted January 31 against Alito, 40
were Democrats, one was a left-leaning independent, and one—Rhode Island
senator Lincoln Chafee—was a moderate Republican.
Less than two hours after the vote, Chief Justice John Roberts swore in the
fellow conservative jurist—like him a former federal appeals court judge
and once a part of the Reagan administration. And in his first case on the
evening of February 1, Alito split with the Court's conservatives by
joining five other justices in denying Missouri's last-minute plea to
execute a death row inmate contesting lethal injection.
The level of opposition to Alito was surpassed in modern Supreme Court
history only by the resistance to two other nominees. Robert Bork was
rejected by a Democratic-controlled Senate in 1985, and Justice Clarence
Thomas was narrowly confirmed in 1987 after late-breaking allegations that
he had sexually harassed a former colleague. In contrast, Roberts—President
Bush's other nominee for the high court—received only 22 votes in
opposition when he was confirmed in September.
[snip].
... Americans United for Separation of Church and State also issued a press
release deploring the senators' decision, noting controversial statements
that Alito ...
[end excerpts]
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You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS · Hampton Roads [Virginia] SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
[Its not just Hampton Roads folks who are members, there are members from
all over the US and a couple from overseas as well]
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.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
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USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
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