Monday, June 25, 2007

Jesus 2, Freedom 0

Well, the High Papal Court ... er ... the Supreme Court of the United States has issued two liberty-limiting decisions today in cases previously discussed in these pages. The five Roman Catholic justices formed the majority in both. So much for separation of church and state.

I expect I'll post further on these two decisions after I get a chance to read and digest them fully (or, more likely, puke my guts out). But just to let you know:

In Morse v. Frederick, the Bong Hits 4 Jesus case, the justices ruled against Mr. Frederick, saying, essentially, that the guarantee of free speech doesn't apply to students, even if they're not in school when they exercise that right. Incredible! (Along with the five Vatican representatives, Justice Breyer concurred in the judgment in part.) To be fair, I should point out that this decision will not spread heavenly joy among many nutball evangelicals. For the reasons mentioned in my original post, they'll find the opinion as objectionable as I do. Still, it's philosophically harmonious and completely consistent with their political agenda of thought-control. The rest of us will have to draw what little comfort we can in seeing Pat Robertson and James Dobson hoisted with their own pious petard.

Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation was the case in which taxpayers fought for their right to challenge the government for funding the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. The decision allows the priestly pickpockets under George Bush, as well as the rest of his godpushing gang, to continue blithely using their insider connections to help them raid the public till. No need to worry about possible consequences; the executive branch is not answerable to the citizens on how it distributes their money. I regretfully predicted this outcome back in December, but manufactured a false glimmer of hope, based on nothing but wishful thinking, two months later. Once again I learned: faith is bullshit.

The appointments of Roberts and Alito to the Court will be viewed as a great achievement by those who have tried repeatedly, over the decades, to limit the rights of Americans. For all those who enjoy trampling on the First Amendment, the results announced today will be seen as a tremendous victory.

To the rest of us, those who continue to venerate the Constitution and the ideas for which it stands, the justices say: fuck you and the founding principles you rode in on.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I haven't read anything in detail on these either, yet, but I also noticed they were both 5-4 decisions. I just hope the old guys on the court (especially Stevens) can hold out for another 2 years. One more appointment by Bush, and we're sunk.

The Exterminator said...

It's 5-4. Bush sunk us already. His appointees are young, and may serve for decades. Let's just hope the next prez doesn't compound the disaster.

Anonymous said...

I'm trying to be optimistic here. Sheeessshh. :)

I know there's not much room for optimism, but sometimes 5-4 decisions can go the other way. A 6-3 or a 7-2 majority is almost impossible to build a consensus around.

The Exterminator said...

Yes, I try to be optimistic, too. Maybe Kennedy will go back to being a swing vote. And, of course, Scalia has been good in the past on some free speech cases. (I'm thinking particularly of Texas v. Johnson, where he voted with the majority that so-called "flag desecration" was a form of protected expression.)

Psychodiva said...

Unbelievable the way they find loopholes and stack thebenches with their cronies- please elect a decent person next year :)

oh- and you've been Tagged

Anonymous said...

Has anyone at this blog been able to find out where this "faith based money" actually goes and who is getting it? Who is overseeing it? I cant finds much info on it.

Joe said...

Two horrible decisions by the SCOTUS. I'm not all that surprised, I'm just saddened. More of our Bill of Rights eaten away by Bible Beating facists.

Anonymous said...

10 commandments The New Movie with Christian Slater as the voice of Moses.

The Exterminator said...

That last, completely off-topic, comment by Anonymous shows how annoying publicists and/or fundamentalists can be.

It's my policy not to delete any comments, so I'm letting this comment -- and its link -- stand. But, please, let's not increase this idiot's hits, at least not from my blog. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

10 commandments Anyone heard of this nee 10 commandments animated file with Christian Slater as the voice of Moses?