---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 04 May 2005 16:40:58 -0700
From: "Ben Brandzel, MoveOn PAC" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Alan Sondheim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Robertson: judges worse than 9/11 terrorists
Dear MoveOn member,
On Sunday morning, Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson told TV
viewers nation-wide that the threat posed by liberal judges is "probably
more serious than a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings." When
an incredulous George Stephanopoulos asked if Robertson really believed that
these
judges posed "the most serious threat America has faced in nearly 400
years of history, more serious than al Qaeda, more serious than Nazi
Germany and Japan, more serious than the Civil War?," he responded,
"George, I really believe that." [1]
These comments were not made in isolation. In fact, Robertson's statement
is only the most outrageous example of a growing effort from the extreme
right to whip up an intense fear and hatred of American judges--including
comments from Republican congressmen and senators intimidating, threatening and
even
justifying outright violence against judges. [2] The strategy is designed
to build support for the Republican "nuclear" scheme to break the rules
and stack the courts--and it is poisonous to our democracy. It must stop here.
That's why we are launching a national petition demanding that Bill Frist
and Tom DeLay publicly reject Robertson's statement. If they do, it will
send a clear signal that this type of dangerous incitement against
officers of the law is not welcome in our democracy. And if they don't, it
will send an equally clear signal about how far they are willing to go.
Please sign today:
http://www.moveonpac.org/robertson/?id=5494-1083850-eDNo6y0D5EuLD_iewH00yQ&t=9
We're simultaneously launching a new TV ad--if you contribute today we
can put it on the air tomorrow in Washington D.C. and in Bill Frist and
Tom DeLay's home districts--bringing our message directly to their
doorstep.
The TV spot--which we put together overnight--simply quotes Robertson
attacking American judges while mocking the September 11 tragedy and
asks if Bill Frist and Tom DeLay will do the right thing and reject these
outrageous comments. The ad will get our message out on the airwaves, and
give the news media another chance to give this scandal the coverage it
deserves. If we combine the new ad with a successful petition drive, we
can have a huge impact. We'll deliver the petition to Frist's office as
soon as he's back in Washington next week, and he won't be able to miss
the ad.
You can view the new ad and help put it on the air here:
http://www.moveonpac.org/donate/robertson.html?id=5494-1083850-eDNo6y0D5EuLD_iewH00yQ&t=10
Former Vice-President Al Gore summarized this disturbing strategy of
judicial hate mongering in a recent address to MoveOn members. Here are
some of the incidents he covered:
The Republican leader of the House of Representatives responded to
rulings
in the Terri Schiavo case, by saying ominously: "The time will come for
the men responsible for this to pay for their behavior." [3]
In previous remarks on the subject, DeLay has said, "Judges need to be
intimidated," adding that if they don't behave, "we're going to go after
them in a big way." [4]
A Republican Senator from Texas directly connected the "spate of
courthouse violence lately" to his view that unpopular decisions might be
the explanation. "I wonder whether there may be some connection between
the perception in some quarters on some occasions where judges are making
political decisions, yet are unaccountable to the public, that it builds
and builds to the point where some people engage in violence." [5]
The Chief of Staff for another Republican senator called for "mass
impeachment" by using the bizarre right-wing theory that the president
can
declare that any judge is no longer exhibiting "good behavior," adding
that, "then the judge's term has simply come to an end. The President
gives them a call and says: Clean out your desk. The Capitol police will
be in to help you find your way home.'" [6]
Tony Perkins, leader of the Family Research Council, who hosted a speech
by the Senate Majority Leader last Sunday has said, "There's more than
one
way to skin a cat, and there's more than one way to take a black robe off
the bench." [7]
James Dobson who heads Focus on the Family focused his anger on the 9th
circuit court of appeals: "Very few people know this, that the Congress
can simply disenfranchise a court. They don't have to fire anybody or
impeach them or go through that battle. All they have to do is say the
9th
circuit doesn't exist anymore, and it's gone." [8]
Edwin Vieira (at the "Confronting the Judicial War on Faith" conference)
said his "bottom line" for dealing with the Supreme Court comes from
Stalin: "He had a slogan, and it worked very well for him whenever he ran
into difficulty: 'no man, no problem.'" [9]
This pattern of intimidation against America's judges is scary and deeply
un-American. It will continue to worsen as long as leaders like Frist and
DeLay think their side can score political points by pandering to the
fringe and embracing hate speech. When Pat Robertson goes on national
television to say that American judges are a worse threat than the civil
war, the Nazis and Al Qaeda, they must know their reckless game has
crossed the line.
It's time to put our democracy before any party's quest for power--and it
begins by rejecting Pat Robertson.
Please sign today.
http://www.moveonpac.org/robertson/?id=5494-1083850-eDNo6y0D5EuLD_iewH00yQ&t=11
Thanks for all that you do.
--Ben, Joan, Micayla, Jennifer and the MoveOn PAC Team
Wednesday, May 4th, 2005
Notes:
[1] http://www.moveon.org/r?r=719
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=721
[2] http://www.moveon.org/r?r=715
[3] http://www.moveon.org/r?r=714
[4] http://www.moveon.org/r?r=716
[5] http://www.moveon.org/r?r=713
[6] http://www.moveon.org/r?r=717
[7] http://www.moveon.org/r?r=718
[8] http://www.moveon.org/r?r=712
[9] http://www.moveon.org/r?r=711
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