Playing politics with the Judiciary....

As if there weren't enough cases of Republicans using their newfound power to try and put the screws to judges who hand down rulings they disagree with, Missouri Republicans are proposing a constitutional ammendment to change the process by which judges are impeached.

One judge in particular, Missouri Supreme Court Judge Richard Teitelman, was re-elected last year despite the efforts of the bill's sponsor, Rep. Ed Emery, R-Lamar. Emery told the Post he isn't even exactly sure why he opposes Teitelman.

When we have elected officials tinkering with our governing documents who aren't even clear about the reasoning of their actions, it should be a time of great concern for those interested in legitimate, democratic representative government.

Correction: The MO Supreme Court Judge's first name is Richard, not Mark as I previously wrote. Thanks to the anonymous commenter who pointed that out.

- Murphy

And then there was one...

Former aide to Rep. Richard Gephardt, Chuck Banks, is running against the second to last Republican elected official in Jefferson County, current JeffCo Presiding Commissioner, Mark Mertens.

The other Republican representing Jefferson County is State Senator Bill Alter. Alter squeaked between two Democrat candidates who split the Democrat vote to take the seat in Jefferson City.

- Murphy

Catastrophe or opportunity?

The Post-Dispatch ran an excellent article on the impact military base closures have on the communities in which they reside. They take a stab at examining the doom and gloom predictions of locals politicians and business leader when Uncle Sugar leaves town.

Scott Air Force Base's future is in the hands of the base closure recommendation process, a process no politician wants to publicly associate themselves with.

If Scott were to be shuttered, innovative and creative ideas could provide a needed rebound for the local economy. The story listed several successful retooling of area bases. Some seemed more feasible than others, flight-based operations are unlikely to move in given the lackluster performance at Mid-America Airport. However, agribusiness might find the location perfectly suited, perhaps a partnership with local universities to look into agricultural pharmaceuticals.

Like most events in life, a good plan and some creative thinking could turn what looks to be a problem into an opportunity.

Additional: Harry Levins of the Post-Dispatch has a good article on the effect a base closing has on local retired military members.

- Murphy

Robertson pleads misunderstanding...

Pat Robertson responds to a letter from Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), regarding his comments on ABC's This Week. In his letter to Sen. Lautenberg, Robertson reasserts his belief that an activist judiciary is still a greater threat to the United States than a bunch of "crazed terrorists".

The real problem with Robertson's statement was not that he believes islamist terrorist are not the society-destroying threat the many make them out to be, its his response to Stephanopolus' attempt to clarify what Robertson said.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But, sir, you have described this in pretty -- this whole battle in pretty apocalyptic terms. You've said that liberals are engaged in an all-out assault on Christianity, that Democrats will appoint judges who don't share our Christian values and will dismantle Christian culture. And that the out-of-control judiciary -- and this was in your last book, Courting Disaster -- is 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?

ROBERTSON: George, I really believe that. I think they are destroying the fabric that holds our nation together. There is an assault on marriage. There's an assault on human sexuality, as [U.S. Supreme Court] Judge [Antonin] Scalia said, they've taken sides in the culture war. And on top of that, if we have a democracy, the democratic processes should be that we can elect representatives who will share our point of view and vote those things into law.

The idea that militant islam is not truly a threat to our way of life or our overall security (though it will continue to be a threat to the safety of individuals) is pretty well accepted. However, Nazi Germany, Imperialist Japan and Soviet Communism did truly pose a threat to our society at a bedrock level. Their defeat was essential to the continued existence of our country and the continued existence of democratic governments the world over. Equating that threat with the role the judiciary has played in issues dear to the christian right is truly abhorrent.

Equating the American judiciary with societies that practiced genocide, liquidated millions of individuals and violated every standard of humane conduct not only in war but in the day-to-day nature of their society is beyond belief.

His incendiary comments come at a period marking the 60th anniversary of the Victory in Europe.

Robertson's comments will hopefully bring to light the radical beliefs of these extremist groups. Their ideas lie not only outside the mainstream, but in an area of unreality.

- Murphy

Round the bend...

Image via CNN

The folks over at the National Review's blog, The Corner, would do well to take their anti-U.N. paranoia down a notch. Some of their analysis can be questionable, but when you even spin the facts of stories that you link to, you are taking it a bit far.

THE BLAST IN NYC THIS MORNING AT THE BRITISH CONSOLATE [K. J. Lopez]
A U.N. employee is being questioned.
Posted at 04:53 PM

I read the CNN story they link to, it pretty clearly states that the U.N. employee they questioned, a Dutch analyst with the U.N. weapons inspection agency, was not a suspect and was probably drunk.

The New York police and the FBI said the man was not a suspect. Police said he was detained only because he was asked not to cross a police tape and did so anyway. A police official said the man may have been drinking

Perhaps the Cornerites antenna picks up on something I don't, but I get the feeling that if an analyst from from weapons inspection agency wanted to get someone's attention with a bomb, it would be a bit more spectacular that a toy grenade filled with black powder.

I think the real story here is someone finally got fed up with the bad forecasts on the Weather Channel.

Other companies with offices in the building include … the Weather Channel.

- Murphy

Calling Mr. Scopes...

A few years ago I was reading Molly Ivins' tales of covering the Texas Legislature. "The finest form of free entertainment ever invented," she said. At the time I was writing for the University News, the student newspaper of Saint Louis University. I remember wanting to write about politics. I wanted to cover Jeff City and other legislative bodies and write the stories that people would leave people laughing, angry or just shaking their heads.

At the time, I was dismayed. In my youthful naivete I believed that the modern news establishment had driven all the color out of politics. Responsible people were paying attention now and politicians had hired consultants to ensure sobriety and decorum. I would never be witness to the truly jaw-dropping spectacle that was state politics.

I know now that I could never have been so wrong...

From today's Post-Dispatch on a bill to mandate teaching alternative theories to evolution:

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Cynthia Davis, R-O’Fallon, has no false hopes for her bill, which is one of several bills supported by social conservatives that has stalled this year. Davis said she hopes that by getting a hearing, she at least introduces a concept that might catch on in next year’s session.

...Ann Ihms, who traveled from her home in Indiana to testify, said the Columbine killers had a disregard for life that could have rooted from the view that humans evolved from lower species.

“What does that cause children to think?” she asked. “If I’m from a monkey I might as well act like a monkey.”

... Davis is among several socially conservative Republicans who had hoped for a fruitful session this year, given the fact that Missouri has a Republican governor and a Republican-led Legislature for the first time in more than 80 years.

Instead, the Legislature has dedicated its time largely on economic issues, such as school funding and controlling Medicaid costs.

Davis said she believes socially conservative bills will eventually win the support of Republican leaders. That will happen, she said, because they are issues that resonate with most Missourians.

“If they’re good ideas, they’ll stand the test of time,” she said.

- Murphy

If you pull it out, you better be willing to use it...

Over at my newest favorite read, the Decembrist, Mark Schmitt comments on media reports today that Sen. Frist is thinking of pulling the trigger on the "nuclear option."

I think Mark's take on it is exactly right,

I'm not privy to any insider anything, but I'm pretty sure that either they don't have the votes, or they're not sure they have the votes. Either way, they're stuck. For now, it's all bluster while they figure out what to do.

Everything I have read says that Frist doesn't have the votes. Even Republican's say he doesn't have the votes. This may be an attempt by Frist to try and shore up his position. If he blows this, he's can kiss any further advancement in the Republican Party goodbye.

Just this past Sunday, Pat Robertson panned any chance of Frist's Presidential aspirations. Frist's participation in the Family Research Council's "Justice Sunday" circus was designed to garner support in the religious conservative community. His future hangs on his handling of the nuclear option.

- Murphy

Nail on the head...

The Hammer
Originally uploaded by murphym2.

The DSCC has a website up called House of Scandal. The purpose being to collect and illustrate the far-reaching excess of the Bug Man, Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

The site has an excellent graphic on the front illustrating the numerous shady "degrees of DeLay."

They even have a Dean-inspired hammer that tracks the amount of contributions to their "Hammer the Hammer" campaign.

While I think the Democrats and pundits are going to have a lot of fun with DeLay, I think it might be in their interest to keep him around, at least until the next election. DeLay's not even running that popular in his own district.

The Dems need to show that the entire Republican minority owes its soul to the Bug Man and that he is merely the tip of the iceberg.

Trying to tell us something?

Conservative astroturf organization Progress for America has adopted Noah McCullough, a 10-year-old Presidential trivia whiz, as its spokesperson for president Bush's Social Security plan.

While I will admit it is kind of cute to have an adolescent whiz kid as your spokesperson (a kid who already has his Presidential campaign website set up), could it be that only a child can honestly go out and stump for the plan? Most adults would require either a lack of ethics or a complete suspension of logical capacity to accept the President's ideas for Social Security.

While this may be old news, it just strikes me as ironic that they would send out a child to try and rally support for the President's ideas.

- Murphy

Democratic reform...

Bush and Crown Prince Abdulla, Reuters © 2005
Originally uploaded by murphym2.

Rami Khouri, the editor of The Daily Star,the Middle East's leading English-language newspaper, was on Charlie Rose tonight.

He is excited to see greater involvement in studying the development of Middle-East democracy, even more so because of the collaborative relationship between American and Arab scholars in many of these studies. There has been plenty of talk about democracy in the middle-east, perhaps now it will be looked at as a serious policy goal and not simply a throw-away political line in a speech.

Khouri also wanted to emphasize the existence of domestic groups working for democratic reform in these countries. The U.S. is not going to walk in and plant democracy, it must grow up from the people. Effective U.S. help will be difficult to enact, however. While democratic initiatives can be quite popular, signs of U.S. collaboration can kill a program before it can get off the ground.

The most effective way the U.S. can support these nascent democratic movements would be to actually follow through on their condemnation of anti-democratic practices. The U.S.'s increasingly close relationship with the government of Darfur and Bush's widely-publicized nuzzling with Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia do not inspire great confidence for reformers in the middle-east.

The Bush administration would do well to take the advice of the democracy-minded individuals in the middle-east.

- Murphy