Monday, June 14, 2004
Be Merry, for Tomorrow Ye May Die
So the Supreme Court upheld the use of "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. The decision announced today (on Flag Day, yet), which dismisses Michael Newdow's case on a technicality, was by a vote of 8-0. The ruling doesn't say one solitary thing about the church/state separation issues underlying the controversy--which disappoints me, but it won't disappoint the triumphalist right all that much, because they won't mention it. Their preferred headline will be "Supremes Uphold God," or something like that.
But if Michael Tomasky of The American Prospect is correct, conservatives had better enjoy the pledge decision while they can, because they're about to have a very bad week. They're going to be defeated on Guantanamo, Padilla, and Hamdi, and Tomasky says more devastating revelations regarding the prisoner abuse scandal are due in days from the Red Cross. Maybe we're about to see a rebuke of the burn-it-all-down mentality of the modern conservative movement. May it be only the beginning.
Recommended Listening: Twenty-five years ago, when I was a little baby disc jockey in Dubuque, Iowa, I had a colleague there named Bob Smith (which was, in fact, his real name, and still is). Quickly realizing what it took lesser intellects longer to discern, Bob soon left Dubuque and radio for the more lucrative precincts of corporate communications, but he continued to do voiceover work as the years rolled on. He's the most skilled mimic and impressionist I've ever had the pleasure to know, and he's got a new website showcasing his work.
Quote of the Day: "My father crapped bigger ones than George Bush."--Ron Reagan Jr., April 2003.
So the Supreme Court upheld the use of "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. The decision announced today (on Flag Day, yet), which dismisses Michael Newdow's case on a technicality, was by a vote of 8-0. The ruling doesn't say one solitary thing about the church/state separation issues underlying the controversy--which disappoints me, but it won't disappoint the triumphalist right all that much, because they won't mention it. Their preferred headline will be "Supremes Uphold God," or something like that.
But if Michael Tomasky of The American Prospect is correct, conservatives had better enjoy the pledge decision while they can, because they're about to have a very bad week. They're going to be defeated on Guantanamo, Padilla, and Hamdi, and Tomasky says more devastating revelations regarding the prisoner abuse scandal are due in days from the Red Cross. Maybe we're about to see a rebuke of the burn-it-all-down mentality of the modern conservative movement. May it be only the beginning.
Recommended Listening: Twenty-five years ago, when I was a little baby disc jockey in Dubuque, Iowa, I had a colleague there named Bob Smith (which was, in fact, his real name, and still is). Quickly realizing what it took lesser intellects longer to discern, Bob soon left Dubuque and radio for the more lucrative precincts of corporate communications, but he continued to do voiceover work as the years rolled on. He's the most skilled mimic and impressionist I've ever had the pleasure to know, and he's got a new website showcasing his work.
Quote of the Day: "My father crapped bigger ones than George Bush."--Ron Reagan Jr., April 2003.
