The Miers Nomination... And Two Facts that Are Not Controversial

Revolution #019, October 23, 2005, posted at revcom.us

As we go to press, it appears possible that Bush’s nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court might be in trouble from reactionaries in his own camp who aren’t sure she will be enough of a fascist bully on the Supreme Court. How all that plays out, we shall see. But right now, two facts about Harriet Miers nomination to the Supreme Court are not controversial:

1. Bush has emphasized since he announced Miers’s nomination that she is an evangelical Christian from a church which is almost universally anti-abortion. And he has repeatedly emphasized the importance of both of these things as criteria to be on the Supreme Court.

2. Christian fascist ideologue James Dobson announced that he was part of a private conversation with White House "brain" Karl Rove and said, "I do know things that I’m privy to that I can’t describe because of confidentiality." Dobson and the White House made it clear that Dobson was a kingmaker and key player in approving the next Supreme Court Justice.

Think about the norms that are being instituted:

1. An "ideological litmus test" of being an opponent of a woman’s right to an abortion is in effect.

2. The process of picking the next justice of the Supreme Court is done in an "advise and consent" process with Christian fascist ayatollahs who have veto power over, and are on the same wavelength as, the president. James Dobson!! And who is he? Dobson, in "day job" as a child abuse advocate (supposedly a child psychologist), preaches to his readers and radio listeners that "the inspired concepts [for disciplining children] in Scripture have been handed down generation after generation and are just as valid as for the twenty-first century as they were for our ancesotors." Among those passages, of course, is Exodus 21, which mandates that a child who strikes or even insults a parent should be put to death! (See The Bible, Exodus 21:17--"And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death." Also, see the series "God the Original Fascist" at revcom.us).

By limiting their timid amendments to complaints that if Dobson has inside information it should be made public, Democratic and "moderate Republican" senators have helped shape this new normalcy.

How could you have a theocracy in the United States? Reread the above.

How can you stop it? As a start, and as a basic sine-qua-non--as an essential starting point--you have to throw everything you have into driving out the Bush regime starting with mobilizing on November 2nd in your city, town, or prison.