Coming
Soon!
From Common Courage Press
Recent
Stories
July
30, 2003
David
Lindorff
Poindexter the Terror Bookie
Congratulations
to CounterPuncher Gilad Atzmon! BBC Names EXILE Top Jazz CD
July
29, 2003
Jeffrey
St. Clair
"Journalist Spotted! Journalist
Dead!" Guatemala Bleeds; US Press Yawns
Thomas
J. Nagy
The Belligerent Dr. Pipes
Kurt Nimmo
Tom Delay Goes to Jerusalem
Chris
Floyd
Dead Reckoning: Bush Warriors Sign Off on War Crimes
Robert
Fisk
Another Botched Raid; Another Massacre
Jason
Leopold
Did Chalabi Help Write Bush's State of the Union Address?
Conn Hallinan
Food Bully: Bush's Biotech Shock and Awe Campaign
Dan
Bacher
Sacramento's War on Free Speech
Ray
McGovern
Cheney Chicanery
Website
of the Day
Julie Hilden Caught on Tape
July 26 / 27, 2003
Alexander
Cockburn
NYT's Screws Up Again; Uday and
Qusay Deaths Bad for Bush; Gen. Hitchens at the Front
Gary
Leupp
Faith-Based Intelligence
Saul Landau
A Report from Syria
Stan
Goff
Bring 'Em On Home, Now!
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Book Cooking at Boeing
Andrew
Cockburn
The Sons Are Dead; Now the Blood Feud
Begins
Jason Leopold
CIA Points the Finger at the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans
Robert
Fisk
The Power of Death
Joanne
Mariner
Monsieur Moussaoui
Standard
Schaefer
Joblessness and the Invisible Hand
M. Shahid
Alam
The Global Economy Since 1800: a Short History
Harry
Browne
Northern Ireland: the Other Faltering Peace Process
Fidel Castro
Moncada, 50 Years Later
Lula
Democracy Requires Social Justice
Edward
S. Herman
Refuting Brad DeLong's Smear Job on Noam Chomsky
Ron Jacobs
Guided by a Great Feeling of Love: a Review of Gordon's The Company
You Keep
Julie
Hilden
A Photographer, an Offer and Cameron Diaz's Topless Photos
Adam Engel
Man Talk
Poets'
Basement
Keeney, Witherup, Short, Nimba, Guthrie and Albert
July
25, 2003
Francis
A. Boyle
Impeaching Bush
David
Krieger
15 Questions
Harvey
Wasserman
Pat Robertson's Supreme Fatwah
Steve Dunifer
Seize the Airwaves!
Dan
Bacher
Federal Judge Throws Out Bush Salmon Plan for Klamath River
Kurt Nimmo
Bread, Circuses, Uday and Qusay
Steve
Perry
Bush's Wars Weblog
Website
of the Day
Stop the Wall!
July
24, 2003
Elaine
Cassel
Ashcroft Loses...Again
Robert
Fisk
The Ugly Story of Camp Cropper: The
US Torture Camp in Iraq
David
Lindorff
Dumb and Dumber in Iraq
Christopher
Brauchli
Ashcroft Demands Death Penalty in
Puerto Rico
David
Vest
Dylan in Bend
Tom Turnipseed
Killing Saddam & His Family Won't Stop Killing of US Troops
Douglas
Valentine
A Nation of Assassins
Stew Albert
Contract Killing
Steve
Perry
Bush's Wars Weblog
Website
of the Day
Report on Palestinian Child Prisoners
July
23, 2003
Uri
Avnery
Caesar's Favor
David
Lindorff
Lynne Stewart's Big Win: Ashcroft
Rebuked
Mano
Singham
Iraq's Missing WMD Scientists
Steve
Perry
Better Late Than Never: the Press, the Dems, and Bush's Lies
John Stanton
Avoiding Plato's Republic in America: Is Anarchy the Only Hope?
Patrick
Bond
Bush and South Africa: a Petro-Military-Commerce Mission
Harry Browne
A Victory for a Disarming Irishwoman
Paul
Beaulieu
When the WTO Comes to Montreal
Robert
Fisk
The Sons are Dead, But the Resistance
Will Grow
William
Witherup
Georgie Porgie
Website
of the Day
Lieberman & Falwell:
True Love at Last
July
22, 2003
Diane
Christian
Bad Guy / Good Guy: War Forces;
Peace Frees
Jeremy
Brecher
Solidarity and Student Protests in Iran
Steve
Kretzmann
and Jim Vallette
Plugging Iraq into Globalization
Sam
Smith
Greening the Golden Triangle
James
Plummer
Smile, You're on Federal Camera
Lucretia
Stewart
This Day Shall Not Define My Life:
January 18, 2003
Website
of the Day
Iraq Coalition Casualties
Hot Stories
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Elaine
Cassel
Civil Liberties
Watch
Michel
Guerrin
Embedded Photographer Says: "I
Saw Marines Kill Civilians"
Uzma
Aslam Khan
The Unbearably Grim Aftermath of War:
What America Says Does Not Go
Paul de Rooij
Arrogant
Propaganda
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
Click Here
for More Stories.
|
July
30, 2003
God,
Sodomy and the Supremes
Pat
Robertson's Prayer Jihad
By SEAN CARTER
The great French Renaissance thinker Michel Eyguem
De Montaigne said, "There are few men who would dare make
known to the public the prayers they make to God." Although
Montaigne lived almost 500 years ago, his words still hold true
today. The sad truth is that most of our prayers are as shallow
as the British royal family gene pool. However, most people have
the good sense to keep their mouths shut about it. Unfortunately,
Pat Robertson is not one of those people.
On July 17th, Pat Robertson issued a
21-day "prayer offensive" against the Supreme Court.
Robertson thinks it's time for several of the justices to retire
and he's asking for God's help in this matter.
So what has Pat asking for divine resignation
letters? The Supreme Court's ruling in the case of Lawrence v.
Texas. In this case, the high court overturned the conviction
of a Texas man for the "crime" of having sex with his
male lover. The court ruled that the Texas law was unconstitutional
as it violated Lawrence's right to privacy to engage in consensual,
private sex.
Needless to say, this ruling didn't sit
well with Pat Robertson. Therefore, within days of the ruling,
Robertson announced his prayer campaign against the members of
the court.
Robertson claims that for the last 40
years, the Supreme Court has taken liberties in interpreting
the Constitution. And while this may be true, Robertson's prayer
jihad is silly nonetheless.
For one, is Robertson really asking the
Lord to make the justices "an offer they can't refuse"?
I thought He was our Heavenly Father, not the Godfather.
Second, doesn't God have better things
to do than play HR Director of the Supreme Court? If we are going
to pray for divine intervention, then shouldn't we pray about
those things over which we have no control, such as floods, earthquakes
and our children?
Third, even if Robertson's prayers are
answered, his problem still won't be solved. The ruling in the
Lawrence case was 6-3. Therefore, in order for the new court
to reverse this ruling, two of the justices in the majority must
retire and be replaced by two justices who would vote to overturn
the decision.
This may be difficult; even for Him.
Even if two liberal justices decide to retire during a Republican
administration, Bush must replace them with conservative justices.
This won't be as easy as it seems.
Republican presidents haven't had great
luck in packing the Supreme Court with conservative judges. In
fact, two of the four ultraliberal justices on the current court
were appointed by Republicans. Gerald Ford appointed Justice
Stevens and Bush I appointed Justice Souter.
In addition, even if Bush picks the "right"
justice, his choice must be confirmed by the Senate. And recently,
Democrats have begun filibustering Bush's nominees for the lower
courts just for practice. Therefore, it seems that Robertson
will need to expand his prayer request to include the retirement
of all Democrats in the Senate as well.
Finally, even if God changes the composition
of the Supreme Court and Congress, this won't prevent people
from engaging in gay sex. It will simply allow states to imprison
them for doing so. This would not only be mean-spirited but also
counterproductive. If the goal is to prevent sodomy, then the
solution is not to throw people in jail, where sodomy is prevalent.
This would be like locking a fat person in a bakery to cure their
weight problem.
The bottom line is that Pat Robertson's
prayer offensive is just that--offensive. It's offensive to people
who "naively" believe that Americans should not be
thrown in jail for being different. And it should be offensive
to those of us who believe in God. The Lord doesn't need Pat
Robertson's suggestions on how to rule over the planet. After
all, if Pat Robertson had all the answers, then perhaps he could
figure out how to get more than 2% of the vote in the Republican
primaries. That way, he'd be able to appoint his own Supreme
Court justices.
Sean Carter
is a lawyer, comedian, public speaker and the author of If
It Does Not Fit, Must You Acquit? Your Humorous Guide to the
Law. He can be reached at www.lawpsided.com.
Weekend Edition Features for July 26 / 28, 2003
Alexander
Cockburn
NYT's Screws Up Again; Uday and
Qusay Deaths Bad for Bush; Gen. Hitchens at the Front
Gary
Leupp
Faith-Based Intelligence
Saul Landau
A Report from Syria
Stan
Goff
Bring 'Em On Home, Now!
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Book Cooking at Boeing
Andrew
Cockburn
The Sons Are Dead; Now the Blood Feud
Begins
Jason Leopold
CIA Points the Finger at the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans
Robert
Fisk
The Power of Death
Joanne
Mariner
Monsieur Moussaoui
Standard
Schaefer
Joblessness and the Invisible Hand
M. Shahid
Alam
The Global Economy Since 1800: a Short History
Harry
Browne
Northern Ireland: the Other Faltering Peace Process
Fidel Castro
Moncada, 50 Years Later
Lula
Democracy Requires Social Justice
Edward
S. Herman
Refuting Brad DeLong's Smear Job on Noam Chomsky
Ron Jacobs
Guided by a Great Feeling of Love: a Review of Gordon's The Company
You Keep
Julie
Hilden
A Photographer, an Offer and Cameron Diaz's Topless Photos
Adam Engel
Man Talk
Poets'
Basement
Keeney, Witherup, Short, Nimba, Guthrie and Albert
Keep CounterPunch
Alive:
Make
a Tax-Deductible Donation Today Online!
home / subscribe
/ about us / books
/ archives / search
/ links /
|