Mutterings 07-2001

"One thing, however, is certain. Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year’s Presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the Nation’s confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law.
I respectfully dissent."

STEVENS, J., dissenting
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
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No. 00–949
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GEORGE W. BUSH, ET AL., PETITIONERS v.
ALBERT GORE, JR., ET AL.

Growing up, I was taught that religion and politics make for strange bedfellows, and this is a concept I've generally been in agreement with for many years. I also maintain that there is a difference between spirituality and religion.

In the time that I've been unable to work due to my illness (I'm on permanent disability for a number of ailments), I've had a lot of time to spend surfing the web, reading and catching up on the world. Most of what I've seen, especially in the political arena, appalls me. We have 25% of the US population deciding what 100% has on it's political plate -- if we are lucky to have that large of a turnout.

Our President, for the first time in the history of our country, was not chosen by vote of the people (or, to be more precise, the will of the people via the Electoral College) but rather by the Constitutional Body which one expects to hold the highest regard for the Law of the Land - the United States Supreme Court - in it's decision to not allow the manual count of ballots in the State of Florida.

Further, our President has announced his intent to establish the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, to expand government aid to religious ministries and create church-state "partnerships" using taxpayer dollars.

The latest in this so-called "faith-based" pogrom involved the Salvation Army, an organization I've never had much use for. As reported by Reuters: "The White House denied on Tuesday {July 10, 2001} that it had made a firm commitment to the Salvation Army, America's largest charity, to issue a regulation exempting such charities from having to hire homosexuals."

The battle lines for the future of the country have been drawn. May I recommend to you Dion Fortune's work The Magickal Battle of Britain in order to prepare yourself?

I'd like to suggest that anyone concerned by this join their local branch of the American Civil Liberties Union and/or People for the American Way and/or Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Also, become involved in your local area political arena. Attend party meetings or caucuses, and, as someone once said "vote early and vote often!" To borrow another phrase from another community, remember: silence equals consent.