Beware the blue flame

That bastion of (dis)honor and (un)ethical behavior, Tom DeLay, continues to milk Terri Schiavo and her death for all her political worth. He's been threatening the "activist judges" with impeachment for not bending to the will of Congress and the President when they refused to intervene in the Schiavo case. DeLay has described the inaction of the courts as "Judicial Murder" (not to be confused with court imposed sentences of the death penalty, which DeLay supports) and says it is time for "for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior."

In a videotaped message to attendees at the "Confronting the Judicial War on Faith” conference, DeLay angrily denounced the judicial branch for overstepping its authority by ignoring the "legitimate will of the people." Those attending the conference called on Congress impeach/remove “activist judges” and reduce or eliminate funding for “activist courts” that take objectionable decisions. They have likened any ruling that does not allow for the imposition of their [fundamentalist] religious based laws on the rest of society as a ”well-orchestrated attack on our Judeo-Christian heritage.” These folks are mad as hell and they're not gonna take the First Amendment's "assault on religion" any more!

The intent of the statements of Politicians like DeLay, Rick Santorum, Lamar Smith and their ilk is to incite more fundamentalist fervor in an obvious attempt to turn our participatory republic into a theocratic oligarchy.

In a commentary to this week's Parsha, Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, likens irresponsible speech to leprosy. Miriam, the sister of Moses, criticizes Moses' wife for being too black. In turn, Miriam is afflicted a disorder that leaves her skin white & flaky.

Midrash Vayikra understands the law of leprosy as an allusion to seven traits the Lord hates: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked thoughts, feet that run eagerly toward evil, a false witness and one who sows discord among people. How many of these violations pertain to an irresponsible use of language!

The likes of DeLay & Santorum make it clear that there is a powerful (and vocal) Cabal that fully intends to impose their religious views on others (regardless of whether their own actions are consistent with their stated religious ideals, ethical or honorable or not). Fiery rhetoric and political flatulence leads to more than just the occasional blue flame, they can lead to combustion as well.


Tags:delay;freedom of religion; hypocrisy

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