Thursday, November 13, 2003

So the Ten Commandments judge, Roy Moore, has been removed from office.

The link is to the AP story. Here's the creepiest part of that story:

Moore said he had consulted with his attorneys and with political and religious leaders and would make an announcement next week which he said "could alter the course of this country." He did not elaborate.

In the story, the sentence that follows is "He could appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court" -- but somehow, unless he's just blowing smoke right now, I think he has something a tad more melodramatic in mind. Is he going to announce a run for governor? For president? Does he have a new secession movement in mind? Is he going to start a drive to have a constitutional convention?

This is a hunch, and I hope I'm wrong, but I worry that we really might be underestimating this guy.

*******

An odd thing about this case is that it comes during the Senate's counter-filibuster on judicial nominees -- and one of the nominees the Democrats are blocking is Bill Pryor, Alabama's attorney general. Pryor used to attend rallies for Roy Moore, but recently he's been pursuing the case for Moore's removal.

Pryor's still a far-right clone -- he's called Roe v. Wade "the worst abomination of constitutional law in our history," he was the only state attorney general to file a brief calling for the overturning of the Violence Against Women Act (on states' rights grounds), and (my favorite) he argued that tying shirtless prisoners to a hitching post in the hot sun for seven hours in a standing position did not constitute cruel and unusual punishment -- but I wonder if Republicans would dare to vote for him now. Maybe the Dems should call for a vote on Pryor in 24 hours, and just let the e-mail/talk radio grapevine do their work for them.

No comments:

Post a Comment