We Are So Screwed
By Keith Boykin, in politics
Sunday, September 4 2005, 12:50AM
Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist died Saturday evening at his home in Virginia. The conservative jurist aligned with Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas to form a solid right-wing bloc on the court for the past decade. With the recent resignation of Sandra Day O'Connor, Rehnquist's death creates two vacancies on the nation's highest court. President George Bush has already nominated John Roberts to secede O'Connor, a decision which could tilt the court further to the right. Now Bush will nominate a second Supreme Court justice.
All I can say to America is this: "We told you so." The nearly 60 million Americans who voted against Bush knew all along. And all those people who voted for Bush thinking he would keep us safe and not do too much damage to the country, think again. From his failed handling of the September 11 crisis, to the failed war in Iraq, to the failed fiscal policy of tax cuts for the wealthy that led to record deficits, to the failed handling of the hurricane crisis, George Bush has shown his true colors. It's not just his philosophy that troubles us. It's his incompetence.
And now the man who thinks he has all the answers and rarely admits mistakes is about to appoint not one, but two justices who will serve lifetime tenures on the most important court in the land. Get ready to fight folks. Otherwise, we are so screwed.
Comments conceal
Mike B
September 4 2005, 1:35AM
I'm ready to fight. I say it's about damn time LGBT/Civil rights organizations really pull their heads together and come up with a better socio-political strategy.
I also think its about damn time we organize a hundred thousand (or million) man and woman march upon the heart of our nation's capital.
fratman1906
September 4 2005, 1:46AM
And for all the good, pious, church-going, God fearing black folks who voted to re-elect George Bush by uniting with homophobic White voters, well now you will feel the same disregard for human rights, voting rights, and civil rights that you intended to heap upon us. If you lie down with dogs, you will get up with flees. Whoever succeeds Rehnquist will likely move further to the right than the Chief Justice or Jesse Helms. All I can say is "you brought this on yourself." Shem hotep!
Dave
September 4 2005, 9:03AM
As a Gay man who lived through the gay holocost, and now the black holocost, It is time that we all work together to let this unfit and dangerous administration just how we feel.
We can no longer sweep anything under the carpet(there is no more room).
It is time to take action. I will and I plan to. I think that there will be a lot more than a million people marching in Washington this time.
How dare this government treat our citizens, whether poor, black, white, gay,lesbian, or straight,in this most dehumanizing way.
It is also time for the leaders, Pastors and Preachers to finally see really what the Bush Administration truly is. And time for them to stop with the homophobic rhetoric and truly see who is the enemy of our communities.
As a person living with AIDS for 23 years, I have seen and still witness how this government treats the ones that they feel are at the lowest tier of society. I have seen too much. I am not proud to be an American and have had all I can take.
It is time to stop the silence and fight back in a civil and peaceful way.It is time that this brutal dictator knows that he will not get away with this and that his legacy has been set in stone after this week.
Let's get started.
Regan DuCasse
September 4 2005, 12:41PM
Bush, a priviledged white man has only eyes for his 'haves and have mores'.
John Roberts being an example of that priviledged background, insulated from the travails of people less priviledged than himself.
Interestingly, he was classmates in his preppy private high school with Paris Barclay, the Emmy winning writer director, who is openly gay.
I wonder if they were friends.
Paris Barclay's entrance in that elite school was facilitated by Barclay's talent and his parent's hard earned sacrifices.
Would Roberts have any empathy for his former classmate who is with a longtime companion and also adopted a child?
Would Roberts understand the needs and obligations for Barclay to marry his same gender partner are equal to Robert's own?
And therein lies the most moral and ethical non question of all...
Who is more equal? Who is more worth of basic human rights?
Will the court once again punt it to individual states who in turn punt to the electorate?
The priviledged sons of America have spoken.
A theo/oligarchy is at hand, not a Democracy or even a Republic.
Two guarantees are already compromised if you happen to be gay-that of the pursuit of happiness and relief of tyranny by the majority to exercise and have equal access and protection of already legal activity.
Will Roberts be so Constitutionally literate as the ad hoc Biblical disciples are when it comes to gay folks...or women?
I'd really hate to see only thirty years of hard won progress be thrown into the dustbin for politico/economic expedience.
Bush has run this country like a business, not a country.
And just like his handling of his own business management, he's running America into the ground.
I am afraid, very afraid.
Kenneth Winfrey
September 5 2005, 12:12AM
The supreme court is clearly lost to more forward thinking forces. We can't cry about it anymore. I don't feel defeated though. A few well placed marketing messages placed by the almighty dollar can overcome a great many political forces.
Democrats, Blacks, and gay people specifically need to find common ground, develop their own key messages, create a plan, and stick to it to get the word out. Right now, the groups that will most effected by this are more often found attacking each other rather than those who truly are their foes.
We need to learn to share our resources without suspicion, listen to potential leaders who speak in terms of logic, not just passion, and (ironically) to learn to disagree. For some reason, many of us feel that we can't share anything unless we agree on everything. While we're busy arguing about whether we are gay, SGL, MSMs, MSMPCs, homosexuals, or whatever, they're putting a noose around all our necks. It won't matter what they call us if we're all out of the game.
Bernard Bradshaw
September 6 2005, 4:17PM
The truth is that Bush appointing a second supreme court justice is not that bad. Why? Because it would be hard for him to appoint a justice MORE conservative than Rehnquist.
I would agree with Keith that we were screwed if any of the liberals (souter, ginsburg, breyer, or stevens) or the somewhat moderate Kennedy had died. But as it stands, actually the vacancy which opened as a result of Rehnquist's death presents an opportunity for Democrats who had just about given a greenlight to Roberts. In a way Dems can chalk up the Roberts nomination as a Rehnquist replacement, and perhaps fight to get a better O'Connor replacement on Bush's second choice.
So I believe ther is some hope.
Bernard Bradshaw (sat2c.com)
cmoney
September 6 2005, 9:35PM
They say we should speak good of the dead. Well, he's dead--GOOD! This man was a racist and anti-semite in the Nixonian tradition. See the following article by Alan Dershowitz for details.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20050905/cm_huffpost/006844
Sonta
September 17 2005, 10:54AM
Nice blog!