[Smiles]

I hope Vieira's decision to quote Stalin was stupid, rather than calculated. It would be foolish of him to use half of Stalin's original statement, and then expect that some types of people would not take that as an implicit endorsement of the entire quote. I dearly hope it was a stupid choice, and if that is so, then we need to examine whether we want to allow him such high profile speaking opportunities again. I am inclined to hope (at this point) that Mike Farris and Phyllis Schlaffly cut Vieira loose. He is a liablity to their agenda.

So Vieira decried Kennedy's use of Marxist, Leninist principles, yet he appears to endorse one of Stalin's principles as a means to stop Kennedy? Am I reading this correctly? Is the anti-sodomy statue the only "proof" given of these "Marxist, Leninist, satanic principles drawn from foreign law"??

Has Mike Farris ever specifially indicated what "international norms" were cited in Kennedy's opinions? Forgive me, but I'm not following his line of thought here (probably because I haven't kept up with the issues well).

Schlafly called for passage of a quartet of bills in Congress that would remove courts' power to review religious displays, the Pledge of Allegiance, same-sex marriage and the Boy Scouts. Her speech brought a subtle change in the argument against the courts from emphasizing "activist" judges -- it was, after all, inaction by federal judges that doomed Schiavo -- to "supremacist" judges. "The Constitution is not what the Supreme Court says it is," Schlafly asserted.

Did she qualify how she would want to remove the courts power to review the Boy Scouts? Was this a blanket statement to make the Boy Scout 100% exempt from judicial review, or was she refering to a specific (and possibly religious) policy held by the Boy Scouts? They might want to be careful about removing the courts' power to review religious displays. What would they do if satanic displays are set up? I'm not endorsing the removal of the 10 Commandments, but I'm curious as to how all of these ideas will be written into proposed legislation.

I am appalled at my lack of understanding and education on these issues and individuals. I've revealed my narrow understanding and opinions in this post, and I hope that it is clear that I am open to further discussion that will help me formulate more accurate positions on the issues referred to in the above paragraphs.

Farris then told the crowd he is "sick and tired of having to lobby people I helped get elected."

This was pretty funny to read, and kind of changes my perception of Mike Farris. It's almost like he's saying that helping someone get elected (campaigning for, endorsing, funding) entitles you to set their agenda and tell them how to legislate - without having to lobby them "along side" the opposing lobbyist. (Again, am I reading this correctly???)

A better-educated citizenry, he said, would know that "Medicare is a bad idea" and that "Social Security is a horrible idea when run by the government." Farris said he would block judicial power by abolishing the concept of binding judicial precedents, by allowing Congress to vacate court decisions, and by impeaching judges such as Kennedy, who seems to have replaced Justice David H. Souter as the target of conservative ire. "If about 40 of them get impeached, suddenly a lot of these guys would be retiring," he said.

I agree that this country would operate quite differently if we were better-educated on these issues. I'm not so sure of what I think about the rest of that statement.

...a group of extremist GOP Senators introduced a bill that would essentially destroy the independent judiciary. A spokesperson for James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) claimed that "There does seem to be this misunderstanding out there that our system was created with a completely independent judiciary"

Does anyone who which Senators are calling for destroying the independent judiciary? Why haven't more of us heard about this? Are they just trying to make sure all the checks and balances we need are in place....?

Just my currently very uneducated (on the issues) and unaware (of current events) $0.02.