Senate Condems Ruling

[Blynn]

Congress took swift action to denounce a federal court decision ruling the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional, with the Senate voting 99-0 to condemn the court's decision.

On the House side, about 100 members gathered on the steps of the Capitol to pledge their allegiance "under God." Immediately following the recitation of the pledge, members broke out into a chorus of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America."

"Wrong decision" was the White House response to the 9th Circuit Court's Wednesday ruling that the pledge is unconstitutional because it includes the words "under God."

The Senate's unanimous resolution was accompanied by vows for further action to overturn the decision, possibly even through constitutional amendment.

Legal experts said the ruling was based on good-faith interpretations of legal statues, and is largely, though not entirely, immune from attack.

"Only two things can change this opinion — a reversal by the entire Ninth Circuit or the Supreme Court, or a constitutional amendment if the Supreme Court agrees with this interpretation," said George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley.

The case was brought by Michael A. Newdow, a Sacramento, Calif., atheist who objected because his second-grade daughter was required to recite the pledge at the Elk Grove school district. A federal judge had dismissed his lawsuit.

Newdow, a doctor who holds a law degree and represented himself, called the pledge a "religious idea that certain people don't agree with."

Newdow told Fox News that proponents of the pledge have threatened his life.

"We have a lot of God-loving people that seem to think killing other people is the way to deal with things you don't agree with," he said.

The decision will affect only the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington state, which the 9th Circuit Court covers.

Though no word has been made of an appeal yet, many believe the case could be heard by the United States Supreme Court.

"I think the pledge is a good thing for the country and I hope we keep it," said House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo. "[T]his is a normative thing, it is not a religious question ... and I would hope that in the future that would be the view of the court."

"In recent years, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned 27 of 29 9th Circuit decisions so that tells you that the 9th Circuit is out of step with the rest of the federal judiciary," said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,56322,00.html

 

[Chris†opher Paul]

Nice

 

[Sauron]

Originally posted by Blynn
Congress took swift action to denounce a federal court decision ruling the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional, with the Senate voting 99-0 to condemn the court's decision.

It's too bad that our elected representatives don't have the backbone necessary to stand up for principles.  Doing the right thing often upsets the majority, especially when it means the majority loses its privileged status.

But this being an election year, I'm not surprised to see them turn into a bunch of whiny poodles.

 

[Blackhawk]

Originally posted by Sauron


It's too bad that our elected representatives don't have the backbone necessary to stand up for principles.  Doing the right thing often upsets the majority, especially when it means the majority loses its privileged status.

But this being an election year, I'm not surprised to see them turn into a bunch of whiny poodles.

 

Okay I am no friend of politicians but just because they do not do what you like for them to do is not a reason to say that htey did not stand up for what they thought was right. 

 

[ashibaka]

Okay I am no friend of politicians but just because they do not do what you like for them to do is not a reason to say that htey did not stand up for what they thought was right.

I thought it was more a sort of mob mentality.

 

[Blackhawk]

Originally posted by ashibaka


I thought it was more a sort of mob mentality.

 

I am sure many politicians joined in for the exact reason Sauron stated.  i am only stating that to make such a grand statement is leads to many problems.  Some truly believe with all their muster that they are doing the right thing and are exercising their backbone by doing it.  No one has to agree with it but that is different than saying that they have no backbone jsut becasue what they said goes along with the majority and one does not like it. 

Blackhawk

 

[Sauron]

Originally posted by Blackhawk


 

Okay I am no friend of politicians but just because they do not do what you like for them to do is not a reason to say that htey did not stand up for what they thought was right. 

I am not saying this because they didn't do what I wanted.

I am saying this because there is a principle at stake here, which they abandoned because they weren't willing to take the heat. 

They've done the same thing on other totally non-religious issues, whenever it is close to an election year.

 

[Sauron]

Originally posted by ashibaka


I thought it was more a sort of mob mentality.

Indeed. 

 

[Sauron]

Originally posted by Sauron


Indeed. 

Test.

 

[Brimshack]

In general I think legislation passed so quickly is done in bad faith. This at least is a mere part of the culture wars, but if it's that important, then it merits a little study. I am frankly amazed at some of the bad argumentation I am seeing from professional politicians and talking heads on this one. Blackhawk and Bear have done a better job of stating the case against the ruling than most of the public babblers I seen. Mostly one hears recriminations, conclusionary statements, and threats; and those rare constitutional arguments we hear from the talking heads are often deliberately fshoned for an ignorant audience. For example, when Keys shouted a guest down saying that liberals have lied about the meaning of the Bill of Rights, then he says the founding fathers only meant for it to apply to the federal government anyway. that's true enough, but it ignores the existence of the 14th Amendment. Keyes knows better than that, but he knows most of his audience doesn't read the constitution anyway. There is a lot of that going on right now. So, I'm inclined to believe the opposition to the ruling is determined to reverse it on brute power rather than sound constitutional reasoning. That's why I'm inclined to question the integrity of the votes today as well.

 

[LouisBooth]

"I thought it was more a sort of mob mentality."

funny..so where unions...and that saved us from Marx's predictions.