Subject: Robertson: judges worse than 9/11 terrorists

From: "Ben Brandzel, MoveOn PAC" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 04 May 2005 22:54:31 -0700

Dear MoveOn member,

On Sunday morning, Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson told TV 
viewers nation-wide that the threat posed by liberal judges is "probably 
more serious than a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings." When 
an incredulous George Stephanopoulos asked if Robertson really believed that these 
judges posed "the most serious threat America has faced in nearly 400 
years of history, more serious than al Qaeda, more serious than Nazi 
Germany and Japan, more serious than the Civil War?," he responded,
"George, I really believe that." [1]

These comments were not made in isolation. In fact, Robertson's statement
is only the most outrageous example of a growing effort from the extreme
right to whip up an intense fear and hatred of American judges--including
comments from Republican congressmen and senators intimidating, threatening and even 
justifying outright violence against judges. [2] The strategy is designed 
to build support for the Republican "nuclear" scheme to break the rules 
and stack the courts--and it is poisonous to our democracy. It must stop here.

That's why we are launching a national petition demanding that Bill Frist
and Tom DeLay publicly reject Robertson's statement. If they do, it will
send a clear signal that this type of dangerous incitement against
officers of the law is not welcome in our democracy. And if they don't, it
will send an equally clear signal about how far they are willing to go.
Please sign today:

http://www.moveonpac.org/robertson/?id=5494-86329-BOfqYTbznLxNfWZLQZVWdQ&t=9

We're simultaneously launching a new TV ad--if you contribute today we
can put it on the air tomorrow in Washington D.C. and in Bill Frist and
Tom DeLay's home districts--bringing our message directly to their
doorstep.

The TV spot--which we put together overnight--simply quotes Robertson
attacking American judges while mocking the September 11 tragedy and
asks if Bill Frist and Tom DeLay will do the right thing and reject these
outrageous comments. The ad will get our message out on the airwaves, and
give the news media another chance to give this scandal the coverage it
deserves. If we combine the new ad with a successful petition drive, we
can have a huge impact. We'll deliver the petition to Frist's office as
soon as he's back in Washington next week, and he won't be able to miss
the ad.

You can view the new ad and help put it on the air here:

http://www.moveonpac.org/donate/robertson.html?id=5494-86329-BOfqYTbznLxNfWZLQZVWdQ&t=10

Former Vice-President Al Gore summarized this disturbing strategy of
judicial hate mongering in a recent address to MoveOn members. Here are
some of the incidents he covered:

	The Republican leader of the House of Representatives responded to rulings
	in the Terri Schiavo case, by saying ominously: "The time will come for
	the men responsible for this to pay for their behavior." [3]

	In previous remarks on the subject, DeLay has said, "Judges need to be
	intimidated," adding that if they don't behave, "we're going to go after
	them in a big way." [4]

	A Republican Senator from Texas directly connected the "spate of
	courthouse violence lately" to his view that unpopular decisions might be
	the explanation. "I wonder whether there may be some connection between
	the perception in some quarters on some occasions where judges are making
	political decisions, yet are unaccountable to the public, that it builds
	and builds to the point where some people engage in violence." [5]

	The Chief of Staff for another Republican senator called for "mass
	impeachment" by using the bizarre right-wing theory that the president can
	declare that any judge is no longer exhibiting "good behavior," adding
	that, "then the judge's term has simply come to an end. The President
	gives them a call and says: Clean out your desk. The Capitol police will
	be in to help you find your way home.'" [6]

	Tony Perkins, leader of the Family Research Council, who hosted a speech
	by the Senate Majority Leader last Sunday has said, "There's more than one
	way to skin a cat, and there's more than one way to take a black robe off
	the bench." [7]

	James Dobson who heads Focus on the Family focused his anger on the 9th
	circuit court of appeals: "Very few people know this, that the Congress
	can simply disenfranchise a court. They don't have to fire anybody or
	impeach them or go through that battle. All they have to do is say the 9th
	circuit doesn't exist anymore, and it's gone." [8]

	Edwin Vieira (at the "Confronting the Judicial War on Faith" conference)
	said his "bottom line" for dealing with the Supreme Court comes from
	Stalin: "He had a slogan, and it worked very well for him whenever he ran
	into difficulty: 'no man, no problem.'" [9]

This pattern of intimidation against America's judges is scary and deeply
un-American. It will continue to worsen as long as leaders like Frist and
DeLay think their side can score political points by pandering to the
fringe and embracing hate speech. When Pat Robertson goes on national
television to say that American judges are a worse threat than the civil
war, the Nazis and Al Qaeda, they must know their reckless game has
crossed the line.

It's time to put our democracy before any party's quest for power--and it
begins by rejecting Pat Robertson.

Please sign today.

http://www.moveonpac.org/robertson/?id=5494-86329-BOfqYTbznLxNfWZLQZVWdQ&t=11

Thanks for all that you do.

--Ben, Joan, Micayla, Jennifer and the MoveOn PAC Team
  Wednesday, May 4th, 2005

Notes:

[1] http://www.moveon.org/r?r=719
    http://www.moveon.org/r?r=721

[2] http://www.moveon.org/r?r=715

[3] http://www.moveon.org/r?r=714

[4] http://www.moveon.org/r?r=716

[5] http://www.moveon.org/r?r=713

[6] http://www.moveon.org/r?r=717

[7] http://www.moveon.org/r?r=718

[8] http://www.moveon.org/r?r=712

[9] http://www.moveon.org/r?r=711

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