Seriously Out of Touch

Can they get any sillier?

Liberty Institute, the Texas affiliate of the far-right group Focus on the Family, just sent out a statement claiming that today’s Senate confirmation of Elena Kagan as a U.S. Supreme Court justice “will most likely move the Court even further to the left.”

“Even further to the left”? That kind of silly statement shows you how out of touch the lawyers and lobbyists at Liberty Institute really are.

Just two weeks ago the New York Times published an analysis of the Supreme Court’s first five years under Chief Justice John Roberts:

“In those five years, the court not only moved to the right but also became the most conservative one in living memory, based on an analysis of four sets of political science data.

And for all the public debate about the confirmation of Elena Kagan or the addition last year of Justice Sonia Sotomayor, there is no reason to think they will make a difference in the court’s ideological balance. Indeed, the data show that only one recent replacement altered its direction, that of Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in 2006, pulling the court to the right.”

That’s right — the nation’s highest court has been moving steadily to the right for years now. The results? Corporations can now flood political campaigns with cash, drowning out the voices of individual Americans. Privacy and reproductive rights are under assault. The list goes on. Whether one agrees or not with court decisions in recent years, it’s absurd to suggest — as Liberty Institute does — that the court has been moving to the left.

But the extremists at Liberty Institute see any court decisions they don’t like as “leftist.” Plus, claiming the court is “leftist” is an effective fund-raising gimmick for the religious right. In any case, if the current Supreme Court is too liberal for them, then one wonders just how bad things would be if they got the kind of court they really want.

7 thoughts on “Seriously Out of Touch

  1. Being out of touch is characteristic of the GOP. One-term President Bush cut his throat when he saw a grocery check out. He marveled at it. He thought that it was a new thing. He also said, “Read my lips, no new taxes.” Heh, heh, heh. Something odd seems to happen when people enter the loop in Washington. They become stupid and they forget who sent them there and what they wanted to do to help their constituents. Look at our current senators…they could care less about Texas and Texans. Money is the name of the game. Cornyn is a party boy. If something will help him or help the folks who sent him to D.C. Mr. & Mrs. Texas takes second place every time. He, like his gal buddy could care less about doing what they were sent to Washington. Both of them are doing everything they can do to bad mouth President Obama…the Republicans decided to destroy everything our president wants. The GOP tells their people to jump and all they ask is “how high.”

    I can remember when being sent to Washington was considered an honor; now it is just an opportunity to pretend that it is a game. As for me, I’m not sending money to either party; let them raise money from the suckers who feel that their candidates are going to do what they say. Sigh…

  2. Move the Court even further to the left? What the hell are they talking about? It’s still a 5/4 Court in favor of the conservatives. Elena Kagan replaced a retiring moderate liberal; there are still 9 seats, she did not ADD a seat.

    Besides, analysts have pointed out that Ms. Kagan has such a tiny paper trail, it’s difficult to assess whether she’s conservative, liberal, moderate, or something else. That was one of their complaints about her. In addition, they noted how similar her answers were to those of John Roberts at his Senate hearings.

    But yes, like Beverly Kurtin says above, lying and being out of touch is a cherished characteristic of the GOP. GOP (which means “Gang Of Plutocrats”) actually applies to both parties.

  3. I guess that just goes to show you. It’s not about Jesus over there at the Liberty Institute. It’s about politics and Jesus is just being used as a handy tool to promote the party line. You have heard that famous line from the Bible. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” That commandment is not about cussing. It’s about treating Jesus like he is some cheap advertising tool (maybe the San Diego Chicken) or a ventriloquist’s dummy in a suitcase labeled with “Try Alka-Seltzer.” Shame on you Liberty Institute. Shame on you for how you use the Lord’s name in vain. Shame on you for how you deceive your followers.

  4. Farther to the left? Well, since we have the Vatican run supreme court now it’s about time. When they appointed Roberts and Alito it was kicked far to the right so it’s not coming back to balance but still offset to the right.

  5. I commend this group and was so excited to this Texas Freedom Network just by watching PBS it seems that the US has replaced reality with fake which is the new norm so when you are real mixed with a group of fake your realness is looked at you as being out of your mind because only the truth comes out of your mouth. So what do you do when you are real surrounded by fake? Please let me know I only walk on faith and faith alone.

  6. Charles not sure what you meant by the periods but I post messages using my cel phone. Period!