O’Connor resigns, I feel sick
Friday, July 1st, 2005I receive and frequently ignore emails warning me about the imminent destruction of the country by President Bush from MoveOn PAC. After last year’s election, I have simply ignored the emails from John Kerry and MoveOn. "What can I do now?" I thought. I never understood how my fellow Americans, despite their views on homosexuality, abortion, business, did not want to punish President Bush for entering a war on false premises with no plan for an insurgency.
But he won and my mantra in life is to "get over it." I will try to help the Democrats get elected during the next election (if at the national level they can help themselves) and register people to vote.
However, today my mantra became "be very, very afraid." With the retirement of Sandra Day O’Connor the balance of the court is threatened. Despite being appointed by a conservative Republican president, her swing vote has upheld issues that our important to protecting our rights.
She was the swing vote in the recent 10 commandments case to disallow it from being posted inside public places, she upheld a form of affirmative action at the University of Michigan, and most importantly to me as a woman, she was the swing vote in Planned Parenthood v. Casey which upheld Roe V. Wade.
Who will our pro-life, conservative President nominate? I fear it will be a judicial activist who will find murky justifications to outlaw abortion, affirmative action, and the separation of church and state.
It has been said that President Bush will nominate a Hispanic to quiet critics. I don’t care what the person looks like (although really, the Court should have more female representation given that the population is more than 50 percent female) I care what basis they utilize to make decisions.
What can we do? MoveOn just sent out a petition that you can send to your U.S. Senators via email to ask them "to do what it takes in the crucial weeks ahead to protect our rights."
Click here for the petition: http://www.moveonpac.org/protectourrights?id=5730-4055374-58WPpkHKOhwSbogJsgHiOA&t=3
And fight harder during the next election. Nominate someone who can speak to the hearts of the entire nation.
And vote. Please vote. Every year. Every election. Vote.
