The Republican hyper-emphasis on "Christian Values" recently took a sharp turn and landed squarely on fascist police state. Leading Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich promised reporters in as many words that if elected, he would arrest judges who didn't abide by Christian ideals.
In a half-hour phone call with reporters yesterday, GOP presidential contender Newt Gingrich warned that as president he would abolish courts whose judges make decisions that are out of step with fundamentalist Christian views.Despite an outcry over the remarks, Gingrich reiterated them this morning during an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” saying the president could send federal law enforcement authorities to arrest judges who make controversial rulings in order to compel them to justify their decisions before Congress.When host Bob Schieffer asked how he would force federal judges to comply with congressional subpoenas, Gingrich said he would send the U.S. Capitol Police or U.S. Marshals to arrest the judges and force them to testify. (LINK)
What can we say about this? Is there anything a candidate could say that would disqualify him from office any more concretely? He has personally vowed to ignore the constitution and to enforce his own religious views as the law of the land.
In no uncertain terms, Gingrich has made it clear that his respect for the American government extends only as far as his loyalty to Jesus. The presidential oath is clear: I, <name>, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution explicitly states that there shall be no religious test for public office -- including judge.
Just to make sure we're clear on this: The leading Republican candidate for the president of the United States has stated loudly and clearly, on the record, that as president, he would completely ignore the U.S. Constitution in favor of his own religious views.
The Republican Party has gone off the rails. As the extreme nature of their position has been consistently exposed through social media like Facebook and Reddit, they have become increasingly frenzied in their efforts to become "more Christian." To appeal to the increasingly hostile Fundamentalist constituency that was instrumental in winning the House of Representatives, they've held openly religious meetings in the heart of Iowa, where each candidate tried to "out-Christian" the others on topics like abortion rights. (LINK)
This is also not the first time that a highly influential Christian politician has trampled on the Constitution publicly. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia recently proclaimed his own disdain for the rule of law:
“The Rule of Law is second only to the Rule of Love. The here and now is less important than the hereafter.” -- Antonin Scalia, Supreme Court Justice. (LINK)
The sanctity of the U.S. government is in perhaps the most peril in our history. Without exaggerating, one can begin by pointing to the 2004 "irregularities" in voting machines, and the subsequent appointment of a Republican Christian candidate to the presidency... by the Supreme Court. With the taking of the House in the last Congressional elections, the Republican party has embarked on a take-no-prisoners campaign to legislate Christian values -- discrimination against gays, ending women's rights, and inexplicably, not helping the poor at all.
In this election, Christianity has been almost the exclusive focus of all the major candidates, whose opinions on abortion are far more relevant to voters than their economic records, or their success in previous political endeavors. Beginning with the reality show farce that was Sarah Palin, the GOP has trotted out one evangelical after another, and done nothing to quell the rising tide of ecumenical screeching from the political pulpit. With one openly anti-Constitutional judge already sitting, and the House controlled by zealots, one can only imagine how quickly America would descend into Iran-like theocracy with a president whose campaign promises included nothing less than ignoring the Constitution in favor of religious legislation at all levels of justice!
Let's make sure we understand the gravity of this: On the record, with no apologies, the leading Republican presidential candidate has vowed to ignore the constitution in favor of his religious beliefs in the courts that decide our laws. Newt Gingrich has vowed to break the presidential oath. Newt Gingrich has, without question, disqualified himself from the office. He is an aspiring traitor. He is anti-American. He has voiced his intention to destroy everything that America was founded on. In as many words, he would go on the offensive against the "steady encroachment of secularism through the courts to redefine America as a nonreligious country." (LINK)
This statement goes beyond "zany" or volatile. This goes straight to treasonous. Let's make sure we understand: no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. Article VI, paragraph 3, United States Constitution. (LINK) There is no reasonable way to interpret Gingrich's statement except as a religious qualifier for judgeship in the United States. That is blatantly and irreconcilably unconstitutional.
Nothing short of withdrawal from the race is suitable. Gingrich has disqualified himself, and has no business running for any public office until and unless he demonstrates a thorough understanding of the separation of church and state, and a consistent record of supporting that wall.
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