Thursday, July 20, 2006

Throw In Some Dogs and a Trench While You're At It

The House of Representatives passed legislation yesterday that would prevent judges from hearing cases seeking to remove a reference to God in the Pledge of Allegiance. In 2002, an appeals court ruled that the phrase "under God" represented an endorsement of religion and was in violation of the U.S. Constitution. The decision was later struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court on procedural grounds, but conservatives have been attempting since that time to prevent "activist judges" from tampering with the wording of the pledge in the future.

"We're creating a fence. The fence goes around the federal judiciary. We're doing that because we don't trust them," said Missouri Rep. Todd Akin.

Hmm. Building fences around things you don't trust. "Concentrating", as it were, those elements in our society that we fear might harm or weaken us. Interning them, if you will, to keep the rest of us safe. Interesting metaphor, Rep. Akin. Arresting imagery. Keep up the good work.

1 comment:

Adrian said...

I think Rep. Aikin's quote would have been a lot funnier (and closer to what he's thinking) if it had ended with "what with their beady eyes and those silly black dresses they're always wearing. Heck, they probably wear those robes so you can't see the Mao jackets and Birkenstocks they have on!"