And the only thing worse than GOP pols engaging in mindless flag-waving is Democrats like Daschle, Lieberman, and and Edwards going along as well -- they should know better, but are too gutless to stand up for the principles of the First Amendment. I expect Republicans to engage in nonsense like this, but Democrats reek of cowardice when they join the mob.
Matt doesn't tell the half of it. The Senate voted 99-0 for a resolution condemning the ruling. Every single able-bodied Senator (only Jesse Helms, recovering from heart surgery, failed to vote) attached their names to the resolution. That's not just a handful of Democratic Presidential wannabes - that's every member of the Senate Plurality.
I understand that reasonable people would have different opinions on this issue - as a lawyer, I can certainly see both sides of the argument. I also expect that most Republicans genuinely condemn this ruling in their hearts, along with a sizable chunk of Democrats. But where did the loyal opposition go?
Let's call the roll of liberal Dems voting to condemn the court's ruling:
Boxer? Check.
Cantwell? Check.
Carnahan? Check.
Kerry? Kennedy? You bet Back Bay they did.
Mikulski and Murray? Check and check.
Wyden? Wellstone? Check and... Wellstone?!?
Check!
Either all of these Democratic Senators think that the Ninth Circuit ruling was so out of the norm as to require condemnation... or they sold out. Not one stood up for the rights of the non-believer, the animist, or the Buddhist.
99-0. Whenver I see a Senate vote like that, I know something's wrong. When Wellstone and Thurmond agree on anything other than adjournment, I wonder who hit the wrong button. When Boxer and Gramm join together to "condemn" anything, I look for the punchline. When Kennedy and Hatch... ah, but maybe I overstate my case.
Not a single Democratic Senator had the courage to stop and say, "Hey, is this ruling really that far out?"
I detect a pandemic of collapsing spines, clustered on one side of the Senate aisle.
Posted by wasylik at June 27, 2002 04:30 PM