LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY navytron89) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush will nominate conservative U.S. appeals court judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to fill the seat of retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a congressional aide told Reuters.

Bush is to made the announcement at 8 a.m. (1:00 p.m. British time) at the White House.

Alito, 55, is considered a conservative in the mould of Justice Antonin Scalia. Alito is sometimes given the nickname "Scalito" -- a comparison to Scalia, who shares his Italian heritage as well as his reputation for conservatism and a strong intellect. He is a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.

As nominee, he would replace White House counsel Harriet Miers, who withdrew her name from consideration last week under withering attack from conservatives within Bush's own Republican Party.

A conservative choice was bound to trigger a fight from Senate Democrats who want to see O'Connor replaced by a moderate justice like her.

Republican Sen. Jon Cornyn of Texas praised the choice, calling Alito "man of outstanding character, who is deeply committed to public service."

But Cornyn, who had supported a conservative choice, cautioned any potential Democratic opposition that, "It is important that the confirmation process be completed in a timely manner free of obstructionist tactics."

Although O'Connor has said she will remain until her replacement is named, the high court is nearly a month into its new session.

Follow up from me:

Katie Curick from the Today show made the announcement of Alito and had almost slipped and called him a dominionist instead calling him a constructionist (ie. constructionist = dominionist who hides their religious identity really well).

Anyway this is the next threat from the dominionists, who makes Scalia look like a liberal in comparision.

This is the man who the masses should fear if he becomes a Justice.

He would  undo Roe v. Wade and has looked the other way during stateside clansdestine operations (FBI doing B&Es on private citizens without warrants) according to early reports.

Other controversies that he has been into will have to wait as I have to track down more on him.

So stay tuned ......

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY neadods)

There are a couple of communities where I think this would be of interest, but I don't want to spam LJ. So this is a link to my long post about how "social conservatives" want to limit access to the anti-cervical-cancer vaccine because 'This is going to sabotage our abstinence message,'" said Gene Rudd, associate executive director of the Christian Medical and Dental Associations... "There are those who would say, 'We can provide a better, healthier alternative than the vaccine, and that is to teach abstinence,'" Rudd said.

Original newspaper article available here, here and here.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY navytron89)

Well twistedchick provided more information than I can here about the next Justice nominee and other things take a read for yourselves.

I read this about constructionist views and specifical Alito's views which look to benfit drug dealers (machine guns are not illegal) and abortion.

 I rather have someone like J. Harvie Wilkinson III , who still has his flaws but it a lot saner choice for Justice and the least likely to sympathize with dominionist values, he appears to be more in the center of the political field.

It looks like Theocracy and the Constitution-in-Exile format that the Dominionists are looking for would become a done deal, if Alito gets his appointment to the bench.

The other thing is there were rumors that Alito has basically viewed that blogging is unprotected speech from the First Amendment rights and that not only can you be hit for libel, that you can be held accountable for what other people say on your blog. 

Where are the Founding Fathers when you need them? 

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY amethyst_hunter)

Apologies if this is OT, if so, please feel free to delete (or let me know and I'll delete it). Just some random thoughts I had today...

Today is Halloween. Many of us will be enjoying all the flotsam and jetsam that comes with such a 'holiday'. Be you religious or not, everyone has their own way of having fun, and candy doesn't even have to be involved.

Except for, of course, the religious zealots who seem to wholeheartedly *embrace* evil by using what should be an innocent holiday for kids (and the kid in all of us) to dwell on horrors, and instill fear and misery in their hearts, with such niceties like "Hell Houses" and the like. Suffering = good. Happiness = bad. That's pretty sad.

When I was a little kid, I used to think that if I made a little 'shrine' to tornadoes (being that I live in the Midwest, I'm well used to the weather) it would please some tornado god or something, somewhere, and then maybe we wouldn't get so many severe storms. And it makes me think: each of us has or had our own little weird childhood 'rituals' that, by Dominionist standards, would be considered Evil or Satanic. How many of us would have been brutally abused (be it verbally or physically), or have already been (you know who you are), in Dominionist households, for such simple childhood trappings? Kids are naturally prone to imagination; they don't necessarily intend to start worshipping devils or whatnot just by indulging in Halloween festivities, or drawing tornado pictures, or reading mythology books, or anything else.

Ultimately, what determines whether or not a child will grow up to be a decent adult is based on two things: 1) how the parent(s)/guardian(s) raises that child, and 2) how that child/adult conducts his or her own choices in life. Halloween alone does not a demon make.

That's why religious zealotry - of *all* stripes - must stop. Zealotry sucks all the fun and joy out of life, and turns it into a depressing eternity of misery - and remember, misery loves company.

Besides, if God didn't want us to have chocolate, He wouldn't have made so damn much of it. XD ;)

May you all have a happy and safe Halloween!