I normally don't post about issues that could be construed as "partisan", but this one is TOO good.
Check it out:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050809/ap_on_go_co/roberts
Conservative Group to Oppose John Roberts By JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - A conservative group in Virginia said Tuesday it was withdrawing its support for Supreme Court nominee John Roberts' confirmation because of his work helping overturn a Colorado referendum on gays.
The group, Public Advocate of the United States, is one of the first conservative organizations to announce anything but support for the judge
Eugene Delgaudio, the president of the group, said in an interview that he hopes his stance will prod others.
"I know that others feel the same way. I know they believe as I do. They're just not going to act," the 50-year-old Northern Virginia man said. "But once I've done it, then they can't claim that no one's opposing Roberts."
"We can't take our limited resources and put it toward a candidate who is not a strict constructionist when we were told he is," Delgaudio said.
The stance by his group, which describes itself as a pro-family organization, puts it in opposition to conservative groups that have endorsed Roberts. A number of liberal groups already oppose President Bush's high court nominee.
Delgaudio said his group had planned to send out more than 1 million pieces of direct mail for Roberts, as well as working telephones, polling and conducting petition drives.
But now, "canceling our mail campaign is the least we can do," he said. He said he would poll his group to see if members want him to be neutral, spend money to oppose Roberts or reinstate support.
This is not the first time Delgaudio has gone up against the Bush administration. He criticized Vice President Dick Cheney last year after the vice president, when asked about gay marriage, said, "Freedom means freedom for everyone."
Delgaudio said then: "'Freedom' is not embracing perversion."
The Colorado gay rights case involved Amendment 2, a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 1992 that would have barred laws, ordinances or regulations protecting gays from discrimination by landlords, employers or public agencies such as school districts.
Gay rights groups sued, and the measure was declared unconstitutional in a 6-3 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1996.
Roberts' role in the case included helping develop a strategy and firing tough questions during a mock court session at Jean Dubofsky, a former Colorado Supreme Court justice who argued the case on behalf of the gay rights plaintiffs.
Arguments that Roberts' work on the case doesn't equal support for gay rights doesn't wash with Delgaudio. "Nobody's forced to help your opponents," he said. "I can't believe that a senior attorney would voluntarily help somebody he doesn't agree with. I don't believe it. It's not credible."
Other conservative groups, including the Traditional Values Coalition and Focus on the Family Action, the political arm of the Colorado Springs-based conservative Christian ministry Focus on the Family, are still supporting Roberts.
"We support President Bush and his choice for the Supreme Court, John Roberts," said the Rev. Lou Sheldon, founder of the Traditional Values Coalition.
Other groups also are taking public stands on Roberts' candidacy.
NARAL Pro Choice America plans to start running television ads opposing Roberts on Wednesday, and other abortion rights groups including the National Organization for Women, the National Abortion Federation and the Feminist Majority all have announced their opposition to Roberts.
The conservative Progress for America is launching a counteroffensive against NARAL's ads, spending $300,000 for one week's worth of ads on broadcast television in Maine and Rhode Island and on national cable television networks. The ads criticize NARAL's ads, calling them "a desperate and false attack — recklessly distorting Judge Roberts' record."
The National Association of Manufacturers, led by Republican John Engler, is expected to announce an endorsement of Roberts on Wednesday.
___
On the Net:
Public Advocate of the United States: http://www.publicadvocateusa.org
----------------------------------------------------------
Last week, Sen. Bill Frist, Republican Senate Majority Leader, was "dis-invited" to attend a convention of evangelicals who had supported him in the past. The assumption was that they disagreed with Frist's personal moral conviction as a physician that he would have to support stem cell research.
Now this.
I just find the wishy-washy nature of these organizations toward people that they have much in common with ideologically (Frist, Roberts) to be a sad commentary on political loyalty in this day and age.
Not that I don't find this a bit amusing.
Any comments on fair weather friends?
Check it out:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050809/ap_on_go_co/roberts
Conservative Group to Oppose John Roberts By JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - A conservative group in Virginia said Tuesday it was withdrawing its support for Supreme Court nominee John Roberts' confirmation because of his work helping overturn a Colorado referendum on gays.
The group, Public Advocate of the United States, is one of the first conservative organizations to announce anything but support for the judge
Eugene Delgaudio, the president of the group, said in an interview that he hopes his stance will prod others.
"I know that others feel the same way. I know they believe as I do. They're just not going to act," the 50-year-old Northern Virginia man said. "But once I've done it, then they can't claim that no one's opposing Roberts."
"We can't take our limited resources and put it toward a candidate who is not a strict constructionist when we were told he is," Delgaudio said.
The stance by his group, which describes itself as a pro-family organization, puts it in opposition to conservative groups that have endorsed Roberts. A number of liberal groups already oppose President Bush's high court nominee.
Delgaudio said his group had planned to send out more than 1 million pieces of direct mail for Roberts, as well as working telephones, polling and conducting petition drives.
But now, "canceling our mail campaign is the least we can do," he said. He said he would poll his group to see if members want him to be neutral, spend money to oppose Roberts or reinstate support.
This is not the first time Delgaudio has gone up against the Bush administration. He criticized Vice President Dick Cheney last year after the vice president, when asked about gay marriage, said, "Freedom means freedom for everyone."
Delgaudio said then: "'Freedom' is not embracing perversion."
The Colorado gay rights case involved Amendment 2, a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 1992 that would have barred laws, ordinances or regulations protecting gays from discrimination by landlords, employers or public agencies such as school districts.
Gay rights groups sued, and the measure was declared unconstitutional in a 6-3 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1996.
Roberts' role in the case included helping develop a strategy and firing tough questions during a mock court session at Jean Dubofsky, a former Colorado Supreme Court justice who argued the case on behalf of the gay rights plaintiffs.
Arguments that Roberts' work on the case doesn't equal support for gay rights doesn't wash with Delgaudio. "Nobody's forced to help your opponents," he said. "I can't believe that a senior attorney would voluntarily help somebody he doesn't agree with. I don't believe it. It's not credible."
Other conservative groups, including the Traditional Values Coalition and Focus on the Family Action, the political arm of the Colorado Springs-based conservative Christian ministry Focus on the Family, are still supporting Roberts.
"We support President Bush and his choice for the Supreme Court, John Roberts," said the Rev. Lou Sheldon, founder of the Traditional Values Coalition.
Other groups also are taking public stands on Roberts' candidacy.
NARAL Pro Choice America plans to start running television ads opposing Roberts on Wednesday, and other abortion rights groups including the National Organization for Women, the National Abortion Federation and the Feminist Majority all have announced their opposition to Roberts.
The conservative Progress for America is launching a counteroffensive against NARAL's ads, spending $300,000 for one week's worth of ads on broadcast television in Maine and Rhode Island and on national cable television networks. The ads criticize NARAL's ads, calling them "a desperate and false attack — recklessly distorting Judge Roberts' record."
The National Association of Manufacturers, led by Republican John Engler, is expected to announce an endorsement of Roberts on Wednesday.
___
On the Net:
Public Advocate of the United States: http://www.publicadvocateusa.org
----------------------------------------------------------
Last week, Sen. Bill Frist, Republican Senate Majority Leader, was "dis-invited" to attend a convention of evangelicals who had supported him in the past. The assumption was that they disagreed with Frist's personal moral conviction as a physician that he would have to support stem cell research.
Now this.
I just find the wishy-washy nature of these organizations toward people that they have much in common with ideologically (Frist, Roberts) to be a sad commentary on political loyalty in this day and age.
Not that I don't find this a bit amusing.
Any comments on fair weather friends?
. Oh, geez... 
to Roberts for doing work that supports homosexuals 
.
why, thank you.
