Roy Moore Protege Attacks Legacy of Hugo Black
Frederick Clarkson printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Tue Apr 18, 2006 at 03:05:35 PM EST
Tom Parker is running for the job once held by the Roy Moore, the former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court who was ousted for defying a federal court order to remove the monument to the Ten Commandments he had installed in the state courthouse in Montgomery. Parker, who served as a spokesman and legal counsel to Moore, was elected to a seat as an Associate Justice on the court in 2004.

Parker is running a pugnacious Christian Rightist primary campaign for the GOP nomination for chief against incumbent Chief Justice Drayton Nabers, who once clerked for legendary U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Hugo Black. The primary will be held on June 6th. Said Parker:

"Hugo Black was one of the worst justices in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court. Unlike Chief Justice Nabers, I would never choose to work for Hugo Black after he ruled against school prayer and religious training in the classroom and Bible reading in public schools. And if I were Alabama's chief justice, I would never look to Hugo Black as an inspiration."

 

Parker is running on what is widely viewed as a payback slate of candidates seeking vengeance against the justices who voted -- unanimously -- for the ouster of Moore.

The Associated Press reported on the flap over Parker's attack on Hugo Black on the occasion of the induction of the late Supreme Court justice into its hall of fame last week.

Parker issued a statement calling Black's induction into the Alabama Lawyers Hall of Fame a "shameful disgrace to the people and state of Alabama." He said Black "personally launched the war to kick God out of the public square in America."

Parker... also criticized Republican Chief Justice Drayton Nabers for participating in the event at the state judicial building. Parker's statement got distributed at the induction ceremony, where three other prominent Alabama legal figures were inducted along with Black.

Black was a Senator from Alabama before President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him to the Court in 1937.  He served for 34 years and was, among other things, a strong defender of the First Amendment and opponent of racial segregation, as reflected in his work in support of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education which outlawed racial segregation of the public schools.

Parker's post-Moore career has been marked by controversy following revelations of his ties to neo-confederate groups and his publicly stated belief that state courts have the right to defy federal court decisions. His peculiar line of argument, the notion of "interpostition," has roots in the states rights based argument against federal court ordered desegregation. For his views on defiance of federal courts, among other things, he received an award from the theocratic education organization, Vision Forum, headed by Christian Reconsructionist thinker, Doug Phillips.

Parker's campaign is of a piece with the far right's attack on the judiciary. As a matter of fact, Parker introduced Roy Moore on the occasion of his speech at the 2005 "Confronting the Judicial War on Faith Conference" in Washington, DC.  Parker is so closely tied to Moore and all that he represents, that he even posted his remarks in introducing Moore on his campaign web site. He wrote in part:

On the day that he was removed from office by the Court of the Judiciary for his faithfulness to his oath to support the Constitution instead of an unlawful order of a federal judge, I handed him a scripture verse that I had written out for him the night before:

Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it brings forth much fruit. (John 12:24)

Chief Justice Moore, because you chose to stand in the face of great personal sacrifice, the growing national awakening and the coalescing of these leaders in this nascent movement are the fruit.

Please welcome Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore.





Display:
It will be a measure of the far right's electoral strength, alongside the Roy Moore's primary campaign against the sitting GOP governor.

by Frederick Clarkson on Tue Apr 18, 2006 at 03:09:05 PM EST

Gov. Bob Riley leads challenger Roy Moore in the battle for the Republican gubernatorial nomination by 44 points, according to a new statewide survey of 402 registered voters who are likely to vote Republican.

Riley drew 64 percent support among self-identified Republican primary voters, compared with Moore's 20 percent.  

It is not likely that Moore can overtake the incumbent with seven weeks left until the June 6 vote.

by jhutson on Tue Apr 18, 2006 at 03:30:19 PM EST

First, a poll that small is not truly indicative of the strength of a populist insurgent.  And second, while I suspect that Moore is unlikely to prevail, the signficance of the race is not measured only in who wins and who loses. Primaries are as much about defining the nature and unity or disunity of the party itself -- any party.  

So for example, if the Moore/Parker slate loses, will they and their supporters rally for the GOP ticket in the general? Will they sit it out, not seeing a dimes worth of difference between the GOP and the Dems, while they regroup for next time? Or will they bolt and join the Constitution Party?  

I'd say the jury is going to be out for awhile on these things.

by Frederick Clarkson on Tue Apr 18, 2006 at 03:41:57 PM EST
Parent

Bob Moser's recent report in The Nation indicated that in a previous poll, Moore was trailing by 30 points. There's a sizeable gap between that poll and the most recent one, showing Moore trailing by 44 points among likely GOP voters. In any case, Moore is having a hard time holding his own, as his support among his base seems to be eroding. It's definitely a race to watch.

As I noted in my recent essay on the Christian Coalition of Alabama, conservative Christians in Alabama are turned off by the CCA's involvement in the Jack Abramoff scandal. The fallout has apparently impacted Moore's gubernatorial race.

Moser writes:

[T]he fallout from [Ralph] Reed's "anti-gambling" efforts has already flattened the once mighty Texas Christian Coalition. The equally powerful Christian Coalition of Alabama, which helped Reed fend off video poker and state lottery bills in 1999 and 2000--spending some $850,000 that has now been traced back to the casino-owning Mississippi Band of Choctaws--has also fallen into a tailspin, with its most popular political champion, former "Ten Commandments Judge" Roy Moore, trailing by almost thirty percentage points in the GOP primary race for governor.

I agree with you that, given Moore's unlikely chance of prevailing in the GOP primary, the more interesting question is whether conservative Christian voters and others who support Moore will throw their support behind the GOP establishment, rally behind a doomed but ideologically attractive third-party candidate -- or just stay home.

Although the mainstream media stays focused on the big Senate and House races, sometimes, these elections for statewide "down the ballot" races really tell you more about what's on voters' minds. Moore's gubernatorial primary race in Alabama, and Reed's lieutenant gubernatorial primary race in Georgia, bear scrutiny.

by jhutson on Tue Apr 18, 2006 at 04:52:22 PM EST
Parent





WWW Talk To Action


Cognitive Dissonance & Dominionism Denial
There is new research on why people are averse to hearing or learning about the views of ideological opponents. Based on evaluation of five......
By Frederick Clarkson (374 comments)
Will the Air Force Do Anything To Rein In Its Dynamic Duo of Gay-Bashing, Misogynistic Bloggers?
"I always get nervous when I see female pastors/chaplains. Here is why everyone should as well: "First, women are not called to be pastors,......
By Chris Rodda (195 comments)
The Legacy of Big Oil
The media is ablaze with the upcoming publication of David Grann's book, Killers of the Flower Moon. The shocking non fiction account of the......
By wilkyjr (110 comments)
Gimme That Old Time Dominionism Denial
Over the years, I have written a great deal here and in other venues about the explicitly theocratic movement called dominionism -- which has......
By Frederick Clarkson (101 comments)
History Advisor to Members of Congress Completely Twists Jefferson's Words to Support Muslim Ban
Pseudo-historian David Barton, best known for his misquoting of our country's founders to promote the notion that America was founded as a Christian nation,......
By Chris Rodda (113 comments)
"Christian Fighter Pilot" Calls First Lesbian Air Force Academy Commandant a Liar
In a new post on his "Christian Fighter Pilot" blog titled "BGen Kristin Goodwin and the USAFA Honor Code," Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan......
By Chris Rodda (144 comments)
Catholic Right Leader Unapologetic about Call for 'Death to Liberal Professors' -- UPDATED
Today, Donald Trump appointed C-FAM Executive Vice President Lisa Correnti to the US Delegation To UN Commission On Status Of Women. (C-FAM is a......
By Frederick Clarkson (126 comments)
Controlling Information
     Yesterday I listened to Russ Limbaugh.  Rush advised listeners it would be best that they not listen to CNN,MSNBC, ABC, CBS and......
By wilkyjr (118 comments)
Is Bannon Fifth-Columning the Pope?
In December 2016 I wrote about how White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who likes to flash his Catholic credentials when it comes to......
By Frank Cocozzelli (250 comments)
Ross Douthat's Hackery on the Seemingly Incongruous Alliance of Bannon & Burke
Conservative Catholic writer Ross Douthat has dissembled again. This time, in a February 15, 2017 New York Times op-ed titled The Trump Era's Catholic......
By Frank Cocozzelli (64 comments)
`So-Called Patriots' Attack The Rule Of Law
Every so often, right-wing commentator Pat Buchanan lurches out of the far-right fever swamp where he has resided for the past 50 years to......
By Rob Boston (161 comments)
Bad Faith from Focus on the Family
Here is one from the archives, Feb 12, 2011, that serves as a reminder of how deeply disingenuous people can be. Appeals to seek......
By Frederick Clarkson (176 comments)
The Legacy of George Wallace
"One need not accept any of those views to agree that they had appealed to real concerns of real people, not to mindless, unreasoning......
By wilkyjr (70 comments)
Betsy DeVos's Mudsill View of Public Education
My Talk to Action colleague Rachel Tabachnick has been doing yeoman's work in explaining Betsy DeVos's long-term strategy for decimating universal public education. If......
By Frank Cocozzelli (80 comments)
Prince and DeVos Families at Intersection of Radical Free Market Privatizers and Religious Right
This post from 2011 surfaces important information about President-Elect Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. -- FC Erik Prince, Brother of Betsy......
By Rachel Tabachnick (218 comments)

Respect for Others? or Political Correctness?
The term "political correctness" as used by Conservatives and Republicans has often puzzled me: what exactly do they mean by it? After reading Chip Berlin's piece here-- http://www.talk2action.org/story/2016/7/21/04356/9417 I thought about what he explained......
MTOLincoln (253 comments)
Fear
What I'm feeling now is fear.  I swear that it seems my nightmares are coming true with this new "president".  I'm also frustrated because so many people are not connecting all the dots! I've......
ArchaeoBob (107 comments)
"America - love it or LEAVE!"
I've been hearing that and similar sentiments fairly frequently in the last few days - far FAR more often than ever before.  Hearing about "consequences for burning the flag (actions) from Trump is chilling!......
ArchaeoBob (211 comments)
"Faked!" Meme
Keep your eyes and ears open for a possible move to try to discredit the people openly opposing Trump and the bigots, especially people who have experienced terrorism from the "Right"  (Christian Terrorism is......
ArchaeoBob (165 comments)
More aggressive proselytizing
My wife told me today of an experience she had this last week, where she was proselytized by a McDonald's employee while in the store. ......
ArchaeoBob (163 comments)
See if you recognize names on this list
This comes from the local newspaper, which was conservative before and took a hard right turn after it was sold. Hint: Sarah Palin's name is on it!  (It's also connected to Trump.) ......
ArchaeoBob (169 comments)
Unions: A Labor Day Discussion
This is a revision of an article which I posted on my personal board and also on Dailykos. I had an interesting discussion on a discussion board concerning Unions. I tried to piece it......
Xulon (156 comments)
Extremely obnoxious protesters at WitchsFest NYC: connected to NAR?
In July of this year, some extremely loud, obnoxious Christian-identified protesters showed up at WitchsFest, an annual Pagan street fair here in NYC.  Here's an account of the protest by Pagan writer Heather Greene......
Diane Vera (130 comments)
Capitalism and the Attack on the Imago Dei
I joined this site today, having been linked here by Crooksandliars' Blog Roundup. I thought I'd put up something I put up previously on my Wordpress blog and also at the DailyKos. As will......
Xulon (329 comments)
History of attitudes towards poverty and the churches.
Jesus is said to have stated that "The Poor will always be with you" and some Christians have used that to refuse to try to help the poor, because "they will always be with......
ArchaeoBob (148 comments)
Alternate economy medical treatment
Dogemperor wrote several times about the alternate economy structure that dominionists have built.  Well, it's actually made the news.  Pretty good article, although it doesn't get into how bad people could be (have been)......
ArchaeoBob (90 comments)
Evidence violence is more common than believed
Think I've been making things up about experiencing Christian Terrorism or exaggerating, or that it was an isolated incident?  I suggest you read this article (linked below in body), which is about our great......
ArchaeoBob (214 comments)

More Diaries...




All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments, posts, stories, and all other content are owned by the authors. Everything else © 2005 Talk to Action, LLC.