September 10, 2008

Country first. Alaska second.

By Shannyn Moore

OK, I'm out. I'm not voting for President or Vice-President. Too many things I don't like. There's the "Team Faux-Maverick" and then there is "Team FISA-Light". I've decided to take out iconic influence and not vote for "a team." No shiny ads, no candidate crush, no homecoming king or queen for me. I'm breaking up with all of them. I'm voting for the Supreme Court.

As an Alaskan, I certainly feel a connection to Sarah Palin. But her potential as vice-president to influence and legislate her religious beliefs terrify me. Her "no choice" stance on abortion causes me great concern. I'm not a liberal with an abortion punch card, but I agree with Roe v. Wade. What happens in my uterus or anyone else's is a private matter. Abortion should be legal, safe and rare.

As a Governor, her fundamental beliefs and legislative influence will pass like a thief in the night. Spending priorities and state policies change with administrations. That said, the lasting and devastating impact of a McPalin Administration would be in their Supreme Court appointments. Three of the four members of the liberal bloc-John Paul Stephens (age 88), Ruth Bader Ginsburg (age 75) and David Hackett Souter (age 69)-are expected to retire or expire during the next president's term. By comparison, three of the four members of the conservative bloc-John Paul Roberts (age 53), Samuel Alito (age 58) and Clarence Thomas (age 60) are spring chickens by Supreme Court standards and will actively legislate from the bench for many years, perhaps decades, to come. Antonin Sclalia (age 72), is an old tough Italian and not expected to leave anytime soon. John McCain is on record saying he admires and would seek justices like John Paul Roberts and Samuel Alito.

"I have my own standards of judicial ability, experience, philosophy, and temperament. And ChiefJustice Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito meet those standards in every respect. They wouldserve as the model for my own nominees if that responsibility falls to me." - John McCain May 6, 2008

Consider the recent Exxon Valdez verdict (audio interview on the day of the ruling with Greg Palast). Exxon, the company that set and broke planet earth's quarterly profit record three quarters in a row, was let off the hook. Future corporate punitive damages are now forever minimally capped because of a conservative John "How much more can a corporation do?" Roberts Supreme Court! The Court based their activist ruling on 19th Century Maritime Law! 21st Century Corporations can now view punitive damages as the small cost of doing ROS. Due to Exxon's negligence and the corporate sympathy of the Supreme Court, the largest act of environmental terrorism was treated like an accidental littering.

A "McPalin" Administration would also threaten legal cornerstones like habeas corpus. AGAIN! Habeas corpus is not an amendment to the Constitution, it IS the Constitution. It is the 13th Century right to challenge your detention. Our revolution against England was in large part a rejection of the disappearing citizens; shackled in dungeons, imprisoned or killed without charges. The Military Commissions Act (signed by Bush October 17, 2006), suspended habeas corpus and undermined America's rise over the tyranny we'd fought against. On June 12th of this year, the Supreme Court voted to restore Habeas Corpus in a 5-4 decision. Roberts and Alito led the RATS (Roberts Alito Thomas Scalia) in dissent. Dissent of the Constitution itself. A vote for McPalin is a vote for a clone of Roberts and Alito! It is a vote against the Bill of Rights and the deletion of our rights as citizens. If you trade Stephens, Ginsburg and Souter for three Roberts-Alito clones, a future court ruling on habeas corpus would have permanently eliminated the right of American Citizens to challenge their detention with an 8-1 landslide and landmark decision.

In Sarah Palin's RNC speech, she said of Barack Obama. "Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America . he's worried that someone won't read them their rights?" Hard fought rights are who we are, what we stand for, what we will do, and what we won't. They are not about who or what we fight. If the terrorist attacks of 9/11 were because terrorists "hate our freedom", they will surely love us with a McPalin Supreme Court. John McCain is willing to turn our service men and women into those who tortured him. He had the credibility to say no to the Bush Administration when it came to waterboarding. He knows it doesn't provide accurate information, and turns men into monsters. McCain wants to be a maverick, but instead put politics above principles; the rule of men over the rule of law.

The Supreme Court has been a motivating factor for voters in elections past. This round, however, is truly an unprecedented moment where the scales of justice are threatened; like never before. A vote for Obama keeps those scales level. A vote for McPalin shifts the balance of the court to the far right for decades and threatens that which so many have given their lives for.

While there is a part of me that roots for Sarah, I feel like my local hockey star got traded to a rival team. And that rival team is all about buying the refs, juicing up, starting fights, and betting on their own games. Her new team wants to trade Liberty for Security. They are not mutually exclusive. I'm breaking up with the candidates. I'm voting for The Constitution and Supreme Court nominations.

Shannyn Moore. Born Alaskan. Patriot. Constitutionalist. Lover of Freedom. Giving hell to the establishment. Standing up to fascist and tyranny...both foreign and domestic.