The Case of the Bush Majority vs. Justice and Opportunity-John Kerry

[DJcairo]

Kerry gives great speeches and has spoken out on a range of topics while other candidates are simply content to deliver their stump speech over and over and over and over and over again.

Check this one out from today:

October 03, 2003
National Council of Negro Women, Washington
For almost seventy years, the National Council of Negro Women has been pushing and prodding our nation towards a true vision of equality - speaking out for the disadvantaged in this country and all over the world. You have been a powerful voice, especially for women of color, who are often struggling to keep a family together, to cope with a hostile work environment, and to give their children a better life despite the burdens of poverty and racial prejudice.

I am so honored to be here with Dr. Dorothy Height who – time and again - was the only woman in the room when the civil rights leaders began the great struggle that culminated in the 1964 civil rights act. And Dorothy Height is not finished, though she has every right to relax. She still wants a better America not for herself but for the next generation and the ones that will follow.

By tradition, the first Monday in October has been more than a date on the calendar – it has marked the opening of a new term at the Supreme Court. A time when Americans have looked toward the Supreme Court with hopes for justice and opportunity. Sometimes those hopes have been surpassed – at other times the hopes have been dashed – but the impact of the Supreme Court in shaping and reshaping America cannot be denied. The next President of the United States will clearly have the power to shape and reshape the Supreme Court itself – and that’s why I believe it so important that America elect a President with a broad vision of opportunity and a commitment to equal justice in 2004.

snip>

Just think what is at stake if President Bush is reelected for a second term and has the opportunity to appoint a Bush Majority on the Supreme Court. It could mean:

·The end of affirmative action and a retreat from diversity in universities and workplaces

·The end of Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to choose

·A return to the criminalization of homosexuality

·A threat to the federal government’s ability to protect our air and water.

·A license to John Ashcroft to trample on our civil rights and invade our privacy.

·A weakening of the protections for ordinary American workers.

·A threat to the rights of African-American voters

A threat to the rights of the disabled and the elderly
My position on judicial nominations is clear: I will oppose, and filibuster if necessary, any Bush Supreme Court nominee who would turn back the clock on civil rights and protections against discrimination, on the right to privacy and the right to choose, on individual liberties and on the laws protecting workers and the environment. I have applied and will apply a similar standard to lower court judges. The stakes cannot be any higher.

http://johnkerry.com/news/speeches/spc_2003_1003.html

[Feanorcurufinwe]

1. Judicial appointments are a lasting legacy

not just the Supreme Court but the whole Federal bench.

We need to take back the Senate as well as the White House!

[sandnsea]

2. He's fierce on this

"In a later interview with the Des Moines Register, Kerry continued, 'I don't want to get into an argument about litmus tests. The focus is on the constitutional right that Roe established in America. I want jurists to agree, who swear to uphold the Constitution.' He added, 'If some people want to call it a test, they can call it a test. The bottom line is I want someone who will understand that right and uphold it.'"

This is the kind of bold leadership that will end all the Republican word games with our Constitutional rights. We have them and we want to keep them, it's that simple. John Kerry will make sure that we do.