Catherine Crier at HuffPost:Pulls no punches, will scare the * out of you

[Gloria]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/catherine-crier/contempthow-the-right-is_b_7199.html



CONTEMPT—How The Right Is Wronging American Justice is the title of my new book that hits the shelves on Tuesday. In the wake of the Terri Schiavo debacle and the outrageous attack on the nation’s jurists, I wanted to write a book in defense of the federal court system and its judges and to explain how, though imperfect, the system has evolved very much as the founders intended.

But I don’t want that anymore.
Now I want this book to be a wake-up call, a warning flare, a political grenade that provokes the silent majority of this country to stand up and take notice of the attempted coup that is underway in the country.

On August 14, 2005, at 7:00 p.m. EDT, the Family Research
Council aired a television special watched by an estimated
seventy-nine million viewers (twenty-seven million more viewers
than watched the last episode of Friends).

SNIP

Should the nation have minimum wage laws? Should corporations be held responsible when they commit serious wrongs? Should our environment, the air and water, be protected from polluters large and small? Should the Bill of Rights apply to all of the states, or should we have fifty different fiefdoms wherein a simple majority of state legislators can decide our fates?

For the first time since the early twentieth century, these
items are actually in play.

Of course, the key to each and every one of these issues is the federal courts. And this drives the extreme Right to distraction. They have nothing but disdain for the founding fathers’ belief in three branches of government and the prescient system of checks and balances. Indeed, they are rewriting America’s revolutionary history to accommodate their point of view.

For all of those Americans who believe that our democracy
is safe, you are wrong. Today, the radical Right is winning, and
they know it. Sooner rather than later, we may be living in a very different country, a country that had been ours, a country that will be theirs.

[LSparkle]

1. OMG -- listening to Coburn at Roberts hearings and she's right

He is talking about rights deriving from a creator, not legislators, blah-blah-scary-blah ... From my listening, he's practically IN TEARS over this! THIS MAN (and all of his ilk) MUST BE STOPPED!

[Guaranteed]

2. Well, that's what it says in the D. of I.

Rights such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness....unalienable, endowed by "their Creator."

I actually agree with that. The rights I claim, at least the most basic of them, are non-negotiable, and they're not given to me by any other person or group of people.

[flpoljunkie]

4. But the Creator is not mentioned in the Constitution. Right?

[Guaranteed]

11. I don't think so.

The D of I is what lays out the philosophical basis for democracy, though.

It's what says the government belongs to the people, as opposed to the other way around.

[delhurgo]

19. The Creator is not the god of the Bible though.

Remember, it also says "nature" and "nature's god". The Founders were expressing a deist view that even many atheists could probably accept. And as already has been pointed out, this is not in the Constitution. But it is an important part of the philosophy of liberty the country is founded on, beyond what is specifically in the Bill of Rights..

It is important to stress though that our rights/freedoms do not come from the government or each other, they come from this philosophy. But it has nothing to do with christianity or any other religion, and thats something Tom Coburn doesn't understand. There is no freedom of speech, RKBA, Sep of Church/State, Right to Privacy, etc, etc... in the Bible. If our freedoms were based on the Bible and on what Tom Coburn believes, we wouldn't have any - and this would be a theocracy.

[Guaranteed]

20. That's absolutely right.

See, the problem with making this argument, which is really just saying that the people's rights don't come from each other (which would make them privileges), but a higher power, is that people start thinking you're a Bible-thumper.

I get this shit all the time.

[gkhouston]

5. yes, but the D of I says that those rights are secured by

governments deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Do you think neocons give a rat's ass about the consent of the governed?

[Guaranteed]

9. That's right. "Creator" ---> rights to people -----> consent to

be governed.

And, no, they don't give a rat's ass about the consent of the governed. That's not Straussian at all.

[flpoljunkie]

6. Only good thing about Coburn is he may ask Roberts about Roe v. Wade...

unless, of course, he's been muzzled-something you definitely cannot count out!

[izzybeans]

10. This was posted earlier today. Very good summation

of the ideology pushing the current coup.

http://www.reasonablehosting.com/rrrgroup/dominionists.html

[mattclearing]

34. Actually, that's straight out of the Declaration of Independence.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Edit: I see this has already been said, but at least you have the quote now.

[Nikki Stone 1]

3. Very important. Recommended

:kick:

[converted_democrat]

7. recommended........n/t

[melody]

8. a-frickin-men

Catherine Crier is a former Texas judge at some level. She's a very well-respected jurist, also. This is MAJOR and I hope to hell somebody is listening to her.

[0007]

30. She is also a FAUX News shill. I'm surprised to hear this from her.

[Gloria]

31. Faux? I thought she was on Court TV??

eom

[0007]

52. May have been. I think you're right, but she was also employed

with FAUX News.

[melody]

33. CC's on Court TV and she's always held her ground

I think you're thinking of Nancy "Cry on Cue" Grace, who is a multi-network MSM whore.

[Andromeda]

41. Greta Van Susteren is on Faux,

not Nancy Grace. Both Catherine Crier and Nancy are on Court TV and Nancy has recently been hired to host on CNN's Headline News.

She is not a MSM whore but has been a frequent guest of and has guest-hosted on Larry King.

She is a Democrat who has given large amounts of money to Democratic candidates. She is also a victim's advocate and if I were a crime victim I would welcome the chance to have her represent me.

[0007]

51. Not if you were Clinton, you wouldn't.

[melody]

54. I dunno, Nancy Grace annoys the hell out of me

She's never met a suspect she didn't think was guilty. She also uses all manner of unfair, emotional tactics to sway people, rather than appeals to reason.

A friend of mine's father fell under her Torquemada approach. In the case of my friend's dad, he was innocent and was exonerated, but she STILL went after him like the Spanish Inquisition. My .02.

[0007]

50. No, I'm saying Catherine Crier was at FAUX News when

the impeachment hearing were going on and she was trying her best to get him out of office. Don't tell me what I'm thinking!!

[melody]

53. not telling you what you're thinking, just suggesting something

Eeek, cool off.

No offense intended. My error.

Crier has never struck me as being a right-winger in any sense, and I'm disgusted to hear that she did that to Clinton. She has taken positions on court cases I found objectionable, but that one takes the cake.

[0007]

56. Thank you! Just trying to get my point across that she is not

as not as nice as some may think.

[mrdmk]

36. This is her Bio

<snip>
Crier has hosted episodes of Court TV's signature primetime series The System and numerous other specials such as OJ Simpson: The Live Interview with Catherine Crier, Court TV Investigates: The Laci Peterson Murder, Serial Sniper: The Investigation, The Skakel Jury Speaks with Dominick Dunne and Catherine Crier, Osama bin Laden on Trial and Safe Passage: Voices from the Middle School, part of the network's public affairs initiative Choices and Consequences. Crier's work on The System documentary The Interrogation of Michael Crowe was recognized with a duPont-Columbia Award, and Crier has received three Gracie Allen awards, presented by the Foundation for American Women in Radio and Television, for Outstanding Program Host, Outstanding Talk Show, and for the Catherine Crier Live special, Grandmothers: Voices from Oklahoma City.


Prior to joining Court TV, Crier anchored The Crier Report for Fox News Channel, a live, hour-long nightly program, during which she interviewed celebrities and the leading newsmakers of the day. Crier joined FNC after spending three and a half years at ABC News, where she served as a correspondent and as a regular substitute anchor for Peter Jennings on ABC's World News Tonight, as well as a substitute host for Ted Koppel's Nightline. She also worked as a correspondent on 20/20, the network's primetime news magazine program. Crier was awarded a 1996 Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Journalism for her work on the segment "The Predators" which examined nursing home abuses throughout the United States.


Crier began her television career at CNN. She was co-anchor of both Inside Politics '92, a daily show which followed the 1992 political process and The World Today, the premier nighttime newscast. Additionally, she hosted Crier & Company, a live, half-hour news talk show, that included a panel of female policy experts discussing popular national and international issues.


Prior to her accomplished career in television journalism, Crier presided over the 162nd District Court in Dallas County, TX, as a State District Judge. When she took the bench in 1984, she became the youngest elected state judge in Texas history. From 1982 to 1984, Crier was a civil litigation attorney in Dallas and before that, from 1978 to 1981, an Assistant District Attorney and Felony Chief Prosecutor for the Dallas County District Attorney's office.
<end of snip>

If I remember correctly, Ms. Crier left for Fox when it first started. Apparently she did not stay!

[0007]

49. She was at FAUX News when the Clinton impeachment hearing were

going on and was trying her best to oust him.

[welshTerrier2]

12. perhaps our "faith in the system" is our greatest enemy

from the time we are small schoolchildren, we are indoctrinated about what a great country this is ... we are taught about the elaborate system of checks and balances designed to safeguard our democracy ...

but perhaps these beliefs are what lead to our utter passivity ... at a time where it is most important for citizens to be alert and to act, Americans seem to be hypnotized into a haze of material comforts and a blind faith that "the system will take care of itself" ...

it is our job to awaken the country to the growing threat ...

[undergroundpanther]

26. YES

Put no faith in systems or beliefs that feel warm and fuzzy..Look behind the fanfare to the people making the laws Look into thier decisions and ask why..and you will find soon enough the last coup happened long ago.
These evil elitist fuckers have fought to dominate us ever since this country was founded.

[npincus]

13. we've GOTTA get the House and/or Senate back in 2006

whether or not we prevail in 2008 (G-d help us if we don't).

[wryter2000]

15. I don't think we can wait until 2008

Besides, we saw what the bastards in Congress could do to a President they didn't like.

[npincus]

17. i agree completely.

[merbex]

14. Sounds like this book will be nominated for my book club n/t

[undergroundpanther]

16. I have been ranting about this

since reagan and I was called a conspirasy freak for it.Told that I was too extereme in my harshness for these evangelfucks..that I was off in left field.

Dammit finally alot too late people begin wake up.Maybe people should consider what the fringe the mainstream pooh poohs is saying for once instead of whining we are weird ,not just the warning flags like me but that other sick inhuman frings that occupies the whitehouse hellbent making the coup. The mainstream has blinded itself being moderate and believing bad people are not that bad,they've been duped,..and playing pretend it can't happen here..smug and shallow and obedient and incurious the mainstream was hearded along.. Now you realize it is a slaughter shoot..Duh'oh..If only you took thosse blinders off and risked a little exploration into speculation and questioned authority and "tradition" and instropected and looked at the way we live a bit more ,and paid attention.

[katsy]

18. If you were called a conspiracy freak...

then those who made that call are numbnuts!

The same numbnuts who will spank the Democrats if they rough up roberts at the confirmation hearing. In their minds, he's a decent looking chap... how could he possibly be unqualified?

roberts will be confirmed. What do you think?

[undergroundpanther]

23. Yeah

Because these fuckers want to rule the world,laws dion't mean shit unless THEY wrote them right..Or it's biblical(applies only to lower classes)

[Beam Me Up]

24. Happens to me from Democrats and progressives all the time.

Some of them think I'm crazy because I SEE that THIS IS NOT POLITICS AS USUAL. Or, rather, what we thought was the real politics had deeper currents that are now erupting more frequently into our social/political awareness.

Things they (the right) once had to cover up and hide they now do openly and quite blatantly with no fear of reprisal. What does that tell us? They believe, and probably rightly, that it no longer matters. It no longer matters what we see, what we believe, what we think. They do not need us or our opinions.

edit spelling

[undergroundpanther]

25. I am pretty damn

frustated with their game of make believe,because while they play moderate ,,Really bad people make bad things happen that hurt all of us.
We are being run by monsters who do not care want to control the world and win at any cost they have NO consience there fore no limit on the depravity they will do to get thier way.

[Nay]

35. Me, too. I still have a scrapbook filled with articles on Reagan's

godawful reign, but nobody listened to me. I was just a frothing-at-the-mouth ranter who made no sense. Now who're the idiots? We were right all along. Not that I am especially happy about that.

[MN ChimpH8R]

21. Time for a little Jefferson

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable rights; that among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." --Declaration of Independence as originally written by Thomas Jefferson, 1776. ME 1:29, Papers 1:315

[JDPriestly]

37. Thanks for posting this.

Roberts and the Republicans leave out the part, "that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."

Everyone should try paraphrasing this in his or her own language.

Here is my attempt:

Clearly, we are all equal at birth, and each of us is born with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In order to ensure that we enjoy these rights, we form governments that derive their powers from the consent of those they govern. If a FORM OF GOVERNMENT (?) does not respect the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness of governed by it and from whom it derives its power, those people have the right to throw out, to get rid of that form of government and put a new government in its place that is based on principles and organized in the way that the people believe is the most likely to make them safe and happy.

[slor]

22. Thanks for posting! n/t

[undergroundpanther]

27. Eisenhour said it best...

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex.

Farewell Address, Jan. 17, 1961

I would add Corporate church to that...

[MN ChimpH8R]

28. Ike is whirling in his grave

at about 20,000 RPM.

[undergroundpanther]

32. Wow could I use his head for an attachment for my dremel?

To cut my way through all this crap so people can begin to see what the fuck is going down here!

[Donna Zen]

29. I have heard that Ike had added "political"

to that statement, but in the end crossed it out.

According to Lewis Lapham (Gag Rule) and Paul Krugman (The Great Unraveling,) the forces in DC no longer believe that the Constitution is relevant today. Think about that. Lapham says that they talk about it quite openly at the AEI. The Constitution, according to the regime, was written for a different time, a time before we were an empire.

[mrdmk]

38. Bill Moyers did a speech similar to this subject

<snip>
Now transport those current scenes from our newspapers and television back to the first Book of the Bible - the Book of Genesis. They bring to life what we rarely imagine so graphically when we read of the great flood that devastated the known world. If you read the Bible as literally true, as fundamentalists do, this flood was ordered by God. "And God said to Noah, 'I have determined to make an end of all flesh... behold, I will destroy them with the earth." (6:5-13). "I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall die." (6:17-19) Noah and his family are the only humans spared - they were, after all, God's chosen. But for everyone else: "... the waters prevailed so mightily... that all the high mountains....were covered....And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, birds, cattle, beasts...and every man; everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life, died...." (7:17-23).

The flood is merely Act One. Read on: This God first "hardens the heart of Pharaoh" to make sure the Egyptian ruler will not be moved by the plea of Moses to let his people go. Then because Pharaoh's heart is hardened, God turns the Nile into blood so people cannot drink its water and will suffer from thirst. Not satisfied with the results, God sends swarms of locusts and flies to torture them; rains hail and fire and thunder on them destroys the trees and plants of the field until nothing green remains; orders every first-born child to be slaughtered, from the first-born of Pharaoh right on down to "the first-born of the maidservant behind the mill." An equal-murderous God, you might say. The massacre continues until "there is not a house where one was not dead." While the Egyptian families mourn their dead, God orders Moses to loot from their houses all their gold and silver and clothing. Finally, God's thirst for blood is satisfied, God pauses to rest - and boasts: "I have made sport of the Egyptians."

Violence: the sport of God. God, the progenitor of shock and awe.

And that's just Act II. As the story unfolds women and children are hacked to death on God's order; unborn infants are ripped from their mother's wombs; cities are leveled - their women killed if they have had sex, the virgins taken at God's command for the pleasure of his holy warriors. When his holy warriors spare the lives of 50,000 captives God is furious and sends Moses back to rebuke them and tell them to finish the job. One tribe after another falls to God-ordered genocide: the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites - names so ancient they have disappeared into the mists as fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters, grandparents and grandchildren, infants in arms, shepherds, threshers, carpenters, merchants, housewives - living human beings, flesh and blood: "And when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them; then you must utterly destroy them; you shall make no covenant with them, and show no mercy to them...(and) your eyes shall not pity them."
<end of snip>

The whole speech is about why people take their religion to the next level and impose it onto other people. It is truly scary about what these fundamentalist think and why fear, fear, fear plays into these their hearts.

link
http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/views05/0909-36.htm

[confludemocrat]

39. As did Paul Craig Roberts, someone orig. from other end of spectrum n/t

[AX10]

40. KICK

[crispini]

42. kick

[earth mom]

43. KICK!

:kick:

[converted_democrat]

44. .....

[LiberalinNC]

45. She nails it w/ this quote:

"For all of those Americans who believe that our democracy is safe, you are wrong. Today, the radical Right is winning, and they know it. Sooner rather than later, we may be living in a very different country, a country that had been ours, a country that will be theirs."

[oasis]

kick

[halobeam]

46. kick

[in_cog_ni_to]

47. 2 words. FILIBUSTER ROBERTS.

Thank you Catherine. That was an EXCELLENT blog post.

[seafan]

48. She was on Morning Sedition this morning. Great interview.

She is sounding the alarm for the under-the-radar agenda of the extreme right if they capture the courts.

It's not just about abortion or gay marriage.... it's about things like minimum wage, religion in our schools, loss of the bill of rights protections...

The courts are the last bastion of protection left for the people. And the radical right has control of the courts in its sights.


This is the war for our lives.

[truebrit71]

55. Yup...Roe v Wade just gets the headlines...

...the REAL goal is the establishment of a theocracy, pure and simple...