More Editorials Denounce Frist

Last night I posted excerpts from and links to a dozen newspaper editorials that denounce Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's participation in Justice Sunday. The April 24th event is a national telecast beamed into churhces and on Christian TV and on the web. Promotional materials for the telecast decry Democrats, liberals and other supposed opponents of "people of faith." As usual, the theocratic Christian Right thinks that the only people of faith are thier people, and the only faith that matters is their faith.

Editorial writers are on a roll. Let's hear from some more.

"The GOP is joining with religious-right organizations to miscast Democratic opposition to the 10 appointees as an attack on faith."

"Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has signed on with the so-called Justice Sunday event that is rallying a number of religious-right groups and figures. The organizers claim that the filibuster is being used against 'people of faith' and that Democrats are, as the head of the sponsoring Family Research Council says, out to 'rob us of our Christian heritage...' No decent political party has any business taking part in such demagoguery."

-- Syndicated columnist Tom Teepen, Cox News Service, as it appeared in the Independent Record (Helena, MT); Minneapolis Star Tribune, and many others.


"During the Terri Schiavo spectacle, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., claimed that he could diagnose the brain-damaged woman from a videotape. By pandering to groups that would establish an American theocracy, Sen. Frist commits more political quackery."

"This Sunday, Sen. Frist will address, through a videotape, what the Family Research Council calls 'Judicial Sunday,' an event that Protestant fundamentalists will stage in Louisville, Ky., to pressure senators who oppose any of President Bush's nominees for the federal courts. The council, which opposes abortion, embryonic stem-cell research and legal status for homosexual couples, is preaching demagoguery by claiming that those who oppose the president's nominees are 'against people of faith.' By lending his name, Sen. Frist joins that demagoguery."

-- The Palm Beach Post


"Sen. Bill Frist, the majority leader from Tennessee, is not the first politician to turn to religion for help with an agenda."

"Still, Frist's plan for a videotaped address to a major church gathering Sunday regarding judicial appointments is drawing valid criticism. He should reconsider aligning with the Family Research Council's planned event 'Justice Sunday,' in which organizers bill opposition to President Bush's nominees as being 'against people of faith.'"

"That characterization of filibuster threats by Democrats is extremely unfair and off-base. The filibuster issue, on its own, could pose a vitriolic political battle, but it has not been about religion and shouldn't be painted that way now."

-- The Tennesseean


"Billed as a corrective to "the liberal, anti-Christian dogma of the left," the ironically named 'Justice Sunday' will attempt to stiffen the spines of Republicans in Congress who may have second thoughts about the wisdom of ending the right to filibuster by heathen Democrats."

"If this sounds like an unconscionable attempt by tax-exempt religious institutions to dictate the contour of American democracy, it is. Frist, R-Tenn., could care less about fairness if appearing on a program with known theocrats will curry favor with the mullahs who'll be fashioning the Republican presidential platform in 2008."

-- Columnist Tony Norman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


"Right-wing Christian groups and the Republican politicians they bankroll have done much since the last election to impose their particular religious views on all Americans. But nothing comes close to the shameful declaration of religious war by Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader, over the selection of judges for federal courts.... Frist is determined to get judges on the federal bench who are loyal to the Republican fringe and, he hopes, would accept a theocratic test on decisions."


-- The International Herald Tribune (reprinted from The New York Times)


"Republican William Frist, the majority leader of the United States Senate, has polarized the Senate and damaged the institution by catering to the religious right. His intention to support a ban on the Senate filibuster will be seen for what it is: an attempt to get a leg up on the Republican nomination for president by pleasing conservative Republicans who support religious-based organizations."

"So will his decision to participate in a 'Justice Sunday' television program April 24 sponsored by the Family Research Council, among a number of groups favoring a filibuster ban so that they can seat more conservative federal judges with strong religious viewpoints... The separation of church and state matters. It matters because those who compose the majority in government and the people who elected them, may one day find themselves in the minority and face retribution from those whose religious beliefs are different from theirs."

-- The Day (New London, CT)


"Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist received some mild praise recently when he backed away from the incendiary attacks on the courts by his House counterpart, Tom DeLay."

"Apparently, however, it was the messenger and not the message that troubled him."

"In the latest twist to the reckless Republican assault on the integrity and independence of the American judicial system, Sen. Frist has agreed to contribute a videotaped speech to a conservative Christian simulcast that portrays Democrats as opposing 'people of faith' for federal judgeships."

"That's utter rubbish, and Sen. Frist knows it."

-- The Louisville Courier-Journal


Meanwhile, the Clergy and Laity Network is mobilizing to organize counter events on the same day, calling it Social Justice Sunday. The CLN is a leader of Building the Beloved Community, a one-stop-shop for information on the counter events of Social Justice Sunday, the Break the Silence Bus Tour and events of over 60 co-sponsoring organizations. Check it out for news, blog items, lists of sponsoring organizations and more.

As I wrote the other day, friends, the Lights are Coming on in America.