Separation Of Church & State? How Quaint!

It appears that the United States Senate has averted the so-called nuclear option over the filibuster fight. A compromise has been announced which will allow for a vote on the judges in question.

However, it remains to be seen how long this truce will last. The current battle has never really been over the few judges in question, but rather what will happen when vacancies on the Supreme Court open up. And with Chief Justice Reihnquist battling cancer and two other members of the Court in their 80's, it's only a matter of time. That's where the real battle will come. The religious right is hoping to gain a solid majority on the Court so that they can overturn Roe vs. Wade, the 1972 decision which gave women the right to choose whether or not to have an abortion.

My personal feeling on abortion is that I would never have one. Then again, that's easy for me to say since I'm a 46 year old male past my prime childbearing years. But that doesn't give me--or anyone else for that matter--the right to impose my belief system on the rest of the country. The people that now control the Republican party, however, see no problem with shoving their interpretation of the Holy Bible down the throats of 280 million Americans.

The important thing about maintaining the judicial filibuster is that it essentially means nominees have to be acceptable to at least 60 senators. That keeps extremists with personal agendas--liberal or conservative--off the Federal bench.

If anyone still doubts that this filibuster fight has been over religion, they should read this. A number of religious leaders and social conservatives in Iowa has sent a letter to "potential presidential candidates" warning that any Republican senator who opposes abolishing the filibuster rule "will face consequences in the 2008 caucuses." This is directed against Senators John McCain and Chuck Hagel, who are expected to make a run for the GOP nomination (along with Majority leader Bill Frist) in three years. And the Iowa caucuses, of course, are the first real contest between the various candidates.

Enjoy your constitutionally guaranteed separation of church & state while you can, folks. Its days are numbered.