As Judd Legum notes (see below), the list of signatories "includes two presidential candidates, Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee." (Click to enlarge -- a little.)by KenOne thing the Roberts Court has had to cultivate, given the number of bombshells it drops in among its major-case rulings, is a sense of theater, or at least careful planning of the way and especially the sequence in which those decisions are released. With the result that when decisions are announced, we usually can't tell the significance of the scheduling until we find out what the Court was sitting on.It was clear that something was going to be announced today, and in addition it was established that a public "non-argument session" has been added to the calendar Thursday at 10am on what would otherwise have been just a "conference day."There are some big decisions to come, like the ruling on the lying-crackpot -challenge -- likely to be sustained despite its bogosity -- to federal subsidies for customers buying health insurance on the federal exchange rather than state ones, and the same-sex-marriage question. In fact, all that was announced this morning was a few fairly minor rulings.Which happily gives the Court more time to consider this ad placed in the Washington Post last Wednesday by a marauding band of Crap Christians parading their piety.ThinkProgress's Judd Legum reports, in "44,500 People, Including Two Presidential Candidates, Vow To Defy The Supreme Court On Marriage Equality" (lotsa links onsite):
By the end of the month, the Supreme Court will decide whether there is a constitutional right to marry for same-sex couples. Most legal pundits predict that a majority of the court will rule in favor of marriage equality.But a group led by anti-gay pastor Rick Scarborough is vowing to defy any ruling by the Supreme Court that recognizes same-sex marriage. Scarborough announced the effort in a column on WND, a website best known for relentlessly publishing conspiracy theories about Barack Obama’s birthplace. In the column, published April 27, Scarborough asserts, “[t]he Supreme Court can no more redefine marriage than it can redefine gravity. Neither is in the Court’s legitimate jurisdiction.”The group placed a full page advertisement in the Washington Post last week, stating, “we will not honor any decision by the Supreme Court which will force us to violate a clear biblical understanding of marriage as solely the union of one man and one woman.”The group claims to have more than 44,500 signatures, which are being collected on defendmarriage.org. According to Scarborough, those who signed the document “will accept any fine and jail time to protect their religious freedom and the freedom of others.”It would be easy to dismiss as a fringe effort, but the list includes two presidential candidates, Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee. (Neither appear in the ad but both are listed on the website.) Santorum was the runner-up to Romney in the 2012 Republican primary, winning 11 states. Polls currently have Huckabee in a tie for fifth in the GOP primary, less than 3 points behind leader Jeb Bush.Other prominent signatories include Tom DeLay, the former Majority Leader of the House Of Representatives, and reality TV stars Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar.
I think certainly the signatories should be watched closely to make sure they honor their promise to"accept any fine and jail time to protect their religious freedom and the freedom of others." that may come their way. I assume this means they won't even contest the penalties? No, I actually don't assume this. They'll fight it like mad, and use every step of their religious persecution as a fund-raising opportunity.One thing I definitely question is the signatories' concern for the religious freedom of "others." Others who believe the same things they do, yes; others who believe anything different from what they believe, they'll be leading the witch hunt. They're that kind of folks.#