A win-win situation for Moore
Despite what divided analysts may say, former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore couldn't lose Monday.
If the U.S. Supreme Court's pair of Ten Commandments decisions did anything short of allowing the monuments on public property everywhere and for any purpose, he got to keep riding his one-trick pony. And if the decisions did just that, then he could paint himself as a great warrior who battled activist federal judges and won for God and states' rights.
As it is, the decisions leave Moore room to rally his base for a likely gubernatorial run by calling for his supporters "to stand up for their inalienable right to acknowledge God" and howling that the Court "is simply ignoring the words of the First Amendment and ruling by their own feelings" and continually rallying anger against the nebulous "them."
Other Alabama political notables weren't content to let Moore monopolize the outrage after the decisions, though. Gov. Bob Riley used the occasion to call for more conservative judges on the federal bench. Attorney General Troy King, meanwhile, "flogged the high court" and griped about the separation of church and state. U.S. Reps. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, and Spencer Bachus, R-Vestavia Hills, got their licks in, too.
State Christian Coalition President John Giles chimed in with a suggestion that Moore's monument may have been constitutional, despite Moore's repeated assertions that the display was meant to acknowledge God and the Court's explicit warning that displays meant to tout a particular religious agenda are unconstitutional. Giles also talked about executioners using jackhammers.
If the U.S. Supreme Court's pair of Ten Commandments decisions did anything short of allowing the monuments on public property everywhere and for any purpose, he got to keep riding his one-trick pony. And if the decisions did just that, then he could paint himself as a great warrior who battled activist federal judges and won for God and states' rights.
As it is, the decisions leave Moore room to rally his base for a likely gubernatorial run by calling for his supporters "to stand up for their inalienable right to acknowledge God" and howling that the Court "is simply ignoring the words of the First Amendment and ruling by their own feelings" and continually rallying anger against the nebulous "them."
Other Alabama political notables weren't content to let Moore monopolize the outrage after the decisions, though. Gov. Bob Riley used the occasion to call for more conservative judges on the federal bench. Attorney General Troy King, meanwhile, "flogged the high court" and griped about the separation of church and state. U.S. Reps. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, and Spencer Bachus, R-Vestavia Hills, got their licks in, too.
State Christian Coalition President John Giles chimed in with a suggestion that Moore's monument may have been constitutional, despite Moore's repeated assertions that the display was meant to acknowledge God and the Court's explicit warning that displays meant to tout a particular religious agenda are unconstitutional. Giles also talked about executioners using jackhammers.
posted by Alabamian at 5:10 PM
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