It's all just a little bit of history repeating



I'm reminded of Marx here (Karl, not Groucho), who said "History always repeats itself, the first time as tragedy, and the second as farce."

MONTGOMERY, Ala., Aug. 20 -- They still talk about Gov. George C. Wallace here, defiantly standing in that long-ago schoolhouse door. And from now on, they also will be talking about Chief Justice Roy S. Moore and his modern-day version of Alabama-style civil disobedience.

Today, Moore, a Baptist, refused to comply with a federal court deadline to remove a 2-ton granite monument of the Ten Commandments that he installed in the rotunda of the state Supreme Court building. While the justice continued his legal fight from inside the courthouse, dozens of Moore's supporters gathered in prayer circles outside and made plans to kneel in front of the monument to block any attempt to forcibly remove it. Teams of round-the-clock monument patrols were put in place, and "minutemen" brigades were being formed to roust supporters at a moment's notice from hotel rooms or their homes if crews arrive at the courthouse to remove the monument.

You know, a judge should know he's supposed to uphold the law. And a strict conservative shouldn't be trying to make new law for himself. And since I'm feeling expansive tonight let's go with another quote:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

If the state starts installing one religious code at the courthouse, we are establishing a state religion. If Judge Roy Moore wanted to put up a secular code, say the Code of Hammurabi, nobody'd have call to complain. But when you put one up that starts out "I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me," you can see why people would get concerned about establishment.



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