Bush impact & Book-Banning (OT)

[Demelza]

No: HPFGUIDX 5522

--- In HPforGrownups at egroups.com, Penny & Bryce Linsenmayer 
<pennylin at s...> wrote:
> Hi --
> 
> Demelza wrote:
> 
> > Seeing how the Supreme Court voted against school prayer before 
school
> >
> > football games (which seems awfully anti-Religious Right to me), 
I'm
> > not to worried about the "Religious Right's" influence on the 
Supreme
> > Court. I'm more worried about the non-"Religious Right" groups 
that
> > want to ban books such as "Huckleberry Finn" and "Catcher in the
> > Rye" due to their un-"Politically Correct" content.
> 
> You are aware that several of the current justices are approaching a
> very advanced age, correct?  If any of them should die or retire 
from
> the Court during a Bush administration, he would select the new
> replacement justices.  *That's* the issue.  The composition of the 
Court
> is currently centrist enough to make reasonable decisions in most
> instances, but that could easily change.  Add in another Scalia or
> Clarence Thomas and who knows what sort of decisions might be 
rendered.
> IMO!
> 
> I do agree with you that book-banning is not limited to groups with
> fundamentalist ties.  Many books are banned because they are deemed 
to
> be not politically correct (your examples, plus "Little House on the
> Prairie" spring to mind).  The question then becomes what happens 
when
> the book-banning is challenged?  It eventually ends up in the court
> system, and inevitably in the *federal* court system.  Federal court
> judges & S Ct appointments are handled by the executive 
administration
> then in power in Washington.  So . . . . deduce from that what you 
will.
> 
> Penny

Ginsburg was born in 1933. Stoufer born in 1939. Thomas born in 1948. 
Breyer born in 1938. Scalia born 1936. Stevens born 1920. Rehnquist 
born 1924. O'Connor born 1930. Kennedy born 1936. Stoufer is the 
eldest at 80 and Rehnquist is the second eldest at 76 years old.

"Very advanced age" to me are the mid-late 90 year olds to 
centagenerians I work with at the nursing home and some of them are 
quite "sturdy" for their ages!

On the other hand, you do make a good point. If Gore becomes 
president, then he could very well appoint very liberal judges that 
would upset the centrist composition of the court. 

>From my point of view the extremist practices of the past presidents 
of "loading" the Court with those who march to the drums of the 
extremes of their parties is the most damaging to the political 
process. Average Joe and Jane American aren't being represented by 
these extremists apppointments: the special interest groups are. And, 
in my opinion, the special interest groups have done a very good job 
convincing the Average American that they represent the mainstream.