Atheist's anti-prayer suit smited by Rehnquist

New York Daily News ^ | 1/20/05 | Richard Sisk

[kattracks]

WASHINGTON - Ailing Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist showed he still had some legalistic punch yesterday, squashing an atheist's attempt to knock the traditional prayer out of President Bush's inauguration.

Rehnquist, 80, is scheduled to swear in Bush for his second term today; he has not been seen in public since October, when he announced he is battling thyroid cancer.

If Rehnquist cannot make it today, 84-year-old Associate Justice John Paul Stevens will pinch-hit for him.

Rehnquist set the stage for the swearing-in, however, by rejecting a suit by atheist Michael Newdow to cancel the prayer. Without comment, Rehnquist deep-sixed the suit, and the prayer will come off as scheduled.

Newdow, a California doctor and lawyer, once tried to have the phrase "one nation under God" taken out of the Pledge of Allegiance. He also tried to have the prayer eliminated from Bush's first inauguration.

Richard Sisk

[kb2614]

[ovrtaxt]

Fitting that a man in the last stages of life address this issue.

An atheist .v a man preparing to see God face to face.

Newdow looks so silly now.

[freeangel]

"smited?"

Ya gotta love the "biblical" language! hahahahah

[weegee]

If Newdow is an acknowledged atheist, what does that Rev. before his name mean? Is he acknowledging that his "no god" of atheism is a religion as much as any "god(s)" of another faith are religions?

An agnostic says "we cannot be sure" if there is a God. An atheist has no such doubt. He has faith in the "no god" God.

I really wish that the no god people would quit pushing their religion on the rest of the world. Freedom OF religion is NOT freedom FROM religion.

[LibertarianInExile]

If I eat a chunk from an apple, I haven't bited the apple.

Seems to me it should be "smit." His suit was, after all, a bunch of smit...oops, darn that spellchecker! :)

[G.Mason]

Dismissed without comment.

SMACK!

[ovrtaxt]

Agreed.

I've also debated commies, couching their ideology in the form of state worship. They don't appreciate that, I've found.

[freeangel]

Aw, come on. Tell me you haven't "hated" the jerks like newdow and the aclu destroying this country.

[ovrtaxt]

Don't get your grammatical sensibilities into such a snit.

[LibertarianInExile]

I'm not losing sleep over it or anything, don't worry. It's not like someone gets smit every day, ya know. :)

[pillbox_girl]

I still fail to see why these so-called athiests care about a simple prayer.

[LibertarianInExile]

Well, yeah, but that has a lot of other reasons to be considered proper. I suppose I can name another -ite word that would be conjugated -ited (expedited leaps to mind) but it just doesn't sound right.

Main Entry: smite
Pronunciation: 'smIt
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): smote /'smOt/; smit·ten /'smi-t&n/; or smote; smit·ing /'smI-ti[ng]/
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English smItan to smear, defile; akin to Old High German bismIzan to defile
transitive senses
1 : to strike sharply or heavily especially with the hand or an implement held in the hand
2 a : to kill or severely injure by smiting b : to attack or afflict suddenly and injuriously [smitten by disease]
3 : to cause to strike
4 : to affect as if by striking [children smitten with the fear of hell -- V. L. Parrington]
5 : CAPTIVATE, TAKE [smitten with her beauty]
intransitive senses : to deliver or deal a blow with or as if with the hand or something held
- smit·er /'smI-t&r/ noun

Maybe it's "smote."

[kattracks]

It's not the prayer they care about, it's the power to stifle free speech they're after.

[ovrtaxt]

Don't get bit by the smit snit. It's the pits. Found a cute game.

[dawn53]

Conjugation of "smite"

Principal Parts: smites, smiting, smote, smitten/smote
Infinitive: to smite
Perfect infinitive: to have smitten
Present participle: smiting
Past Participle: smitten or smote (nice to have a choice here)
Present
I, we, you, they smite

he, she, it smites

Present Progressive
I am smiting

we, you, they are smiting

he, she, it is smiting

Future
I, he, she, it

we, you, they will smite

Past
I, he, she, it

we, you, they smote

Past Progressive
I, he, she, it was smiting

we, you, they were smiting

Present Perfect
I, we, you, they have smitten

he, she, it has smitten

Past Perfect
I, he, she, it

we, you, they had smitten

Future Perfect
I, he, she, it, we, you, they

will have smitten

[ZinGirl]

Present I, we, you, they smite he, she, it smites Present Progressive I am smiting we, you, they are smiting he, she, it is smiting Future I, he, she, it we, you, they will smite Past I, he, she, it we, you, they smote Past Progressive I, he, she, it was smiting we, you, they were smiting Present Perfect I, we, you, they have smitten he, she, it has smitten Past Perfect I, he, she, it we, you, they had smitten Future Perfect I, he, she, it, we, you, they will have smitten

Rehnquist did 'em all...

;)

[saveliberty]

Isn't the correct past participle for this sentence structure "smote"?

[Egon]

Isn't the correct past participle for this sentence structure "smote"?

Either way, Newdow is in DEEP SMIT!

[dawn53]

See post 16, you have a choice, LOL...smitten or smote.