Posted on 03/06/2009 9:15:49 AM PST by EternalVigilance
In a move that should give social conservatives great pause, Governor Sarah Palin has appointed a former board member of Planned Parenthood to the Alaska State Supreme Court.
Palin appointed Anchorage Superior Court Judge Morgan Christen to the state’s highest court on Wednesday. Along with Christen’s former board member status with Planned Parenthood.
There is no disputing Palin’s appointment of Christen will cause the Alaska Supreme to lean left and will ensure a more activist court when it comes to gay marriage, and abortion. The Christen appointment is key because she replaces justice Warren Mathews, one of the dissenting votes striking down the parental consent legislation.
The Governor, who early on won the support of Alaska liberals after she pushed through an enormous, unprecedented tax increase on the oil industry, seems to be back in their good graces with this appointment.
ADN liberal bloggers responded to Palin’s Supreme Court appointment writing,
“Ohmigawd!??The governor's been taken over by space aliens.??What an improvement!”
“Wow. Way to go Palin! I can't believe I just said that. But hey, credit where credit is due.”
“Glad to see a woman in the position to balance out the court. Good for Palin for keeping bible thumper beliefs out of the court system and honoring the separation of Church and State.”
“This is the one good action that Sarah Palin has taken over the past three years. And I have no problem admitting it. Great pick!!!! So even if the wing-nut parental consent bill passes, the state Supremes now have enough votes to overturn it as unconstitutional.”
Granted Palin would have had to put up a fight to block the appointment of the far left Christen to the court. Under Alaska law the judicial council made up mostly of liberal lawyers gets to filter out candidates who do not hold a leftist background. The governor must pick from the names forwarded.
But former governor Frank Murkowski during his term fought the process and at first refused to name any of the names submitted to him. The liberal media beat him up pretty bad over it and he eventually caved.
If Governor Palin would have taken on this fight, it probably would have ended up in court. If she had taken up the fight and asked for all the candidates’ names that applied to be forwarded, it would have brought to the public’s attention that trial lawyers control the third branch of government in Alaska. But with the governor refusing to spend any political capital on this issue, it is sure to disappear from Alaska’s political landscape.
The governor caving into trial lawyers also guarantees an activist court will continue to push its agenda on the people of Alaska. It will continue to stand between you and your child, continue to redefine marriage and block development.
Palin appointing Christen kills any move by the legislature to pass parental consent legislation. The new court with Christen on it will surely strike down any new laws. This is one of the reason Palin’s caving is confusing. Just recently held a news conference standing side by side with conservative lawmakers sponsoring new parental consent legislation.
Refusing to fight for parental consent laws is risky for Palin. It clearly will help her avoid controversy from the liberal media. But conservatives supporting her won't like the fact she appointed a former Planned Parenthood board member to Alaska’s highest court.
Many of the governor’s conservative supporters have ignored her high taxes and liberal anti free market policies. They support her simply because she says she is pro-life and is open about her faith. But the Christen appointment proves that while the governor lives the pro-life message in her personal life, she is not willing to spend political capital on the issue in her political life.
I take it that you agree with EV's position, posted above, that the National Right to Life Committee is not pro-life?
Hang in there, you are correct. It’s clear that EV cares less about achieving real-world results than he does about posturing on the issue.
And frankly, simply being pro-life doesnt make you morally unimpeachable. There are a few, and i stress a FEW, who simply want to excercise power over others. They arent much different than any other extremist. Cheryl Crow and the toilet paper, the anti-gunners, Algore, etc come to mind as examples.
Comparing his post, to your response, is instructive.
To be fair, I think EV and those like him honestly believe that they’re doing the right thing. I just happen to disagree with them, for which I am basically labeled an accomplice to the murder of the unborn, which could not be further from the truth.
Ping, thought you would find this thread interesting.
Really? Why is that me and my people were the only ones helping the only conservative candidate in the IL-5 congressional primary which took place on Tuesday? Why are still standing with our pro-life conservative FReeeper nominee while Michael Steele runs away from the race, one which opens an opportunity to directly confront the heart of the Democrat corruption?
You folks are deluding yourselves. You've bought into a false pragmatism which isn't really practical, it is simply short-sighted.
We, on the other hand, are principled and practical. We put our boots where our principles and our mouths are.
Have you donated to Rosaana Pulido yet?
Actually, there are a whole lot of them. They're the folks who either actively or through inaction abet the exercise of the ultimate human power over others: the unlawful, immoral, unconstitutional taking of their lives.
If you see my post 276 above, I agree. He does believe he is doing the right thing, which makes the harm he is doing all the sadder.
Again, my old friend, you’re posting ignorantly.
Are the unborn persons?
Ask the daughter of the AIP’s leader, Maya Keyes.
You might be correct. But i still think its just moral preening when i see people stamp their feet and demand only their perfect result.
Ill believe its more sincere when i see them taking actions to change the fact that a heartbreaking percentage of todays young women see it as a right as much as they do voting.
Ultimately, the battle won’t be won by dictatorial exercises on our part. The battle needs to be won the hard way, by changing the minds of opposition. Otherwise, it wont matter what the purists think, because we won’t ever hold power anyway.
Don’t try and be disingenuous with what I’m saying.
The Bill of Rights and the Constitutional Amendments are protected from infringement by both federal and state governments. Anything not bound to the federal government is left to the people.
But people do not SEE abortion in that manner. They do not TREAT abortion as robbing someone of an unalienable right to life.
Until we have a shift in that perspective, we’re screwed as a nation. Overturning Roe v. Wade and returning abortion as an issue to the states is our best bet at the moment to changing minds and SAVING LIVES.
Repost!
xxxx
Article 4, § 5 of the Alaska Constitution: “The governor shall fill any vacancy in an office of supreme court justice or superior court judge by appointing one of two or more persons nominated by the judicial council.”
She had no choice in the matter. Pick the hardcore leftist, or the one who was less left.
She went with the gal who was less left.
Also, did or does Palin know that Christen is pro-abortion. The group was not planned parenthood at the time, they didn’t promote abortions at the time, the application linked above makes no mention of it.
You are accusing Palin of nominating a pro-abortion candidate when we DON’T KNOW that Christen is pro-abortion. You are making the assumption based on what the MSM says. You should know better.
Again, the more important question- Why is this Alaskan’s for Life promoting the more liberal, pro-abortion Smith? Don’t you think that question raises red flags about their charge?
xxxx
So don’t jump the gun. We are dealing with the MSM here.
Yes they are.
BUT THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE DO NOT SEE IT LIKE THAT.
Overturning Roe v. Wade and returning the issue to the states is the best way of opening up debate and convincing people as to the God-given right to life to all people, from conception onward.
Your position of ‘You want to return abortion to the states? YOU’RE NOT PRO-LIFE!’ is ultimately self-defeating.
You mean when I said 'He does believe he is doing the right thing'?. All I can do is honestly post my best judgement. I still regret that Dr. Keyes wasn't elected in 2000, although he has certainly done some things I disagreed with, and cannot support his third party direction. I do appreciate the irony of his running a party originally founded by George Wallace. It just shows that politics is a very confusing business.
Like i said, REAL WORLD results. The ill 5th district voted 33% for Bush last time, and has given us Blagovich, Rostenkowski, and very recently, Rahm Emanuel.
I hope you succeed there in the 5th dist. But it doesn’t exactly serve as evidence that you want *real world* results. Think of it like this, lets say im working as hard as i can for Newt Gingrich to unseat Diane Feinstein in San Francisco.
Admirable? absolutely! Real world? ill let you decide.
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