BLOG THE VOTE! The U.S. Supreme Court is why you've gotta vote on Nov 4!

Today's super-important reason to VOTE:

The Supreme Court

As the New York Times said in an editorial recently, it's really "The Kennedy Court" - they said that because even though the Chief Justice is Roberts, since there are 9 members of the court - 4 almost always vote conservatively, 4 almost always vote liberally - and Justice Kennedy is the swing vote. *

Now WHY is the Supreme Court an important reason to VOTE?

Check out the ages of the current liberal members of the court:

Ruth Bader Ginsberg is 75.

David Souter is 69.

Stephen Breyer is 70.

John Paul Stevens is 88. (Yes, you read that correctly. He was born in April, 1920, he was appointed by President Ford and has been on the court since 1975. Realistically, what are the chances he'll be still serving in four years?)



McCain has said he'll replace any outgoing Justices with conservative ones. (Check out more of his comments here.) (And here, where this quote is from:)

"[National Review journalist Ramesh] Ponnuru: Are there any members of the current Supreme Court that you particularly admire or regard as a model?

Sen. McCain: Eh of course, Antonin Scalia. He’s a lot of our conservative models, I admire how articulate he is, but I also from everything I’ve seen I admire Roberts as well.

I think it’s vital to strictly interpret the Constitution of the United States and have a record of that. Not just a statement of it, but a record of it."
— John McCain interview with The National Review, March 5, 2007

Obama has said he'll replace any outgoing Justices with liberal ones. (Like this quote from this article:)

"We need somebody who's got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it's like to be a young teenage mom. The empathy to understand what it's like to be poor, or African-American, or gay, or disabled, or old. And that's the criteria by which I'm going to be selecting my judges."

The Supreme Court is the final verdict on so many things that affect our lives and our country:

Abortion rights.

Gay rights.

The Right to a fair and speedy trial.

A balance to the power of the executive branch.

The power of corporations versus the individual.

A check to the tyranny of the majority.

Protection and Equal rights for minorities.

It's VERY likely that whoever is the next President of the United States of America will appoint at least one if not two new Justices. Those appointments will shape the future of our country for decades to come.

It could not be more important to VOTE!


What are we kid and adult lit bloggers going to do about it? Well, the amazing Colleen Mondor, the awesome Gregory K.and I are taking the elephants and the donkeys by the horns, as it were, and organizing a one-day BLOG BLAST - where a big group of us lit bloggers will blog on Monday November 3, 2008, about WHY it's so important to get out there and VOTE! (Do you want to be one of the bloggers talking about the importance of VOTING? See here for how to join in the event!)

Thanks, and don't forget to register to vote!!!

Namaste,
Lee

*From the wikipedia site on the Supreme Court:

Seven of the current justices of the court were appointed by Republican presidents, while two were appointed by a Democratic president. It is popularly accepted that Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito compose the Court's conservative wing.

Justices Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg and Breyer are generally thought of as the Court's liberal wing.^[13] Justice Kennedy, generally thought of as a conservative who "occasionally vote[s] with the liberals", is considered most likely to be the swing vote that determines the outcome of certain close cases.^[14]



For more on why the court matters, check out People For The American Way's website and campaign.