I’m totally for public education.
At every level. I can’t help but think Kim Davis, County Clerk of Rowan County
Kentucky is participating in a little remedial schooling right now. Mike
Huckabee tried to explain her position by citing basic items taught in high
school civics class Sunday on ABC’s
“This Week”. He seems to have fell asleep in a lot of history civics
classes himself. This produced a weird interpretation of the Dred Scot case
which basically said, prior to the 14th Amendment, blacks (free or
slave) were not citizens, regardless of being born on U.S soil. Not much else.
As a result Dred Scott couldn’t sue for freedom for himself or his free state
born children. He wasn’t a citizen. (Typical Supreme court avoidance of a
bigger issue.)
Dred Scott got drug out of the
grave by Huckabee in reference to the Kim Davis case. Somehow Mike thought
Lincoln defied the laws, courts, and other stuff in that case. Interesting,
Lincoln wasn’t in any elected office in 1857 when the ruling came out. The Dred Scott case was one of the catalysts
that led to the Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858. But free open debate, isn’t
exactly defying the law, its practicing it. (First Amendment.)
Not happy with picking on the
founder of his party, Huckabee next took aim at Gavin Newsom for defying the
law in San Francisco over gay marriage. This was of course true. Gavin did
commit a policy misdemeanor by issuing licenses for same sex marriage, but
stopped when ordered by the courts. Huckabee apparently forgot or decided to
use his super former minister powers to change the history of the Newsom
following court orders part. He claimed Newsom continues to defy the law.
Newsom’s goal was to start the
policy debate that lasted eleven years before gay marriage became fully
legal. To be honest, when Gavin Newsom
came up with his slick hair idea, I was flummoxed. Men and women were being fired from the army
for just being gay, marriage seemed a minor issue. Point to all this is, Huckabee seems to be
having trouble remembering basic history when he doesn’t agree with the result
of a political process so he manufactures his own version. If he wants to be
President he might want to bone up one basic history with Sarah Palin.
Huckabee and Palin probably should
visit Kim Davis in jail, and take advantage of the educational opportunities
while Mrs. Davis is in self-imposed government care. I doubt this was Davis’s last visit. There is
has been a lot of hoopla about the government (quickly extended to President
Obama himself) picking on Kim Davis’s for her enforcement of a now defunct
Kentucky law. She seems to interpret it based on selective reading of 5000 year
old campfire stories and selected parts of the Constitution. She’s hardly being repressed, discriminated
against as Christian, or “picked on.” The
clerk from Rowan County can stop the picking anytime she wants. All she has to
do is say she will agree to follow the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Huckabee (this was his defense of
Davis) seems to feel, while the Supreme Court has made their ruling, they
should give adequate time for the Kentucky legislature to pass laws that
instruct county clerks to change marriage licenses forms from Name of wife:__________; Name of husband__________, to Name of spouses____________.
Until the Kentucky legislature, has had time to make changes, Kim Davis isn’t
defying the court she’s just following current Kentucky law as it exists. It
sounded a lot like a white governor in the south in the 60’s explaining why he
couldn’t integrate schools. He went on to babble at length that courts don’t
get to make or change laws.
The founding fathers installed the
judiciary (specifically the Supreme Court) as they understood there would be disputes
about law interpretation. The courts are the point of arbitration. The
administrations duty is to enforce the rulings of the court. The
court does indeed get to modify law. Certainly when one law conflicts with
another. In this case the 14th and 1st amendments, and a
defunct law of a state which was determined to be superseded by the 14th
amendment.
Huckabee and Davis seem to feel
this struggle is to save sinners from entering government sanctioned common
property, economic pooling and inheritance agreements. More importantly saving Kim Davis from being
party to a contract for merged property, which apparently, might cause her
suffering for eternity. I wish nobody an eternity of damnation. The quickest
way to avoid that, is remove yourself from the sin. Davis seems unwilling to do
that. Rather, she is determined to save all citizens of her county from this
mass sin. More power to her.
Kim Davis certainly can try and
start a drive to define marriage in the constitution. That is what it would
take to change the current issue with gay marriage. I guess that is what she is
attempting. Suffering in a jail for some time could be a good catalyst and rally
cry for that movement. I just hope she has the 10-12 year fortitude to pursue
her goal. Martin Luther King invested quite a bit of his life time in such a
struggle. Course, in the end, what the hell difference does it make if two
peoples relationship is recognized contractually by the state to anyone? So far
it only seems to have generated lots of bits on the internet from religious
zealots who think they have the right to enforce their beliefs on everyone via
government. This kind of government enforcement of religion led to countless
blood baths and civil wars in Europe for hundreds of years. Wars based mainly
on whose interpretation of 5000 years of campfire stories were most correct.
Really, one group of people’s interpretation of poorly written stories is more
valid than the others, so I can oppress or kill you? No, the founding fathers
separated church from state for that reason.
It seems to me the judge who
imprisoned Kim Davis handed out the wrong punishment. She still doesn't seem to
understand the Constitution. Neither does Mike Huckabee. I would suggest if the
problem persists, the judge sentence them both to court ordered 12th grade
American Government class. As they apparently napped last time they took it, I
would suggest assignment of proctors to tap them when they doze off.
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