Bravo to Bruce Shapiro! Ronald Reagan's Supreme Court legacy is close to becoming every woman's nightmare. Reagan opened the door to the Christian fundamentalist revolution, and it's become stronger and stronger ever since. Having grown up in Oklahoma, the heart of the Bible Belt, I understand the force of beliefs that those on the Christian Right carry with them in their battle -- and it is a battle -- to either convert us all or force the country to live under the rules of their fundamentalist Biblical interpretations. They know beyond any doubt that God is on their side; thus, they will not stop until we stop them.
Will America not wake up to these threats to our freedoms until it's too late, until, for instance, we see the end of women's rights and the beginning of fetus rights? This election is actually a crossroads event. Those of us that value our civil rights need to vote, and to vote for Gore.
-- Ellen Reeder
I am an ardent Green Party and Ralph Nader supporter, and so I apologize on behalf of all of us for minimizing the differences between Gore and Bush. My best response is that elections should not be all about the short term. Yes, justices serve for life, but there will be more appointments four years from now and four years from that. You quote Barbara Ehrenreich: "The Supreme Court gets dragged out every four years to squash any attempt to escape the Democratic Party." Do you see that changing? Ever?
It is time to break the cycle of conservative Democratic candidates facing more conservative Republicans.
-- Michael Rochmes
Bruce Shapiro's article is undermined not only by its hysterical tone, but by its galling factual errors. For example, Shapiro claims that out of seven Supreme Court confirmations under Reagan and Bush, only one -- Souter -- has turned liberal. Problem is, there were FIVE Supreme Court confirmations under Reagan/Bush, not seven. The five were (in order): O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter and Thomas. The other four members of the Supreme Court are not Reagan/Bush nominees -- Rehnquist and Stevens both predate Reagan, and Breyer and Ginsburg were both appointed by Clinton.
-- Stuart Buck
Harvard Law School, Class of 2000
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