Rove, O'Connor, and Our Rights

Below the Belt: A Biweekly Column by NOW President Kim Gandy

July 15, 2005

Treason, noun, "The crime of betraying one's country" (Compact Oxford English Dictionary). High treason: "Violation by a subject of his allegiance to his sovereign or to the state" (Oxford English Dictionary). Traitor: "one who betrays another's trust or is false to an obligation or duty" (Merriam-Webster). Sound familiar?

Last week, MSNBC political analyst Lawrence O'Donnell reported that Karl Rove was the White House source who revealed the identity and thus threatened the life of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame. Rove was apparently acting at the time to discredit allegations made by Plame's husband, Joseph C. Wilson, IV, who had publicly refuted the White House claim about Iraq's supposed weapons of mass destruction. In other words, Rove exposed and endangered a female CIA operative - to get to her husband. This was not only an offense against Plame, whose life and work were put in jeopardy, it was an offense against our country and our government.

There has already been a call for George W. Bush to immediately suspend Rove's security clearances, pending the outcome of the government investigation. After all, he's leaked highly confidential and dangerous information for political gain before, why wouldn't he do it again? By all rights, PlameGate should be a scandal of the highest order, certainly as well-publicized as any of the minor scandals during the Clinton Administration. If your local TV or radio station isn't covering the scandal, call them on it right now! You can use NOW's interactive media center at http://www.now.org/media to get local media contact info.

Meanwhile, the biggest story right now is, of course, the battle for the soul of the Supreme Court. With Sandra Day O'Connor's resignation, we're in a frantic battle to save the one remaining moderate branch of government from total right-wing control.

And this time it's not like a Presidential race, which happens every four years, or a Senator's seat, which comes up for re-election every six. This open seat is a lifetime appointment. Because O'Connor was the swing vote on so many critical issues, her replacement will get to cast the key deciding votes on issues like abortion, birth control, affirmative action, disability rights, Title IX, same-sex marriage, the environment, and dozens of other crucial issues for decades to come. For my daughters, who are 9 and 12, this person may very well control access to birth control and abortion for their entire reproductive lifetimes.

George W. Bush has said that he will be "deliberate and timely" in his choice (meaning he'll wait until he thinks we aren't paying attention, or don't have enough time to mobilize resistance - so be prepared!), and that the "U.S. deserves a dignified process of confirmation."

Yeah? Well, the U.S. deserves a lot more than Bush has given us. We deserve an end to the war we were tricked into. We deserve to live our lives free of the fear of the government watching our every move, stealing our medical records, and eyeing our library book choices. We deserve clean air, clean water, and protected job leave to care for family members. We deserve an equal shot regardless of sex, gender, race/ethnicity, disabilities, or sexual orientation, whether it's in the case of school funding, college admissions, job hiring and firing decisions, or equal marriage rights.

So when Bush says we deserve a dignified confirmation, what he really means is he wants us to sit down and be quiet while he puts in place someone who will take all of these things we deserve away. Well, guess what? We DESERVE a voice!

So raise yours with us! On the NOW website you'll find information and resources — you can send an e-letter to your senators, download flyers and postcards, and read more about what issues are at stake and who are some of the potential nominees. There are lots of action ideas — something for everyone!

And while you're raising your voice, take heart from the good news, too. Draw strength from the "outrageous acts and everyday rebellions" around you. For instance, this year the United Church of Christ General Synod celebrated the Fourth of July by overwhelmingly passing a resolution supporting full legal and religious marriage equality for same-sex couples. That's what I call patriotism! Said Matt Foreman, the Executive Director National Gay and Lesbian Task Force:

"At a time when President Bush and so-called faith leaders are working to enshrine discrimination in our state and federal constitutions, the UCC has issued a prophetic call challenging Americans to live up to the truth that the signers of the Declaration of Independence found to be self-evident, namely, that all 'are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.'"

And for another little lift, I love this quote, from the Oregonian's "Short & Sweet" column last Sunday: "Other than telling us how to live, think, marry, pray, vote, invest, educate our children and, now, die, I think the Republicans have done a fine job of getting government out of our personal lives." Right on, friends in Oregon!

So know that you are not alone, and that across the country we're all pushing back together, in whatever ways we each can.

It may seem a daunting task to fell a Supreme Court nominee, but you know what? We've done it before! And we can do it again - and again, and again if need be. When there was a vacancy on the Court under Richard M. Nixon, we beat back both of his first two nominees — Clement Haynesworth and Harold Carswell. We held out until we got a moderate, Harry Blackmun (who later wrote the Court's Roe v. Wade opinion). And remember when President Reagan tried to put extremist Robert Bork on the Court? We fought back so hard and so loud that our actions added a new verb to the political lexicon: now to be "borked" is to have one's presidential appointment defeated by the Senate! Which is likely what we'll need - and we need to get ready NOW.

We've done it before, and WE CAN DO IT NOW. We can lead this fight and we can win — the only disaster now would be for the millions of us who care to do nothing.

Join with me, and we'll insist that Senators BORK any extremist nominee Bush puts up. We're holding out for a moderate, someone worthy of Sandra Day O'Connor's legacy. And we deserve it!