Revisions and Extensions
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Yesterday, US Senator John Cornyn of Texas sought to "clarify" his remarks from Monday:

"I want to make one thing clear," Cornyn said. "I'm not aware of any evidence whatsoever linking recent acts of courthouse violence to the various controversial rulings that have captured the nation's attention in recent years."

Yet that didn't keep him from making that exact same argument the day before in a very unfortunate rhetorical fit of thinking aloud. Monday, on the floor of the United States Senate, Cornyn said:

I don't know if there is a cause-and-effect connection, but we have seen some recent episodes of courthouse violence in this country -- certainly nothing new; we seem to have run through a spate of courthouse violence recently that has been on the news. I wonder whether there may be some connection between the perception in some quarters on some occasions where judges are making political decisions yet are unaccountable to the public, that it builds up and builds up to the point where some people engage in violence, certainly without any justification, but that is a concern I have that I wanted to share.

As I have written elsewhere, I know and like John Cornyn personally. He is a good and decent man ---and those who are criticizing him as some sort of inciter of violence are full of shit.

The worst that can be said of Cornyn's original remarks is that they were literally ignorant. The guy who murdered Judge Lefkow's mom and husband in Chicago (and who later committed suicide) had a personal beef with the judge. And the guy who killed the judge and the others in Atlanta was simply trying to escape his fate. Neither of these acts of violence was ideological. Therefore, they are not indicative of any "building" discontent with this country's judiciary ---just as John Cornyn's lapse of logic in suggesting they are is indicative of who he is as a man and a judge himself.

Compare this to Tom DeLay's very obvious threats of impeachment or removal of judges with whom he disagrees. Was DeLay thinking of Stanley F. Birch, Jr. of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ---a conservative who was appointed to the bench by Bush the Elder? Was DeLay thinking of Pinellas County Circuit Court Judge George Greer ---a Republican and practicing Christian? Birch and Greer did right by the law and right by the wishes of Terri Schindler Schiavo. And the sick fucks who would dare suggest that these judges be impeached or otherwise "removed" because of the resolution of the Schiavo matter need to be ostracized from civil society.

Although I am a conservative on many issues, I hold no brief for Tom DeLay. I think he has well earned his reputation as an asshole. And my advice to the Republican Party is to show this asshole the door. He's the biggest liability they've got. No question.