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********************************** When Harry Married Gary OK. OK. I know many of you are just champing at the bit to inveigh over the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling handed down on Tuesday regarding the state's restriction on an individual's right to marry the person of their choice. Indeed the sky-is-falling hysterics began almost immediately after the decision was released (with the requisite fundraising appeals right behind). Randall Terry - considered a zealot by many, but a hero in some social conservative circles - issued a statement saying, "If outraged citizens see one of these judges in a bar, they may be tempted to spit in their face, or beat them, or get a bunch of friends to tar and feather them." Nice, Randy. Very nice. So much for reasoned argument. Gary Bauer's press release included a suggestion that "Perhaps it is time for another Boston Tea Party," though I fail to see how polluting Boston Harbor with little bags of Lipton has anything to do with the issue of gay marriage. It's not like the government is trying to tax heterosexuality. Or maybe Mr. Bauer just wants to protest England being ruled by a "queen." Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council was apoplectic. "This is THE wake-up call for both the American public and our elected officials," Perkins gushed in a news release. "If we do not amend the Massachusetts State Constitution so that it explicitly protects marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and if we do not amend the U.S. Constitution with a federal marriage amendment that will protect marriage on the federal level, we will lose marriage in this nation." No we won't, Tony. Just because the Massachusetts Supreme Court said the state couldn't discriminate against gay couples seeking a marriage license doesn't mean men and women won't be allowed to marry any longer. We're not going to "lose marriage in this nation." How silly. Anyway, I've given a cursory read to the opinion and to the dissents, and the opinion appears reasoned and rational while the dissents are unpersuasive. But that's just my first reading. I might change my mind after giving it more thorough scrutiny. I'm sure many of you can't wait to tell me how wrong I am and how wrong the court was. That's fine. It's an important public policy issue. Far from being THE most important issue facing our nation today, but of significant concern to many Americans. However, in arguing your point in emails to me, please do so on the merits of the decision itself. Quote me the law, not Leviticus. This is about the state Constitution, not the Bible. And if you can't start every message with the words, "Dear Butthead, I have read the Massachusetts Supreme Court decision, and." then don't waste your time. Because I won't waste MY time arguing with someone who won't invest THEIR time to actually read what the justices wrote. For those of you interested in a serious debate on the substance of this issue, not the hysterics, you can read the court's decision, as well as the dissents, by going to: http://www.socialaw.com/sjcslip/sjcNov03c.html ************************************ New Drug Benefit This is your Congress. This is your Congress on drugs. Read all about it in the latest "Muth's Truths" column at www.citizenoutreach.com Also, our announced Always Right guest this week had to cancel, but we were fortunate enough to grab Mike Collins, former RNC press secretary and public policy guru to discuss the prescription drug bill on this week's show. If you missed it on Tuesday night, catch a rebroadcast later this week. Just click on the "Always Right" page at www.citizenoutreach.com for the complete schedule and link to listen in. And after reading and hearing all about it, it's your turn to weigh in: Should Congress pass the compromise plan to add a new prescription drug benefit to Medicare? Cast your ballot today by clicking on the "Survey Says!" button at www.citizenoutreach.com. ************************************* The "Right" Place for Your Christmas Shopping FreeedomHQ.com: Your headquarters for conservative and patriotic shirts, caps, flags and more. "Bush 2004" gear, as well. http://store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/clink?freedomhq+b4bnzq+index.html+ ********************************** UN Wants Control of World Wide Web "Governments spearheaded by China, Brazil, India, Russia and Saudi Arabia are trying to place the Internet under the control of the United Nations or its member governments, a move that the United States and other developed countries are determined to resist." - Washington Times, 11/18/03 ********************************** Cheap Shot Artists "Democratic presidential candidates have been taking cheap shots at President Bush almost since he took office. Instead of offering real plans to get out of the mess and acknowledging the realities of the Sept. 11 attacks, they blast away on tax cuts for 'the wealthy' and yelled about three million lost jobs. That was fun while it lasted, but the economy is turning around. Sure, they'll chant the mantra of a 'jobless recovery' for awhile, but only until hiring picks up again." - Wall Street Journal columnist Brendan Miniter ********************************** Braun's New Left Wing "Democratic presidential hopeful Carol Moseley Braun's shoestring campaign faces another upheaval as she names former NOW chairwoman Patricia Ireland as her latest campaign manager while other key aides depart. . . . A former New Zealand ambassador, Braun won the endorsement of the National Organization for Women and the National Women's Political Caucus in August, but she has not yet been able to capitalize on the backing. Ireland said she would be able to leverage those endorsements. 'I've been president of NOW for 10 years. I know how to work that crowd and I know how to build networks,' said Ireland, fired in October as the CEO of the YWCA." - Chicago Sun Times, 11/18/03 ********************************** Plugging Leaks in Donkeyland As noted here a couple of days ago, the Wall Street Journal somehow obtained senate staff memos exposing how Democrats on the Judiciary Committee have tried to keep certain Bush nominees off the federal bench. Among the more explosive findings was a memo targeting Miguel Estrada, not because of his qualifications, but because "he is Latino." Other memos show how Democrats on the Judiciary Committee are basically nothing more than puppets on a string for far-left activist groups. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois is outraged. Not at the obstructionist tactics revealed. Heck, Durbin IS one of the obstructionist. In fact, he is a leading obstructionist. In double fact, a number of those outrageous memos were sent to HIM. And that's what has his pantyhose all up in a bunch. Democrat Durbin wants to know who leaked the embarrassing memos to the press, so on Monday, according to the Illinois Leader, he "called the Capitol Police to raid the Judicial Committee's computer room and confiscate the backup drives" in an effort to find "who it was that found the confidential memos and, Durbin hopes, find out who turned the memos over to the media." For his or her sake, we hope it wasn't some Latino staffer. *************************************** 4.75 cents-per-minute Long Distance * All state-to-state calls in the continental U.S. * Residential or commercial * 6-second billing increments * 24 hours/day * 7 days/week * No access codes * No minimums * No activation fees * Calling Card Rate is 10 cents per minute * No monthly service charge unless your bill is less than $20.00 a month (then a $1.99 service charge will apply) * No need to change your local phone company * No hassles * Easy sign-up. * And a small portion of each bill goes to help continue publishing our FREE Chuck Muth's News & Views e-newsletter. Just go to: http://www.NewsandViewsLongDistance.com ********************************** Wrong Chair for the Right "[Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Arlen] Specter is in line to chair the Judiciary Committee after the 2004 elections. The current chairman, Sen. Orrin Hatch, Utah Republican, must surrender the gavel because of GOP term-limits on committee heads. . . . Mr. Specter is well-known in Washington as a liberal Republican with a long record of derailing tax cuts, shilling for Big Labor and acquitting President Bill Clinton (citing ancient Scottish Common Law principles). "...There should be no doubt about Mr. Specter's willingness to derail conservative Supreme Court nominees. 'To Bork' is now a verb in Washington thanks, in part, to Mr. Specter, who played a central role in sinking Robert Bork's nomination. The Senator from Scotland, as Hill staffers refer to him, explained in his memoirs that 'Bork's narrow approach is dangerous for constitutional government.'" - Columnist Tim Carney ********************************** Insane Psychiatrists "A team of psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental-health experts agree that John W. Hinckley Jr. should be granted unsupervised leaves from St. Elizabeths Hospital, where he has been confined since trying to kill President Reagan in 1981, a psychiatrist testified yesterday in U.S. District Court. 'He's in total remission,' Dr. Sidney Binks, a member of the hospital's treatment team, and a neuropsychologist, told Judge Paul L. Friedman. 'He would not be dangerous.'" - Washington Times, 11/18/03 ********************************** Reagan Smear to Air Nov. 30th Showtime announced on Monday that it will air the scuttled CBS trash-umentary "The Reagans" on Sunday, November 30th in its entirety with no commercial breaks. Showtime exec Robert Greenblatt said he decided to rush the program to the air rather than wait until next year because he was "tired of people making judgments on this when they haven't seen it." Greenblatt added that the controversial AIDS scene has been edited out, but otherwise the movie remained pretty much intact with no major changes. "I think this is as balanced and honest a movie as can be made out of this movie," he said. Which ain't saying much, considering how dishonest and unbalanced the flick is. Now, I'm gonna suggest something unexpected. I am NOT going to urge a boycott of "The Reagans" on Showtime. In fact, I'm ENCOURAGING folks to watch it - and then cancel their Showtime subscriptions the next day. The movie is THAT bad and THAT outrageous. If you thought Reaganites were angry before they saw this movie...well...you ain't seen nothing yet! *************************************** Affordable Campaign Websites! Now you can get professional-looking campaign web sites for as little as $10 a month. That's right...just ten smackeroos a month. Here's what's included in this fantastic new program from Campaign Secrets, Inc. (available ONLY to Republican candidates): * Free Hosting * Unique Domain Name * Personal Email Accounts * Credit Card Processing * Unlimited Edits * Event Calendar * Volunteer Sign-up Page * Built-in Bulk Emailer Campaign Site Builder can be used for political organizations and non-profits, as well. For more information, just go to: http://www.campaignsecrets.com/websites.asp *************************************** How to Subscribe Chuck Muth's News & Views is published by Citizen Outreach, a member-supported 501(c)3 non-profit corp. If you enjoy News & Views, please make a tax-deductible contribution to support our work: http://www.citizenoutreach.com If you'd like to receive our FREE News & Views e-newsletter, you can sign up at: http://www.chuckmuth.com/newsletter/ Published by Citizen Outreach Chuck Muth Editor/Publisher 611 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, #439 Washington, DC 20003-4303 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The opinions and views expressed in Chuck Muth's News & Views reflect those of the writers, editors and columnists therein and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Citizen Outreach, its officers, directors or employees. To be REMOVED, go to: http://www.chuckmuth.com/remove/default.cfm and complete the removal request instructions you'll find there. Or send your request to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # #
