via AmericaBlog:

SENATOR JOHN CORNYN: "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, but we seem to have run through a spate of courthouse violence recently that's been on the news and 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 and builds up to the point where some people engage in - engage in violence.

These guys are "way, way, way" beyond the crossing point. Are they so worried about Tom Delay that it's now open season on judges to cover his tracks? I'm waiting for the "JudgeWatchBlog" to start; manned by Hal Turner. Vegas odds on what judge is going to get it, and how activist they are. Probably along the lines of David Horowitz's Front Page rag. At this point it doesn't matter what party or religion, and who made the appointment. I'm sure the.." I was taken out of context" statement will soon be issued. I'm not holding my breath.

More from Talking Points Memo:

So the recent murders of judges and their families are blow-back from widespread judicial activism?

Suddenly the folks in robes are like the girl who dresses too provocatively to the fraternity dance.

And who knew Cornyn and crew wanted to embrace Brian Nichols, the accused rapist who murdered Fulton County Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes and three others last month, as one of their own?

Congressman Conyers rips Senator Cornyn for justifying violence against judges.

(Update) Digby joins in.

Mathew Yglesias joins in.

AmericaBlog has more. It's getting uglier and uglier.

Update-The Left Coaster and Daily Kos and Eschaton and Oliver Willis and Ezra Klein and Talk Left

When I was twelve, I made my Confirmation. I'm not going into the whole process, but part of it was that I had to first make my Confession. About thirty of us were all sitting in the pews waiting to be called on. "Don’t get Father Lyons," whispered Jimmy DeSalvo said. "Don't get Father Lyons." Why?" I asked. "He's giving everyone a lot of prayers," said Jimmy.

The usual punishment was about ten "Our Fathers" and ten "Hail Mary’s." There were three other priests taking confessions. I prayed "Oh please God, please don't let me get Father Lyons. I swear I'll never miss Mass again."

Of course I got Father Lyons.

Now I was a good kid, my mother always said that I really didn't give her much trouble, so I sat down, scared, knowing that I had Father Lyons. He slid the little wooden panel open so I could barely make out his visage. I said "Bless me father for I have sinned" He asked me what my sins were. I couldn't really think of any because I really was a good kid, so I made up a few small things. Nothing too bad. I knew that I had to confess something right?

Father Lyon's gave me a hundred Hail Mary's and a hundred Our Fathers.

I sat down at the pew, knees against the wood and started "Our father, who art in heaven..." As I kept up the prayers, I heard the other kids laughing at me as they left. He's still praying, he's still praying? What did he do?

I felt their eyes burn into my back and the humiliation was unbearable. I got to thirty and said I'm sorry father, but I can't do this anymore. I made the sign of the cross like I was finished and ran out of there. I looked up at the sky all the way home and was ready to dodge the lightening bolts that were headed my way. I made it home still intact. I breathed a sigh of relief. From then on, I never got Father Lyons again.

via Body and Soul

I had planned yesterday to write more about the papacy of John Paul II, but unfortunately whenever I think I should write about something, it's almost a guarantee that I won't be able to. I become paralyzed under the weight of all I want to say. That's especially true when I'm dealing with something as paradoxical, and as personally inspiring and distressing, as the the Catholic Church...read on

Jeanne has a great piece on the dichotomy she feels about the Church.

via CarpetBagger Report

In one sense, I should admire and treasure the few sincere Republican centrists left. They’ve largely been run out of their party on a rail, so perhaps it’d be wise to cut them considerable slack and support their efforts to drag their party back away from the right-wing fringe.

In truth, I’d like to. I’d enjoy seeing the Republican Party change from within, embrace moderation, cast off its radical elements, and re-join the American mainstream. But I can’t cut GOP centrists any slack because they’re just so inept in their efforts...read on

Steve sums up their plight nicely. If the centrists continually back Tom Delay and Bill Frist's and the Religious Elite's that have their tentacles firmly latched onto their backs, they will soon be marginalized out the door. There is much talk that Guiliani or McCain would win the nomination now, but with their moderate and liberal positions, one has to wonder how they could survive the primaries. As popular as the Terminator is, could he actually (if he were allowed) win the nomination? These superstars of the party are merely window dressing at this point. A foil to lure non-political people for their votes.

New Podcast of The Politnix song " Download | play "

Recently, Bill O’Reilly has heaped praise on Pope John Paul II. Here is O’Reilly on the Factor last Thursday:

But I do know that I’ve studied this pope as well as I’ve studied anybody. And I can’t find anything, anything that this guy didn’t walk the walk. You know, right down the line. Nobody’s perfect, but this guy was close in his personal behavior and the way he conducted himself.

O’Reilly was not so kind, however, when the Pope expressed his opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. He launched into this diatribe on the March 12, 2003 edition of the O’Reilly Factor:

But as I’ve said before, I believe also that John Paul is naive and detached from reality. If America does not lead an attack on Iraq, once again, Saddam remains in power and is free to use his anthrax and other terrible weapons as he chooses.

So the pope does not seem to be concerned about that or about Saddam’s behavior in general. Once again, he must know Saddam is a killer. He must know he’s oppressed his own people using murder and torture. He must know that.

Summing up, Jacques Chirac is our enemy, and the pope, well, I don’t know what to think.

We wish Bill O'Reilly would just Shut Up! Listen to The Politnix and their Bill O'Reilly Song Download | play

MEDFORD -- It's a distant memory for most of the country, but President Bush's campaign swing through Southern Oregon is fresh for hotel owners still waiting to get paid nearly $19,000 for expenses incurred by the administration last fall...read on

The letter written by the hotel's accountant Kirsten Yunuba Stephens, said: "My question to you: Is this how you help balance the budget at the White House by ripping off retailers in the towns you visit? If that is the case please do not come back to the Rogue Valley."...read on

You've got to laugh when a hotel accountant bashes the Bush budget.

The Post on Wolfowitz Lawyers, Guns and Money

I've been trying to break my lifelong habit of reading far too much of the New York Times, which causes me all kinds of psychic consternation. (There's half a dozen names--Gerth, Nagourney, Wilgoren, etc., who have me muttering under my breath before I've read a word of the article). I've been using the Washington Post as a sort of methodone, and what everyone was telling me is correct--it really is a better paper. But --this editorial is breathtakingly bad and deeply insulting. Here's the crux:

Mr. Wolfowitz's critics, domestic as well as international, should now get beyond their dislike of his role in the Iraq war and give him a chance to succeed at one of the world's hardest jobs.

",0]);D(["ce"]);D(["ms","2bed"]);//-->.

That's encouraging

Chalk up another one for faith-based governance.

Prewar claims by the United States that Iraq was producing biological weapons were based almost entirely on accounts from a defector who was described as "crazy" by his intelligence handlers and a "congenital liar" by his friends. The defector code-named "Curveball" spoke with alarming specificity about Iraq's alleged biological weapons programs and fleet of mobile labs. But postwar investigations found that he wasn't even in Iraq at times when he claimed to have taken part in illicit weapons work.

Despite persistent doubts about his credibility, Curveball's claims were included in the Bush administration's case for war without so much as a caveat. And when CIA analysts argued after the invasion that the agency needed to admit that it had been duped, they were forced out of their jobs.

Sigh. George Tenet and Jerry Bremer, on the other hand, get the Presidential Medal of Freedom and everybody else responsible for the gigantic screw-up gets shiny new promotions.

The Post on Wolfowitz    Lawyers, Guns and Money

I've been trying to break my lifelong habit of reading far too much of the New York Times, which causes me all kinds of psychic consternation. (There's half a dozen names--Gerth, Nagourney, Wilgoren, etc., who have me muttering under my breath before I've read a word of the article). I've been using the Washington Post as a sort of methodone, and what everyone was telling me is correct--it really is a better paper. But DeLong is right--this editorial is breathtakingly bad and deeply insulting. Here's the crux:

Mr. Wolfowitz's critics, domestic as well as international, should now get beyond their dislike of his role in the Iraq war and give him a chance to succeed at one of the world's hardest jobs
Despite persistent doubts about his credibility, Curveball's claims were included in the Bush administration's case for war without so much as a caveat. And when CIA analysts argued after the invasion that the agency needed to admit that it had been duped, they were forced out of their jobs.

Sigh. George Tenet and Jerry Bremer, on the other hand, get the Presidential Medal of Freedom and everybody else responsible for the gigantic screw-up gets shiny new promotions.

ProtectYourCheck

ProtectYourCheck.org is a non-profit advocacy organization established to oppose the White House's effort to dismantle Social Security, the most successful retirement and anti-poverty program in our nation's history. ProtectYourCheck.org will educate Americans on the financial health of Social Security, promote policies to strengthen Social Security and encourage citizens to speak out about this issue to ensure that Congress doesn't pass legislation that weakens the Social Security Trust Fund.