OLD-STYLE CHICAGO POLITICS: Rep. Bill Lipinski (D.-Ill.) plans to retire this year and have his son replace him on the November ballot, reported Roll Call June 10. Local Democratic officials, rather than a primary or caucus, would choose Lipinski's replacement on the Democratic ballot since Lipinski's retirement would come so late in the season-unlike usual retirements, which are announced in time for rank-and-file party members to choose replacements. The Illinois Leader, a conservative website, first reported that Lipinski was about to retire. Lipinski's son, Daniel, is a professor of political science at the University of Tennessee who is currently re-establishing residency in Illinois, said Roll Call, which reported that other contenders might vie for the Democratic nomination in Lipinski's solidly Democratic Chicago district, but that the city's tightly controlled ward politics would likely give Lipinski what he wants.
WORTH REMEMBERING: President Ronald Reagan in his annual Proclamation of National Sanctity of Human Life Day, January 1988: "We are told that we may not interfere with abortion. We are told that we may not 'impose our morality' on those who wish to allow or participate in the taking of the life of infants before birth; yet no one calls it 'imposing morality' to prohibit the taking of life after people are born. We are told as well that there exists a 'right' to end the lives of unborn children; yet no one can explain how such a right can exist in stark contradiction of each person's fundamental right to life. That right to life belongs equally to babies in the womb, babies born handicapped, and the elderly or infirm. That we have killed the unborn for 15 years does not nullify this right, nor could any number of killings ever do so."
NEXT STEP: Now that the Los Angeles City Council has been intimidated by the ACLU into removing a small cross from the city seal, how about the name? Reported the Los Angeles Daily News on June 12, "No L.A.? It's no joke. A strong legal argument can be made that the name of the city of Los Angeles-even worse, its formal name, 'The Town of Our Lady the Queen of Angels of the Little Portion'-violates the constitutional requirement for separation of church and state. Some constitutional law experts say the American Civil Liberties Union's campaign to remove a small cross from the Los Angeles County seal and similar efforts elsewhere in the country help build a foundation for challenges against communities such as San Francisco, San Diego or Santa Barbara." How about cities in other states: St. Louis, Mo.; St. Paul, Minn.; St. Augustine, Fla.; or Corpus Christi, Tex.?
MOORE HONORED: The hatred of some people is a badge of honor. Certain "artists" are staging a play meant to lampoon former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore for his conservative activism. Moore is particularly renowned for his defense of the display of the Ten Commandments in Alabama public buildings. The play, called Judge Roy Moore is Coming to Dinner, promotes same-sex "marriage." Said Moore on June 15: "This sort of 'theater' promoting homosexual marriage is a result of federal activism in our court system. Homosexual marriage represents a degradation of our morality and a denigration of our society. In Alabama it is against the law and if I have anything to do with it, it will remain against the law. I certainly don't appreciate such mockery of the sacred institution of marriage, and neither do the people of Alabama."
DON'T ASK: Could the Clinton Administration's "don't ask, don't tell" policy have helped lead to the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal? "We don't know why higher-level commanders averted their eyes from homosexual and heterosexual misconduct in the cellblocks of Abu Ghraib. Their failure to ask questions, however, is consistent with former President Clinton's convoluted 'don't ask, don't tell' policy-a set of expendable enforcement regulations designed to circumvent the 1993 law affirming that homosexuality is incompatible with military service," said the Center for Military Readiness in its June 2004 newsletter. "Some commanders have interpreted 'don't ask, don't tell' to mean that they should avoid asking questions about any kind of inappropriate sexual behavior. The concept undermines sound principles of leadership, and encourages sexual misconduct of all varieties." CMR suggests that the Bush Administration do away with Clinton's rule and strictly enforce the sexual misconduct laws governing the military laid down by Congress.
