An important consideration not to overlook in the DeLay ballot replacement

The voting public's right to select a political party's nominee in the party primary process is enshrined in Texas law. Neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party enjoys the prerogative to disenfranchise the public of this right to select the candidates through the party primary system and neither party enjoys to right to unilaterally select hand-picked party stooges who have evaded the public's scrutiny and evaluation at the ballot box. Moreover, Texas has an open primary system where a life-long Republican has the absolute right to change his mind on election day and vote in the Democratic primary (and the same is true of Democrats, Libertarians, and Greens voting in the Republican primary).

Usurping the right of the voters to select the party candidate is exactly what the GOP is trying to do in District 22.

IMPORTANTLY, I KNOW SEVERAL MODERATE, LIBERTARIAN-LEANING, PROGRESSIVE, AND EVEN LIBERAL VOTERS LIVING IN DISTRICT 22 WHO VOTE IN THE REPUBLICAN PRIMARY -- AS IS THEIR RIGHT UNDER TEXAS LAW -- AND THEY DO NOT SHARE THE VALUES OF THE EXTREMISTS, ZEALOTS, BIGOTS, AND HOMOPHOBES WHO RUN THE TEXAS REPUBLICAN PARTY. THESE MODERATE-TO-PROGRESSIVE REPUBLICAN VOTERS IN DISTRICT 22 HAVE THE ABSOLUTE RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SELECTION OF THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE WHO MOST NEARLY REPRESENTS THEIR VALUES IN THE PROCESS OF ELECTING THEIR REPRESENTATIVE.

With those moderate Republican voters in mind, look at the questionnaire that the GOP is asking "replacement candidate wannabes" to fill out (<http://www.harriscountygop.com/site/DocServer/2006_CD22_Cong_Candidate_Questionnaire.pdf?docID=381>). The questionnaire asks about Republican Party loyalty, religious practices (which threatens Art. VI of the Constitution) , and right-wing ideological purity (it is TRULY a scary document). Clearly, this questionnaire shows that the GOP is wanting to evaluate candidates according to issues that matter more to the party than to the voters in District 22.

THIS IS A MAJOR THREAT TO OUR SYSTEM OF DEMOCRACY! WE MUST GET THIS IMPORTANT MESSAGE OUT.

Here are some of the screening questions:

• Will you vote to eliminate automatic citizenship to children born of illegal alien parents?
  
• Will you vote against U.S. involvement in peacekeeping missions under the United Nations command?
  
• Regarding the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, does the constitution require a separation of church and state?
  
• Will you vote to support a ban on all human embryonic stem cell research?
  
• Will you vote for a Human Life Amendment to the U.S. constitution and for other legislation limiting or outlawing abortion?
  
• If yes on the previous question, will you require exceptions for
  a) life of the mother
  b) rape
  c) incest
  

And at the bottom of the questionnaire is the real zinger:
Copies of all completed questionnaires are for the specific use of the Congressional District 22 Executive Committee, and are proprietary and confidential. DO NOT copy, share, or distribute to the media or public.

Now why shouldn't the voters in CD22 see what these candidate's views really are?

Sonia

1. List your past and/or present membership in religious organizations.

2. Do you attend a place of worship? If so, where?

3. Does the Constitution require the separation of church and state?

4. Do you think local communities should be allowed to display religious symbols on public property?

5. State three Republican Party of Texas platform planks you most strongly support and why. (NOTE the Republican Party of Texas platform includes the following planks:

"America is a Christian nation, founded on Judeo-Christian principles."

"We support school subjects with emphasis on the Judeo-Christian principles upon which America was founded and which form the basis of America’s legal and its political and economic systems."

"We affirm that the public acknowledgement {sic} of God is undeniable in our history and is vital to our freedom, prosperity and strength as a nation. We pledge to exert our influence toward a return to the original intent of the First Amendment and dispel the myth of the separation of church and state."

"We understand that the Ten Commandments are the basis of our basic freedoms and the cornerstone of our Western legal tradition. We therefore oppose any governmental action to restrict, prohibit, or remove public display of the Decalogue or other religious symbols."

"The church is a God-ordained institution with authority separate from government."

"Homosexual behavior is contrary to the fundamental, unchanging truths that have been ordained by God, recognized by our country's founders, and shared by the majority of Texans. Homosexuality must not be presented as an acceptable 'alternative' lifestyle in our public education and policy, nor should "family" be redefined to include homosexual 'couples.'"

"We support the traditional definition of marriage as a God–ordained, legal and moral commitment only between a natural man and a natural woman, which is the foundational unit of a healthy society, and we oppose the assault on marriage by judicial activists."

"We urge school administrators and officials to inform Texas school students specifically of their First Amendment rights to pray and engage in religious speech, individually or in groups, on school property without government interference."

"We support the objective teaching and equal treatment of scientific strengths and weaknesses of scientific theories, including Intelligent Design. We believe theories of life origins and environmental theories should be taught as scientific theory not scientific law; that social studies and other curriculum should not be based on any one theory.").



Why does this questionnaire raise constitutional concerns?

Article VI of the Constitution guarantees that "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."



If the Constitution guarantees there shall be no religious test as a qualification to any office, why is the Texas GOP asking so many religious questions on its replacement candidate questionnaire?

From the Texas GOP fatwa: "We understand that the Ten Commandments are the basis of our basic freedoms and the cornerstone of our Western legal tradition."

First off, how can a document full of thou-shalt-nots translate into freedoms? And if it's a cornerstone of our legal system, how come only two or three of them have been made into law?

Have these modern day Pharisees even read the Ten Commandments? The answer would be No.

the Catholic, Protestant, and Hebrew faiths all have Ten Commandments but each faith has Ten DIFFERENT Commandments.

Here's an interesting link: <http://www.positiveatheism.org/crt/whichcom.pdf>.

At my local courthouse, we have the Catholic version enshrined in marble. Someday, I hope to be present when some Baptist minister walks by and says, "Sweet Jesus, they forgot the Second Commandment! This graven image of the two stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments is clearly defective because it omits the Lord's prohibition against graven images."

That would be nice, but I'd settle for being there when a Rabbi walked by and said, "Oy veh! They forgot the First Commandment which recognizes God as the One true Lord Who led us out of slavery in Egypt!'

Like a month ago. I attended one of the candidate forums and what these candidates are trying to do is "out-conservative" each other. This really is about finding the most, ultra-conservative, right-wing, nut job candidate out of the bunch. (johncoby, am I right?)

You gotta read the stuff on my blog that I wrote after attending one of these. I'll dig up that link. But, basically, they try to one up each other with, "I got the most conservative rating by the Conservative Dumbass Society they've ever given any legislator - 1010 out of a possible top score of 1010." Stuff like that.

Here's my post after the candidate forum I went to in Fort Bend:

http://muse-musings.blogspot.com/2006/05/charlie-howard-nick-lampson-will-be.html

Good grief, I posted a lot about the whole candidate replacement issue in April!!

Anyway, these candidates are nuts and that questionnaire fits them perfectly.

And, that's OK. My motto is that we will be able to demonize any one of those lunatics, no problem. If we even have a candidate on the ballot running against us. :)

:rofl:

Sonia

Most of us will almost hate for this to end. It is extremely comical!