Whited Sepulchers All

These frauds and charlatans polluted the city of Philadelphia with their presence over the weekend in something laughably referred to as “Justice Sunday III.” Below is the caption for the photo that appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer’s headline article dated today.

Bishop Wellington Boone, a Christian speaker, addresses the gathering. With him were (from left) activist Alveda King, niece of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; Sen. Rick Santorum (R. Pa.); the Rev. Jerry Falwell; and the Rev. Herbert Lusk, pastor of Greater Exodus Baptist Church.

And here is the Inquirer article.

A fight over courts staged in Phila.

By Carrie Budoff
Inquirer Staff Writer

A North Philadelphia church and the surrounding blocks became the staging ground last night for a national battle over the federal judiciary - between conservatives who see it as hostile to religious freedom and liberals who characterize the political right as bullies of the court.

On the eve of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr.'s Supreme Court nomination hearing, a lineup of influential Christian leaders took to the pulpit of Greater Exodus Baptist Church and targeted what they called an erosion of religious liberties by activist judges.
The Rev. Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority political movement that first meshed religion and politics in the 1970s, described President Bush's nomination of Alito as the culmination of a lengthy effort to "mobilize people of faith and values."

"We were able to hold off Michael Moore and most of Hollywood and most of the national media... who fought so fiercely against the reelection of George Bush," Falwell told the packed sanctuary. "Now we are looking at what we really started 30 years ago: the reconstruction of a court system gone awry."

The event, which organizers said reached millions of viewers through local cable stations and Christian networks, was billed as an effort to turn around an increasingly secularized society. But it also provided a high-profile forum to tout Alito as a justice who would exercise judicial restraint and halt restrictions on religious expression in public.

"The Supreme Court has become the supreme branch of our government, imposing its unrestrained will on all the people," said Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.). "The only way to restore this republic our founders envisioned is to elevate honorable jurists like Samuel Alito."

The timing and location of yesterday's event, titled "Justice Sunday III - Proclaim Liberty Throughout the Land," were not coincidental.

Philadelphia is home to Sen. Arlen Specter, the moderate Republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the federal bench on which Alito has served for 15 years. Organizers also found a welcoming host in the Rev. Herbert Lusk, a longtime Bush supporter whose African American church has twice hosted the President and has received more than $1 million in federal grants for church community programs.

But more than anything, said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, which organized the event, Philadelphia was chosen because of its history - as the birthplace of the Constitution and religious freedom under the state's Quaker founders.

The first "Justice Sunday" was held in April amid the Senate battle over judicial filibusters of court nominees. The second, in August, preceded confirmation hearings for John G. Roberts Jr., now chief justice. Both were held at southern mega-churches.
Philadelphia's event drew a racially mixed crowd that clapped their hands and pounded their feet to drum-laced gospel beats inside the sanctuary. Lusk danced behind the lectern, and Santorum nodded his head in approval.

The senator was the highest-ranking public official in attendance, showcasing his ties to Christian conservatives at a politically sensitive time for him.

As Santorum seeks a third Senate term, his Democratic opponents are portraying him as too extreme on the right, while some in his Republican base want to see him more consistently conservative. The event's location - a must-win politically moderate region - could complicate the Santorum campaign's goal of shifting his image as a leading voice on cultural issues nationally to a senator focused on Pennsylvania priorities.

The senator's spokesman said Santorum was asked to speak because of his work on religious liberties.

A protest rally, which settled on the east side of Broad Street, attracted several dozen gay-marriage advocates, AIDS activists, and liberal-leaning groups who decried the event as a dangerous intermingling of politics and church. In a conference call held in advance, liberal religious leaders described "Justice Sunday" as a bid by the Christian right to control the judiciary. They also took issue with the message that would be sent by holding the rally in an African American church.

"Their presence here is to demonstrate that 'we are fair, we are for justice' and to give that impression. I don't think they will be successful," said the Rev. Robert P. Shine Sr., pastor of Berachah Baptist Church in West Oak Lane and president of the Pennsylvania State Wide Coalition of Black Clergy.

Lusk dismissed the criticism.

"This is not, for me, a black issue or a white issue or a left issue or a right issue, but a righteous issue," he said at an earlier news conference. "It is all about doing the right thing."

Give me a break, Reverend (and by the way, you may have had the most fumbles of any running back the Eagles ever had).

I though this column from Max Blumenthal of The Huffington Post was illuminating on this subject.

At this point, you may be asking the same question I am regarding this story.

Where the hell is Bob Casey, Jr.? (Update: I know Larry Smar of the Casey Campaign - such as it is - responded, but the candidate himself should have been "front and center" on this.)

Well, do you know what? I’m tired of asking that question. I clicked on the link to his campaign that I had in the right column, and it STILL takes you to a generic online form for signing up if you wish to volunteer.

This is January 2006, and the election will take place in November. That’s not good enough any more.

However, if you click here to Chuck Pennacchio’s site, you will see that he denounces Santorum, Falwell, Lusk and their ilk in a manner befitting the Democratic standard bearer for the U.S. Senate. THAT is the proper response.

And that is why I now give my total support (for whatever it’s worth) to Chuck Pennacchio for the U.S. Senate.

As for Bob Casey, Jr., I bid him adieu. Good luck trying to figure out what you are.