QUOTE
Books: The Pickering Code
by Scott Tyner
March 1, 2006
Charles Pickering’s book, “Supreme Chaos: The Politics of Judicial Confirmation and the Culture War,” (Stroud & Hall, 2006, $24.95) is not nearly as exciting as the title suggests. After serving for 13 years as a federal district court judge, Pickering was appointed by President Bush to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit but was denied Senate confirmation.
His book mixes conservative philosophy with his victimhood, as he perceives it, at the hands of liberal non-profits, the liberal press and the liberal Democrats. As victimhood is part and parcel of being a Christian, he establishes his martyrdom for the Christian fundamentalists who will read his book and no doubt empathize.
As a political tome, the book sacrifices objectivity for rhetoric—perhaps to be expected from Stroud & Hall, publishers of right-wing books from Zell Miller’s memoir to attacks on the United Nations. Early on, Pickering establishes the liberal agenda as abortion, same-sex marriage, pornography and biblical references in governmental buildings, which he refers to as “the public square,” as the marrow of the culture war and, thus, the reason for Democratic volatility in Senate debate over judicial nominee s. In his opinion, these issues should be legislated, not decided by the judiciary.
If only politics could be so simple. Although Pickering criticizes legislators for not deciding these issues, he never offers a reason as to why the state and federal lawmakers refuse their responsibility—that is, that they want to be re-elected and tend to shy away from controversial decisions. That cases are brought to court because authorities interpret legislation differently, the courts are often where the buck stops. But that’s not in this book.
Pickering chooses as the gravamen of our current judicial dilemma the question, “Are we a government of laws or a government of men?”—thereby pandering to fundamentalists who see God’s moral code as the basis for law versus a humanitarian understanding of who it is who lives by the law and who applies it. By the end, Pickering drops this argument for a more conservative one, “Do we have a living Constitution or a mystery Constitution?” His answer is not surprising. Our Constitution is what five or more Supreme Court justices say it is and, until then, it’s a mystery.
Although he devotes many pages to depicting liberals as high-strung, vindictive non-profit organizations and over-educated reporters with a penchant for the sensational, Pickering leaves out public broadcasting, presumably because it offers objective news. Although he makes much ado about the Ten Commandments, he makes no mention of the Code of Hammurabi, which predates the Law of Moses. The Jewish Code was written while under the suzerainty of the Babylonian Empire, and many of its proscriptions parallel or duplicate their Babylonian counterpart making many historians recognize that the Law of Moses is derivative of Hammurabi’s Code.
A strange place America would become if the Bible were the authority in legal matters, and Old Testament traditions of public stoning, female subservience, food and clothing restrictions became the norm. The five commandments that deal with humans are, for the most part, the same rules that other civilizations have also determined should be upheld: Don’t steal, don’t kill, don’t lie about others and keep your hands off my spouse (or spouses, should we revert to polygamy).
On the other hand, considering the commandment that applies to internal behavior, it would be interesting if the Supreme Court decided that it was illegal for George Bush, Dick Cheney, the Defense Department and the petroleum industry to covet the oil of Iraq and Iran. By extension, if corporations, considered legal citizens by the 14th Amendment, had to follow that commandment, would the result be a stymied, non-competitive corporate America? Or would a change in tactics and motives utilized by corporate employees result in a fear of God, a love of people and a respect for the land?
Pickering dedicates one paragraph to the influence of Republican think tanks, corporate lobbyists and religious leaders in the nomination process. As Pickering complains that the press is critical of Republicans, he admits that he supported Harriet Miers in her bid for the Supreme Court. If the press truly were critical of Republicans, why weren’t the allegations of Miers’ involvement with fraud, land-schemes and the Texas lottery fiasco headline news? Without these examples of Miers unfettered and possibly criminal loyalty to the GOP, Pickering is safe to support an unscrutinized Miers.
A humorous part of the book is when Pickering toots his own horn for supporting Camp Sister Spirit. Camp Sister Spirit is a lesbian group that helps abused women that moved to rural south Jones County for privacy to conduct the healing process. Outspokenly gay, this stirred up local Baptists who filed a suit demanding that the group be forced to leave.
There being no legal basis for demanding that American citizens vacate their own property because of sexual orientation (NOT in the book), Pickering dismissed the Baptist group’s case, but not before the preacher was brow-beaten before the whole nation by the sister-in=charge on Oprah. Because of his abeyance to the law, Log Cabin Republicans wrote a letter recommending his appointment. Clearly, any other action would have been a scandal.
The most trite portrayal in the book is of the culture war, the theme promised in the title. Pickering depicts the culture war as one of liberals, aka atheists, against Christianity. The African-American struggle for legitimization, the feminist battle for equality, the legal and legislative campaigns for safe work places, fair wages and benefits, President Clinton’s attempt at universal health-care that was blocked by Republicans, the totalitarian tactics used by University of Southern Mississippi President Shelby Thames to pressure specific members of U.S.M.’s faculty to resign (representative of the ongoing fight by members of the right-wing against academic freedom), and the fact that, outside of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the most unbiased news comes on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” are oddly left out.
In conclusion, Pickering is just one more spin-meister in the conservative camp telling his followers what to believe. His narrative is as deaf to other important issues as such partisan pundits as Rush and David Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Cal Thomas, Bill O’Reilly and Michael Savage.
Although Pickering lists other conservative judges who received bipartisan support and passed the judicial process, it does not seem to dawn on him that his partisanship, evident throughout this book, was the reason he was not selected.
Scott Tyner is a political activist and writer from Hattiesburg, Miss.
The Link
by Scott Tyner
March 1, 2006
Charles Pickering’s book, “Supreme Chaos: The Politics of Judicial Confirmation and the Culture War,” (Stroud & Hall, 2006, $24.95) is not nearly as exciting as the title suggests. After serving for 13 years as a federal district court judge, Pickering was appointed by President Bush to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit but was denied Senate confirmation.
His book mixes conservative philosophy with his victimhood, as he perceives it, at the hands of liberal non-profits, the liberal press and the liberal Democrats. As victimhood is part and parcel of being a Christian, he establishes his martyrdom for the Christian fundamentalists who will read his book and no doubt empathize.
As a political tome, the book sacrifices objectivity for rhetoric—perhaps to be expected from Stroud & Hall, publishers of right-wing books from Zell Miller’s memoir to attacks on the United Nations. Early on, Pickering establishes the liberal agenda as abortion, same-sex marriage, pornography and biblical references in governmental buildings, which he refers to as “the public square,” as the marrow of the culture war and, thus, the reason for Democratic volatility in Senate debate over judicial nominee s. In his opinion, these issues should be legislated, not decided by the judiciary.
If only politics could be so simple. Although Pickering criticizes legislators for not deciding these issues, he never offers a reason as to why the state and federal lawmakers refuse their responsibility—that is, that they want to be re-elected and tend to shy away from controversial decisions. That cases are brought to court because authorities interpret legislation differently, the courts are often where the buck stops. But that’s not in this book.
Pickering chooses as the gravamen of our current judicial dilemma the question, “Are we a government of laws or a government of men?”—thereby pandering to fundamentalists who see God’s moral code as the basis for law versus a humanitarian understanding of who it is who lives by the law and who applies it. By the end, Pickering drops this argument for a more conservative one, “Do we have a living Constitution or a mystery Constitution?” His answer is not surprising. Our Constitution is what five or more Supreme Court justices say it is and, until then, it’s a mystery.
Although he devotes many pages to depicting liberals as high-strung, vindictive non-profit organizations and over-educated reporters with a penchant for the sensational, Pickering leaves out public broadcasting, presumably because it offers objective news. Although he makes much ado about the Ten Commandments, he makes no mention of the Code of Hammurabi, which predates the Law of Moses. The Jewish Code was written while under the suzerainty of the Babylonian Empire, and many of its proscriptions parallel or duplicate their Babylonian counterpart making many historians recognize that the Law of Moses is derivative of Hammurabi’s Code.
A strange place America would become if the Bible were the authority in legal matters, and Old Testament traditions of public stoning, female subservience, food and clothing restrictions became the norm. The five commandments that deal with humans are, for the most part, the same rules that other civilizations have also determined should be upheld: Don’t steal, don’t kill, don’t lie about others and keep your hands off my spouse (or spouses, should we revert to polygamy).
On the other hand, considering the commandment that applies to internal behavior, it would be interesting if the Supreme Court decided that it was illegal for George Bush, Dick Cheney, the Defense Department and the petroleum industry to covet the oil of Iraq and Iran. By extension, if corporations, considered legal citizens by the 14th Amendment, had to follow that commandment, would the result be a stymied, non-competitive corporate America? Or would a change in tactics and motives utilized by corporate employees result in a fear of God, a love of people and a respect for the land?
Pickering dedicates one paragraph to the influence of Republican think tanks, corporate lobbyists and religious leaders in the nomination process. As Pickering complains that the press is critical of Republicans, he admits that he supported Harriet Miers in her bid for the Supreme Court. If the press truly were critical of Republicans, why weren’t the allegations of Miers’ involvement with fraud, land-schemes and the Texas lottery fiasco headline news? Without these examples of Miers unfettered and possibly criminal loyalty to the GOP, Pickering is safe to support an unscrutinized Miers.
A humorous part of the book is when Pickering toots his own horn for supporting Camp Sister Spirit. Camp Sister Spirit is a lesbian group that helps abused women that moved to rural south Jones County for privacy to conduct the healing process. Outspokenly gay, this stirred up local Baptists who filed a suit demanding that the group be forced to leave.
There being no legal basis for demanding that American citizens vacate their own property because of sexual orientation (NOT in the book), Pickering dismissed the Baptist group’s case, but not before the preacher was brow-beaten before the whole nation by the sister-in=charge on Oprah. Because of his abeyance to the law, Log Cabin Republicans wrote a letter recommending his appointment. Clearly, any other action would have been a scandal.
The most trite portrayal in the book is of the culture war, the theme promised in the title. Pickering depicts the culture war as one of liberals, aka atheists, against Christianity. The African-American struggle for legitimization, the feminist battle for equality, the legal and legislative campaigns for safe work places, fair wages and benefits, President Clinton’s attempt at universal health-care that was blocked by Republicans, the totalitarian tactics used by University of Southern Mississippi President Shelby Thames to pressure specific members of U.S.M.’s faculty to resign (representative of the ongoing fight by members of the right-wing against academic freedom), and the fact that, outside of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the most unbiased news comes on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” are oddly left out.
In conclusion, Pickering is just one more spin-meister in the conservative camp telling his followers what to believe. His narrative is as deaf to other important issues as such partisan pundits as Rush and David Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Cal Thomas, Bill O’Reilly and Michael Savage.
Although Pickering lists other conservative judges who received bipartisan support and passed the judicial process, it does not seem to dawn on him that his partisanship, evident throughout this book, was the reason he was not selected.
Scott Tyner is a political activist and writer from Hattiesburg, Miss.
The Link
Holy shit!!! I am so happy to know that not all Mississippians are stupid. This is from the Jackson Free Press, a newspaper I didn't even know existed until today.