The future vision for America: third world nationhood

Newt Gingrich claims to believe that “personhood,” defined as the status of being a person, begins at conception, rather than at birth. He believes so deeply in this definition of personhood that he wants Congress to pass a law declaring that personhood begins at conception. If such a law were passed, it would make abortion for any reason…even in the case of rape or incest…the equivalent of murder.

Were such a law enacted, according to Jay Bookman of the Atlanta Journal, it would not apply only to abortions. It would “affect birth-control methods such as the morning-after pill, the IUD, and even the standard birth-control pill, which works by preventing the fertilized embryo from attaching itself to the uterus.”

This idea of personhood beginning at conception has gained traction among the GOP candidates, especially as they sit on the doorstep of the Iowa caucuses. But they seem also to be promising to behave in a way that essentially dismantles, or at the very least neuters, the U.S. judiciary system.

During a presidential pro-life forum earlier this week, at least four of the GOP wannabes suggested that any ruling by the courts that challenged the constitutionality of any law related to personhood at conception or otherwise allowed legal abortions, should be ignored.

Gingrich said he would ignore Supreme Court rulings he disagreed with. He used the “two out of three” concept to justify his position, suggesting that “If the president and Congress say the court is wrong, in the end, the court would lose.” Exactly where in the Constitution does it say that, Newt? Or did you just make that up?

Rick Perry, when asked how he would respond to a Supreme Court ruling overturning a law that declared life begins at conception, said, “Obviously you enforce the right to life.” In other words, Perry, if president, would simply ignore the Supreme Court ruling.

Michelle Bachmann said that it was time for Congress and the president to “reclaim that authority to make law.” She went on to say, “The Supreme Court can’t arbitrarily tell us what the law of the land is.” Well, perhaps she’s right. It shouldn’t be “arbitrary.” But the Supreme Court can and does interpret the “laws of the land” to determine which are or are not constitutional.

Rick Santorum, who for some reason still considers himself to be a viable contender for the GOP nomination, said, “Life beginning at conception is not a belief, it’s not an article of faith, it’s an article of fact. It’s a biological fact. Yes, the Bible tells us all that, but it’s also reason.”

As president, Santorum, who seems confused over the defintions of the words fact and opinion, said that “irrespective of what the court does, you do what you do, and you fight!” Rick, get over yourself. No one cares what you think.

Gingrich said he would “write the [personhood at conception] bill so that it is not appealable.” In other words, he wants to make that law bullet proof so that it cannot be overturned by the courts.

But in his zeal to end what he calls “judicial supremacy” on subjects such as abortion, gay rights, school prayer, and national security, Gingrich would take it even further. He said he’d arrest federal judges, force them to appear before Congress to justify their renegade, activist rulings, and go so far as to impeach them, remove them from the bench, and abolish their courts.

A “banana republic,” and I’m not talking about the retail chain, is, according to Wikipedia, a pejorative term denoting a politically unstable country ruled by a small, self-elected, wealthy group that exploits the country by means of political oligarchy.

Four of the GOP contenders have gone on record saying that they would ignore court rulings they didn’t like. Gingrich has said he’d arrest justices whose opinions he didn’t share, haul them before Congress, and even dismantle their courts.

With this contempt for the separation of powers and rule of law, these politicians are sounding an awful lot like the despotic leaders of many third world nations.

If this is what your vision for the United States is, be sure to vote Republican in the presidential and congressional elections. You’ll be voting for candidates who are promoting the transition of the United States into a third world nation…a banana republic.