A right-wing religious fundamentalist group called Liberty Legal Institute has stepped into Alaskan politics in a bid to silence free speech.
According to the AP the group contends that no-one should be allowed to investigate and release details of Governor Palin’s Troopergate:
…lawmakers filed suit Tuesday to end the bipartisan investigation into Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s firing of the public safety commissioner even though the vice presidential candidate once said she welcomed the probe into allegations of abuse of power.
The lawsuit called the investigation “unlawful, biased, partial and partisan.”
She welcomed the probe, but the religious fundamentalist thugs are stepping in to shut-down the dialogue because they fear it might hurt her chances of being elected.
…she said in July that she’d welcome and cooperate with the investigation ordered by the Legislative Council. “Hold me accountable,” said had said.
Compare that with the critics of the lawsuit:
“There is no nonpartisan reason to complete this investigation until after the election,” said Anchorage attorney Kevin G. Clarkson. “We just want to take the politics out of it and bring fairness back into it.”
Clarkson said he and a nonprofit legal firm in Texas, Liberty Legal Institute, were donating their work on the suit.
I do not understand. Partisan reasons to stop an investigation are acceptable? According to whom? What reason is there to delay an investigation other than to hide the results and censor or silence critics? Palin herself asked to be held accountable, so why not hold her accountable?
Donation is such a loaded term.
What they probably mean is that the GOP is taking contributions from churches to cover legal work for the election. They would rather protect Palin from Troopergate instead of helping the poor, the needy or the disenfranchised.
What else has the Liberty Legal Institute done?
Their site says they have fought to protect prayer in school (Croft, et al. v. Governor of Texas), they have tried to remove controls regulating and zoning property for churches (Plano Vietnamese Baptist Church (PVBC), et al. v. City of Plano and Templo Bautista Nueva Jerusalen v. City of Duncanville and Collegiate Community Outreach (CCO) d/b/a UNT Chi Alpha, and Nathan Wesson v. City of Denton, et al.).
They fight against freedom of speech as they work to advance christian influence over schools and government. When these fundamentalists win, they will make others pray to them and their god and demand that everyone call it “freedom”.
Moreover, they have fought to increase corruption in government by arguing gifts should be allowed as part of the selection process for officials (Free Market Foundation, et al. v. David A. Reisman, et al.). Clearly they consider corruption and cronyism a benefit of the free market, as though they believe in some sort of demented and highly ironic Nietzsche superman system of governance.
No surprise, given all this, that they try to confuse “protect religious freedoms” with “First Amendment rights”. It is an intentional mistake. They wave the Constitution as a form of camouflage. They need to cover their intent to stop you from flying free. Once all the targets are all eliminated, wings clipped, there will be no need for the veil of a Constitution. In the meantime, they will tell you they are here for your own safety…