This ain’t the only story of Right Wing Extremism and the Evangelical for Profit Crowd’s tactical influence takeover at the US Supreme Court, but the less we talk about it, the less aware we are of how these people are greasing the wheels of our government’s shift away from democracy towards an oligarchy - as the hostile corporate take over of our American government continues, pretty much unabated as we all obsess over the traitor trump getting his due.
Report Exposes Ease Of Access To Schmooze Supreme Court Justices
Alex Wagner points out that a recent New York Times report about an Evangelical anti-abortion lobbyist befriending Supreme Court Justice Sam Alito and receiving early notice of the Court’s ruling in the Hobby Lobby case, also highlights how the Supreme Court Historical Society has been used as a means of getting access to and hobnobbing with Supreme Court justices.
By Jodi Kantor and Jo Becker
- Nov. 19, 2022
by Kaelan Deese, Supreme Court Reporter |
November 21, 2022 02:33 PM
By PETER S. CANELLOS and JOSH GERSTEIN - 07/08/2022
Rob Schenck, an evangelical minister who headed the Faith and Action group headquartered near the Supreme Court from 1995 to 2018, said he arranged over the years for about 20 couples to fly to Washington to visit with and entertain Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and the late Antonin Scalia.
Guess it should be pointed out once the damage was done and Schenck could stand back to survey the fruits of his passions, he thought to himself, W.T.F. have I done lord oh lordie?!?
For more than 30 years I worked to overturn Roe v. Wade. As an evangelical minister, I was deeply engaged in the world of the religious right, beginning with my vote for Ronald Reagan for president in 1980. I believed he would appoint Supreme Court justices committed to protecting unborn children, and Antonin Scalia, appointed in 1986, fulfilled my expectations. Later, when President George Bush nominated to the court another strong pro-lifer, Clarence Thomas, I led a vigil at our church to pray for his confirmation.
During those years I also recruited, trained and directed thousands of protesters who blocked the doors to abortion clinics, marched in the streets to denounce “baby killing” and staged sit-ins at the offices of legislators. I was a leader of Operation Rescue, the activist pro-life group; I helped stage the epic 1992 anti-abortion demonstrations in Buffalo. I went to jail and paid exorbitant fines for my advocacy, and was even arrested by the Secret Service for my role in thrusting an aborted fetus at Gov. Bill Clinton during his 1992 presidential campaign. Eventually, I founded a national organization to advance the anti-abortion agenda.
Given my history, you might think I would be thrilled …
For more on the guy, here’s an interview with Terry Gross at NPR given on July 11, 2018