CONSERVATIVE FREAK OUT
GOP Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) says
violence against judges is understandable

From AMERICAblog courtesy of Eschaton:

At 5PM today on the Senate floor, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) gave an astounding account of the recent spate of violence against judges, suggesting that the crimes could be attributed to the fact that judges are "unaccountable" to the public. Sources on the Hill went and pulled the transcript of what Cornyn said, and it read:

SENATOR JOHN CORNYN: "I don't know if there is a cause-and-effect connection but we have seen some recent episodes of courthouse violence in this country. Certainly nothing new, but we seem to have run through a spate of courthouse violence recently that's been on the news and I wonder whether there may be some connection between the perception in some quarters on some occasions where judges are making political decisions yet are unaccountable to the public, that it builds up and builds up and builds up to the point where some people engage in - engage in violence." [Senate Floor, 4/4/05]

Click here for the rest.

Of course, this is all in the context of the Terri Schiavo thing. Remember Tom DeLay's threats last week against the judges who ruled on the case? Cornyn, another insane Texas Republican, has just upped the ante by quite a bit: he's saying that violence against judges is understandable because of liberal "judicial activism;" that comes very close to endorsing the recent acts of the lunatic in Chicago who killed a judge's family and the rapist who shot up the court room in Atlanta. Of course, these two events were obviously personally, rather than politically, motivated. But that's not stopping the crazy conservatives from trying to find a link.

Atrios over at Eschaton is already calling for Cornyn's resignation, and I don't think such a thing is so absurd. I'm pretty outraged myself--personally, I'd like to see Cornyn's head on a plate, metaphorically speaking, of course. But crazy statements like this make the post below, which speculates about a possible turning of the tide in American conservative dominated politics, all the more plausible. Right now it seems that the Republicans' worst enemy is not the toady, eager to please, whining Democrats. Right now the Republicans' worst enemy is themselves. I'm glad somebody's fighting the good fight.

More on this story from the Washington Post, again courtesy of Eschaton, here.

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