As I have posted recently in discussing why no LGBT citizen in their right mind should vote for John McCain, a McCain victory could result in long lasting damage to gay rights and the larger issue of individual freedoms. Today's Washington Post looks at what a McCain victory might mean and how the balance on the Supreme Court could be thrown to the Scalia -Roberts side of the scale. While I once admired Scalia's writing style, the man has become increasing unable to separate his own personal religious beliefs from the civil laws. People REALLY need to wake up to this danger. In my opinion, a significant shift to the right could put decisions like Lawrence v. Texas at severe risk since the Christianist truly want to re-criminalize gay sex. Like it or not, that is a reality that EVERY gay American needs to remember come November. Here are some highlights:
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A victory by the presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, would probably mean preserving the uneasy but roughly balanced status quo, since the justices who are considered most likely to retire are liberal. A win for his Republican counterpart, John McCain, could mean a fundamental shift to a consistently conservative majority ready to take on past court rulings on abortion rights, affirmative action and other issues important to the right.
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"If there's one thing you can see about this court, it is that it still sits on a knife's edge," said Jeffrey L. Fisher, a Stanford University law professor who argued three cases before the justices this year. Each case pitted the court's four consistent conservatives against its four slightly less consistent liberals, with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy returning to his role of last term as the deciding vote.
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But a McCain victory could give the conservative bloc a clear-cut majority for years to come.
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