It’s another win for Michael Newdow in his attempt to get “Under God” out of the Pledge of Allegiance. A federal court judge rules that reciting the Pledge in public schools is unconstitutional since forcing kids to refer to God violates their freedoms.
It will be appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is the most liberal federal appeals court, so it will probably pass. But then it will go up to the Supreme Court and likely get stomped again, just like Michael Newdow’s last case.
I find that really frustrating. I remember as a kid wondering what the hell the deal was with the “under God” reference and being bothered by it, just like I was also bothered by the “in God we trust” stuff on our money. If we have freedom of religion in the U.S., isn’t part of that freedom to not believe in God? Why then do we have God emblazoned across all our currency and the Pledge of Allegiance and all sorts of other crud? It’s never made sense to me. So I’m rooting for Michael. He’s not the most videogenic guy to put on CNN or Fox News representing this issue, but I’m sure glad he’s taking a stand.

The hearings for approving John Roberts as chief justice for the supreme court are going on today. I love how senators call their opponents “my friends on the other side of the aisle”. These hearings are hilarious. Business as usual really. The liberals are all saying they need to know the position of John Roberts on issues, and are wondering why the White House hasn’t released some documents detailing such, and the conservatives are laying out legal cases for why John Roberts can’t address the issues in this hearing.
Hmmm… “my friends in Redmond”. I like the sound of that.

Want to know what’s really going on in New Orleans? Read this candid interview with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. (There’s a video stream too.)

Pat Robertson is calling for the assassination of Hugo Chavez. What a fruitcake. I think he’s finally lost it. Like this is really what we want – a Christian televangelist dictating government policy. Niiiice. Sounds like exactly the kind of thing we’ve been complaining about in the Islamic world. Of course, we won’t do anything about Pat except pat him on the head and ask him to play nice.

A total waste of time. Or did I miss something?
EDIT: Okay, I should say more than just that. I just thought it was all the same rhetoric I’ve heard over and over. I was hoping for some compelling new arguments.
But according to CNN insta-polls, it did have a net positive impact on people watching the speech. So, shrug.
And then, there’s this: Canada approves same-sex marriage. Yeah, the U.S. – we’re fighting for freedom! Freedom, for Canada! Yeah!