Sen Brownback holds up judge nomination because she attended a gay wedding

[proud2BlibKansan]

WASHINGTON - A Michigan judge whose nomination to the federal bench is stalled over her appearance at a lesbian commitment ceremony says she attended as a friend, not to give legal sanction.

The nomination of Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Janet T. Neff to be a U.S. District Court judge is on hold because Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., is not satisfied with her response to questions about her views on same-sex marriage, a spokesman for the senator said Thursday.

Neff's status has been in limbo since last month, when Brownback placed his procedural hold - using a technique that allows a lone senator to stall a nomination. Brownback wanted to know whether there was anything illegal or improper about the 2002 ceremony in Massachusetts and how Neff's actions might shape her judicial philosophy.

In an Oct. 12 letter to Brownback that was released by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, Neff said a minister presided over the ceremony and she insisted her attendance would not affect her ability to act fairly as a federal judge.

more (it gets better)

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/15856031.htm

[WI_DEM]

1. This is McCarthyism at its worst

[NoPasaran]

3. This is awful, but...

Blacklisting people so they lose their jobs and hounding them to the point of suicide: that's McCarthyism at its worst.

[rodeodance]

2. Its the Congressional ledership that allows this crapola!

[ck4829]

4. Obstructionism! K&R, K&R!

[sarcasmo]

5. The Homophobia is out of control. Kick and Nom.

Brownback is a member of the Christian Taliban and makes me ill. I am pretty sure that is still OK to say here.

[emulatorloo]

8. If you haven't, read this Rolling Stone article on Brownback

It will curl your hair.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/9178374/gods_senator

God's Senator
Who would Jesus vote for? Meet Sam Brownback

JEFF SHARLET

---

<snip>

One of the little-known strengths of the Christian right lies in its adoption of the "cell" -- the building block historically used by small but determined groups to impose their will on the majority. Seventy years ago, an evangelist named Abraham Vereide founded a network of "God-led" cells comprising senators and generals, corporate executives and preachers. Vereide believed that the cells -- God's chosen, appointed to power -- could construct a Kingdom of God on earth with Washington as its capital. They would do so "behind the scenes," lest they be accused of pride or a hunger for power, and "beyond the din of vox populi," which is to say, outside the bounds of democracy. To insiders, the cells were known as the Family, or the Fellowship. To most outsiders, they were not known at all.

<snip>

Over the years, Brownback became increasingly active in the Fellowship. But he wasn't invited to join a cell until 1994, when he went to Washington. "I had been working with them for a number of years, so when I went into Congress I knew I wanted to get back into that," he says. "Washington -- power -- is very difficult to handle. I knew I needed people to keep me accountable in that system."

<snip>

They were striving, ultimately, for what Coe calls "Jesus plus nothing" -- a government led by Christ's will alone. In the future envisioned by Coe, everything -- sex and taxes, war and the price of oil -- will be decided upon not according to democracy or the church or even Scripture. The Bible itself is for the masses; in the Fellowship, Christ reveals a higher set of commands to the anointed few. It's a good old boy's club blessed by God. Brownback even lived with other cell members in a million-dollar, red-brick former convent at 133 C Street that was subsidized and operated by the Fellowship. Monthly rent was $600 per man -- enough of a deal by Hill standards that some said it bordered on an ethical violation, but no charges were ever brought.

<snip>

[gratuitous]

6. First, Bush nominated a woman?

Second, a woman who attended a lesbian couple's commitment ceremony? That's the headline and the startling news right there.

But I guess those sacred "up or down votes" aren't quite so sacred, hmmm? Any Democratic Senators taking note of this? This is a mere District Court nomination, not an appellate court or Supreme Court nomination. But Brownback is willing to hold it up anyway all by himself.

[UrbScotty]

7. Her name was on my ballot

She is running for re-election to the Michigan Court of Appeals.

[Eugene]

9. K & R

Brownback says he is not satisfied with Judge Neff's response.
He will never be satisfied with anyone who shows even a hint
of tolerance.

There is nothing illegal about a private commitment ceremony
and there is nothing improper about attending one as a guest.