Back of the Bus

Justice Sunday II came and went yesterday. Thankfully. Bill Frist went uninvited, but the rogue gallery was still impressive:

Speaking from the pulpit, DeLay, a Texas Republican, decried what he called "the judicial autocracy" that was "casting aside moral values" to rewrite the law instead of interpreting it.

DeLay praised Roberts as someone who is "intelligent, judicious and open-minded and I think he understands the critical but limited role of the courts."

Dr. James Dobson, the head of Focus on the Family, said in a videotaped address projected onto a giant screen above the altar that Democrats such as Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy and other "minions on the left" would try to turn Roberts' upcoming senate confirmation process into a "circus."

Among the other speakers at the two-hour rally were Robert Bork, a conservative who was nominated for the Supreme Court by Ronald Reagan but rejected by the Senate; the Catholic League's Bill Donohue, who proposed that all high court rulings overturning an act of Congress should be unanimous; and former Georgia Democratic senator turned Republican firebrand Zell Miller.

Apart from DeLay, none of these individuals are currently in a policy position. And certainly these are not individuals that can be identified as mainstream. When I look at them, I see a cast of the unaccepted fringe elements carving out a niche market of ideological extremism. But significance? That remains to be seen.

On the agenda: Driving the Bus -

"Catholics and other Christians together, we are going to move to the front of the bus and take command of the wheel," Donohue said.

The Rightist cultural revolution. Revolution? Please. As though Donohue has ever known what it's like to be anywhere other than the front of the bus.