Or rather we were beaten last week, as in We the Atheist People, I’m just now catching up. Texas Governor and possible 2012 GOP Presidential contender Rick Perry was handed a victory last week in a suit brought against his activities by atheists:
Judge Gray H. Miller, of Federal District Court in the Southern District of Texas, ruled that the plaintiffs — the foundation and five of its Houston-area members — had suffered no concrete injury and that the governor’s invitations for Texans to join him in a day of prayer were “requests, not commands.” People offended by the governor’s prayer rally can either not attend, not pray or express their disapproval using their First Amendment rights, the judge said. He dismissed the lawsuit and the motion to stop the governor’s official participation.
Perry is one hell of a piece of work. He went from an old-school southern Dixiecrat who ran one of Al Gore’s early campaigns to a fire-breathing social conservative in the space of a few years. The progressive (And the Texan!) in me fears the damage a Perry administration could do to the already fragile United States. The blogger who is living part-time in Austin in me crackles in amusement at the thought of covering Perry: George Bush clone, Texas Ranger, for four years or more
I dunno. It was pretty clear that this suit was going to be dismissed, but I still think it might have been a good idea to file it, just to let Perry and his ilk know that they invite heightened scrutiny when they get close to the wall of church/state separation.
When the Prayer event was first announced, many speculated that he might use the occasion to officially launch his presidential bid, that seems like a remote possibility now – we will likely never know for sure, but the lawsuit and the public alarm bells rung by atheists might already have made a difference, even if the event is going ahead.
I went to school with the judge’s son and met him many times. His son’s a prick (or at least he was 20+ years ago) but his father was always nice and respectable. We actually talked about some of the Iran/Contra stuff at the time and he would have sounded liberal at the time. I’m still glad someone stood up and challenged Perry however.
Since you’re a part time resident of Austin, how about the occasional review of goings on, new restaurants, festivals, etc. It’ll help those of us displaced Austinites with our withdrawal. Think of it as Austin Methadone