Katherine Harris, a Florida member of the House of Representatives and former Republican Secretary of State for Florida who was instrumental in securing the State of Florida for George Bush’s 2000 election effort is the Republican nominee to represent Florida in the U.S. Senate.
In the course of her Senate campaign, she has released a few statements that are pure, unadulterated wingnuttery:
U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris (news, bio, voting record) told a religious journal that separation of church and state is “a lie” and God and the nation’s founding fathers did not intend the country be “a nation of secular laws.” The Republican candidate for U.S. Senate also said that if Christians are not elected, politicians will “legislate sin,” including abortion and gay marriage.
. . .
Separation of church and state is “a lie we have been told,” Harris said in the interview, published Thursday, saying separating religion and politics is “wrong because God is the one who chooses our rulers.”
“If you’re not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin,” Harris said.
Thankfully, some of her fellow Republicans are trying to distance themselves from this kind of position. However, Harris is not some fringe member of the party. She was front and center in the effort to give Florida’s electoral votes to George Bush in 2000. She is a member of Congress. And she’s the party’s nominee in Florida’s Senate race. I’d be a lot more comfortable with the Republican Party if this kind of Dominionist nonsense was anathema to mainstream candidates.
It’s presumptuous of her also then to lead people to assume that legislators like Ted Kennedy( whose legislation she surely has in mind as sinful and secular)) are non-Christian. But maybe it’s just harmless anti-catholicism, and I shouldn’t be be so judgmental of Katherine Harris. What ever happened to the concept of ‘secularized Christianty’ which I have always maintained IS historic american culture. At least here’s the start of a good discussion.
Thinking back to the 2000 election, I thought both the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court went way past Ms. Harris in making a mockery of the law. Remind now, just how exactly did the U.S. Supreme Court find that it even had jurisdiction?
That election was also a lesson in legislative cowardice. The Florida legislature, which was controlled by the Republicans, could have been called into special session by Gov. Jeb Bush, declared that the election results were in dispute (I don’t think anyone would argue with that, at least not seriously), and picked the state’s electors then and there.
I’ve blocked a lot of that out of my mind, apparently. But I do seem to recall the U.S. Supreme Court’s declaration that Bush v. Gore was a one-time only, non-precedential decision — effectively saying that “this is the law as it applies to Candidate George W. Bush.”
Correct, and nothing galls me worse than to have the republicans sqealing about judicial activism when their man Bush wouldn’t have been in the position to put our country where it is now without the aid of “conservative” judicial activism.
Can you believe the slack-jaws of Florida selected Harris in the primaries? One more reminder of why I’ll never live there.
I’m trying to figure out the logic of Representative Harris’ comments here. First she says that “…God is the one that chooses our rulers.” (would she say that about the “great Satan” himself, our former “ruler” Bill Clinton) and in almost the same breath, states “If you’re not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin…â€
Um, OK, which is it? Does God choose the candidate (as she states in the first sentence), or do we the people (as she claims in the second)? Logic has never been a strong point for this sort throughout history–why start now, right?
When I took Civics in highschool, I don’t recall anything in the Constitution about God having the final voice in choosing our “rulers”, but I am the product of public education, so my knowledge may be suspect.
Of course this is a group of people not overly concerned with inconveniences like the Constitution
BTW, I’m frightened by people who claim to be the vocal cords of God. How did they get back in the mainstream?
Also, good point about the irony of the “activist judges.” Keep in mind that many of those judges that are being labeled as such were appointed by Reagan (such as the judge that recently ruled wiretaping w/o a warrent illegal and unconstitional) or like minded Republicans. Ahh, it’s fun to watch Republicans eating their own…
I say w/o irony “God Bless activist judges.”
Doug I think the GOP has backstabbed her… but well I am really happy after her 6th Sept victory
I agree with Lou about the good discussion, however I think that Harris is not a religious leader and she is a political one who knows what would work with different kind of people. What matters at the end of the day is her deeds… which I think are pretty for the masses
I am happy that Katherine Harris has cleared the Florida Primary in the GOP nominations…. Watsay?