From: AdmrlLocke@aol.com Sent: Sunday, July 16, 2000 3:29 PM To: undisclosed-recipients: ; Subject: LibertyNet: Stop Clinton/Campbell LibertyNet A Drop of Reason in a Sea of Irrationality Issue 7/16/00 Dear Friend of Liberty, Bill Clinton is trying to appoint former Iowa Attorney General Bonnie Campbell to the Federal Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The Eighth Circuit includes both Iowa, where I currently reside, and Clinton's once and future home state, Arkansas. The Federal Court of Appeals, or Circuit Court, hears all the appeals from federal trial (District) courts in its geographical area, known as a circuit. Thus the Circuit courts hold a great degree of judicial power, second in the federal judicial system only to the US Supreme Court. Since the Supreme Court refuses to hear many appeals made to it from the Circuit courts, the Circuit courts in practice often make the final determination in federal cases. If you haven't lived in Iowa you may not have not have heard of Campbell. I confess that I had not either until she ran as the Democratic Party candidate for governor against then-Governor Terry Brandstad in 1996. Campbell's statewide campaign tried to paint her as a moderate. Here in the Peoples Republic of Johnson County, however, we got to see a different side of her. Here radical feminists, lesbians separatists, postmodernists (cultural and moral relativists) and Socialist Party members came out in droves to support her. While each of our two local Republican candidates managed to garner 43 percent of the vote, Branstad won only 38 percent here against the angry swarm of leftists crawling out of the woodwork for Campbell. With Iowans generally conservative on social issues, however, Branstad won overwhelmingly. The two brief pieces below, the first a letter to me from The Iowa Family Policy Center and the second an alert from Eagle Forum, summarize the danger presented by Campbell. The Eagle Forum alert also encourages you to call Republican Senators on the Judiciary Committee and urge them to oppose Clinton's nomination of Campbell. Campbell is one of those statists--whether you call her a liberal or a socialist--who believes in what I like to call the Sneeze Theory of constituti onal construction: if everyone sneezed at the same time, it would surely affect interstate commerce; therefore Congress may regulate sneezing under the Interstate Commerce clause, Congress' main grant of power from the people. The Clinton administration has used the Sneeze Theory to create regulations, taking a small but intrusive example, under which you may no longer legally install a "high-flow" (i.e., normal) toilet. Clinton's regulations allow you to install only "low-flow" (i.e., inadequate) toilets. After the 1992 election I jokingly told people that I hoped that by the end of the Clinton presidency we could still go to the bathroom without a permit from Washington. Thanks to the anti-Constitutional shysterism of lawyers like Clinton and Campbell with their Sneeze Theory, it's no longer a joke. Perhaps I should call it the Flush Theory. Better yet, you can help me flush the Campbell nomination. The Founding Fathers never would have tolerated Congress (much less the executive branch) r egulating how much water gets flushed by your toilet. Neither should you. Take a moment to call any or all of the Republican members of the Senate Judiciary committee and politely voice your objection to Campbell. You can find the names of the committee Republicans at the end of the Eagle Forum alert below. You can reach any of them through the Senate switchboard operator at 202-224-3121. If you're reading this on Sunday, please take a moment now to mark your calendar to call tomorrow before you get too involved with your regular activities. (If you're like me, mark your calendar to call before you get involved with your irregular activities.) If you're reading this after Sunday, please take a moment to call now, since the committee could vote on the nomination this week. According to the DC office of Iowa's US Senator Charles E. Grassley, a member of the judiciary committee, he hadn't made up his mind about how to vote on Campbell as of Friday afternoon, July 14th. According to my sources, however, Grassley has struck a deal with Iowa's Democratic Party Senator, Tom Harkin, one of the most left-wing members of the US Senate, under which they will not vote against one another's nominees for the judiciary. Grassley claims that Harkin has voted for five conservative nominees (when? under George Bush?). Grassley says therefore that he will vote for Campbell's nomination. If Grassley has cut a deal with Harkin, it may be difficult to get him to vote against Campbell, but be sure to call his office at 202-224-6020 and register your opposition to Campbell. Remember that the only thing required for evil to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing. Sincerely, David B. Levenstam, CPA, MT, MA Bush/Cox in 2000! To subscribe to LibertyNet, email me at AdmrlLocke@aol.com, with a message to the effect that you'd like to subscribe. LibertyNet and GrammNet back issues available at http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/3390/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- David, Here is The Iowa Family Policy Center's position on the Bonnie Campbell nomination: TOO IDEOLOGICAL, POLITICAL TO BE A JUDGE -- Bonnie Campbell's nomination for the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals causes grave concerns. This position is just one step beneath the U.S. Supreme Court-an extremely powerful, important position. Nominees should be beyond reproach, with a judicial temperament. Campbell isn't: ABORTION RIGHTS: Campbell supports abortion and opposes all forms of parental notification. As Iowa Attorney General, Bonnie Campbell joined a group of other public officials in a "friend of the court" brief, urging the U.S. Supreme Court not to overturn Roe v. Wade. CHRISTIANS LABELED ENEMIES OF EDUCATION: During her 1994 campaign for Governor, Campbell called members of the religious right "enemies of education." In an appearance before representatives of the Iowa State Education Association, Campbell stated, "If I'm elected governor you will, first of all, be invited to my table always to help make these decisions about Iowa's educational future, and you will help me resist the people at the table who are your greatest enemies: extremists, fundamentalist Christians, anti-tax groups." The Des Moines Register, October 16, 1994. PERSONAL, FALSE ATTACKS AGAINS CHRISTIANS: As Iowa Democratic Chair, Campbell stated in an appearance on public TV just before the '88 election that "a fundamentalist Christian, Chuck Hurley, has been praying for the death of his opponent, [House Speaker] Don Avenson." POLITICAL PAYBACK: Campbell, Director of Violence Against Women, U.S. Department Justice, said nothing during the Clinton hearings even though there was clear evidence of assaults against women (Kathleen Willey, Juanita Broaddrick). Now Clinton, himself, appoints Campbell. OVERLY POLITICAL: Campbell was Iowa Democratic Chair in 1988; She has contri buted over $3,500 to Democratic candidates and the Iowa State Democratic party from 1991-1995, including $2,425 to Senator Tom Harkin and $250 to Senator Ted Kennedy. People Weekly, November 20, 1995. Campbell is clearly too ideological and political to be an effective judge. Andrew Boettger, The Iowa Family Policy Center -------------------------------------------------------------------------- conservativeinfo - Subscribe to the Conservative Information email list at http://conservativeinfo.listbot.com From: Eagle Forum URGENT JUDICIAL NOMINATIONS ALERT! 7-10-00 BONNIE J. CAMPBELL, one of Bill Clinton's most egregious nominees to date is likely to come to a vote before the Senate Judiciary Committee later this week. Campbell's nomination to the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (which hears appeals from Arkansas) should be opposed for numerous reasons, including the following: * LACK OF JUDICIAL EXPERIENCE: Campbell's career has been in executive positions (e.g., director of the Violence Against Women Office); she is totally lacking in adequate judicial experience. * UNCONSTITUTIONAL VIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION'S COMMERCE CLAUSE: In her position as the VAW Office director, she actively promoted the use of the civil rights provision of the Violence Against Women Act. This provision was rooted in the argument that Congressional power to regulate "interstate commerce" justified the law. The U. S. Supreme Court recently struck down the civil rights provision as being too expansive an exercise of Congressional commerce power. * "RABID PRO-ABORTION STANCE": An Iowans for Life president described Campbell in this manner because of Campbell's avid support for abortion and opposition to parental notification. * FEMINIST TIES: Campbell was a delegate to the 1995 U.N. Conference on Women in Beijing, China, one of the most pro-feminist aggregations ever convened. * EXTREMIST OPPOSITION TO CHRISITIANITY: Campbell has described religious conservatives as "extremists, fundamentalist, anti-tax groups." She told Iowa public school educators, "I hate to call them Christian because I am a Christian, and I hate to call them religious, because they're not, so I'll call them the radical right." Yet she "respects everyone's religious views profoundly" but thinks that such views "have no place in our school system or political structure." Our Washington supporters report that opposition to Campbell is building, and that Senators may be persuaded to oppose her if there is sufficient constituent support for such opposition. WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IF WE: 1. Urge any of the following Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to put a hold on the nomination in the Committee: Grassley (IA--especially important because his state is in the Eighth Circuit), Thurmond (SC), Kyl (AZ), Ashcroft (MO--his state is also in the Eighth Circuit), Abraham (MI), Sessions (AL), Bob Smith (NH); 2. Urge all Judiciary Committee Republicans to vote against Campbell if the nomination goes to a vote; the remaining Committee Republicans are: Hatch (UT--the Committee Chairman), Specter (PA) and DeWine (OH). MAKE YOUR PHONE CALL NOW! Senate Operator: 202-224-3121