If there was ever a better example of why we need judges of his caliber on the benches, I would be hard pressed to think of one. The Democrats have been doing their utmost to appoint judges in the likeness of the senators squabbling over his career. They are viciously defending their misuse of the courts to enact law without the consent of the citizens and their elected representatives.

Where two or more humans live together, there have to be enforceable laws to govern their interactions or the weak end up oppressed by the strong. Those laws have to be based on someone's belief system. However, the laws themselves do not impose that belief system on others of different beliefs. They simply define what behavior is considered unacceptable and what steps will be taken to punish a lawbreaker.

For example, many cultures have laws against stealing. In America, the law was originally based on Christian principle. However, a non-Christian who is told to obey the law is not being forced to practice Christianity. He can hold whatever belief system he wants. He simply can't steal no matter what he believes without incurring the judgment of society against him for the deed -- not for his differing belief.

A rational consideration of the different religions and different cultures shows that they are not equally valid. Some systems promote human welfare and some destroy it. The very religious tolerance that non-Christians would use to bar Christianity from public view came from the Christian view that people should be able to practice religion according to their consciences and not according to the rule of a state church. It was meant to allow freedom of worship no matter what Christian denomination one belonged to, but also allowed freedom of religion for non-Christian beliefs as well.

The ongoing insistence that laws based on Christian morality have no rational foundation and are thus an unjust imposition of Christianity on the rest of society is irrational itself. There is often an accompanying implication that Christians who really believe that the Bible contains historical truth are deceived by their religious hysteria and therefore have nothing to say to the rest of society about how we should live with each other. In fact, American law based on Christian principles is both rational and beneficial. It is the erosion of such law in the hearts of the people as well as in the law books by those who would replace it by their own conflicting laws that has led to so much of the trouble we are experiencing today.

Thus the senators squabble and snarl and defend their illegally seized turf in the courts. The very fact that the legislators are elected by their home constituencies means that they are a politically diverse group which reflect the belief systems of their voters. The people of this country stand a far better chance of having their voices heard in the making of the laws when that duty is left with the legislatures and not in the hands of politically appointed judges. The judges are only supposed to uphold the laws as written in the legislatures and approved by the executive branch, not rewrite them according to their political leanings.

On the home front, I got out in the garden this afternoon and raked and mulched more leaves onto the gardening area that will be the tomato patch this year. The large oak tree is still grimly clinging to its withered leaves. They are slowly fraying away, needing occasional raking to uncover the grass again.

It was an unseasonably warm day with temperatures reaching the 60 degrees F range in the afternoon. Dark clouds swept across the sky as evening fell, and rain started that should move through overnight. It has been like that for several weeks, wavering between mildly cold days to lovely cool ones. I'm making the cats stay in despite the warm night. We have bands of thundershowers coming this way, the thunder rumbling like late spring storms maturing into the tornado season. I don't want them out in case things really fire up when the main band comes through.

The snow peas are still blooming and look absolutely delighted in the cool but rarely freezing weather. It is so tempting to risk planting some spinach, but we should get several weeks of seriously cold weather before the sun warms the garden enough for spinach and other hardy greens to be planted. If the winter continues to be this mild, we may be in for quite a furious hurricane and tornado season. The last tropical storm of the 2005, Zeta, finally disintegrated over the Atlantic this month. It formed after the season was considered officially finished.

The leaf raking went along with only two mishaps. Rascal decided that he would have to inspect each leaf pile as it was spread thinly over the tomato patch so I could mulch it with the mower. He settled down to snooze in one spot as I was whooshing another pile over the area. I didn't notice him and sent a clump of leaves sailing through the air, striking him in the face. Big gold eyes popped open in surprise and he moved to a safer location with only his dignity ruffled.

I did myself a minor injury by snagging a rose cane as I mowed the grass and a scattering of leaves at its base. It whipped back vigorously and slapped me in the face. Fortunately, I had my glasses on so I only suffered a cut on my forehead.

The crafting is proceeding apace, thanks to another generous donation of yarn from Coats & Clark. I'm back to making children's sweaters for Guideposts Knit for Kids as well as working on the cotton kitchen towel set. In case you craft for a charity and think you might qualify for donated yarn, here is the information from the letter they sent me about their current donation policy:

Coats & Clark
Consumer Service Dept.
P.O. Box 12229
Greenville, SC 29612-0229
Telephone 1-800-648-1479

COATS & CLARK YARN DONATION POLICY

Each month, we receive hundreds of requests for donations of product from charitable organizations. We respond to each of these requests.

We are very pleased that you enjoy working with our products. We receive many requests from worthwhile organizations and if we have products available we try to make donations. When we have excess inventory of discontinued colors or mill production runs we are able to donate them to charity. However, we are not always able to meet specific requests for colors or types of products. Our normal policy is to send out one donation per year

We ask that all donation requests be sent in writing on the stationary of the organization for which you are volunteering or the written request should be accompanied by an acknowledgment from the organization of your contribution (thank you letter, pamphlet, newsletter, etc.). We are unable to accept letters that have been printed from various Web sites.

We are sorry, but due to the volume of requests, we cannot send donations to individuals creating projects for web-based charities.

Submit requests to:

Coats & Clark Consumer Service
Attn.: Donations
PO Box 12229
Greenville, SC 29612