The Fools We Elect to "Serve" Us

The Fools We Elect to “Serve” Us

By Leon Howard

From time to time, the fools we elect to “serve” us violate their oath of office and the People suffer because of it – This happens more often than would seem reasonable for, supposedly, intelligent officials.

Case in point:

The Stormans family, who owns Ralph’s Thriftway pharmacy in  Olympia, has spent over $500,000 of their own money to defend  their right to not sell the Plan B “morning after” pill, arguing that  it disregards their deeply held religious beliefs. After a 5 year protracted battle in which the state government  spent over $300,000 per year fighting against this family-owned  small business to force them to violate their Constitutionally- protected right of conscience, a federal judge definitively ruled  that the state is wrong. (And they wonder why we have a budget  “shortfall”?) In this landmark case, Judge Leighton ruled that the law in  question violates the First Amendment right to free exercise  of religion: “The Board of Pharmacy’s 2007 rules are not neutral, and they  are not generally applicable. They were designed instead to force  religious objectors to dispense Plan B, and they sought to do so  despite the fact that refusals to deliver for all sorts of secular  reasons were permitted.” In his rebuke of the state’s breach of the Constitution, Judge  Leighton continued, “The Board’s regulations have been aimed at Plan B and  conscientious objections from their inception. Indeed, Plaintiffs  have presented reams of [internal government documents]  demonstrating that the predominant purpose of the rule was  to stamp out the right to refuse [for religious reasons].” Attorney General Rob McKenna and his office erroneously  argued on behalf of the State that if exceptions were made for  religious beliefs, the state would be establishing religion, in  violation of the First Amendment.  McKenna’s legal team  recently spent 11 days in federal court trying to convince a  Judge to force the owners of Ralph's Thriftway to provide  medicine that they believe will take a human life. Undeterred by this week’s ruling, the Governor is now  conferring with the AG’s office on the best path to an appeal.  The question for McKenna now becomes – “Do I continue to  spend state taxpayer money to appeal this decision, or do I  back off and give Mr. Stormans the dignity he deserves?" Shahram Hadian, candidate for Washington State governor,  voiced it best: “The ramifications of this case are huge. If the state continues  with its witch hunt and ultimately prevails, it opens a Pandora’s  Box. Any government agency could force individuals to violate  their right of conscience in any matter. Governor Gregoire and  AG Rob McKenna, STOP your persecution of our constitutionally  protected religious freedom and right of conscience.” I believe Shahram Hadian has covered the point Mr. McKenna  needs to address in this case but an even bigger question for  me is: If AG Rob McKenna, who wants to be Governor, cannot  respect the First Amendment as Attorney General, what other  inalienable rights will he “interpret” against the People if  elected to be Governor? Who will be the next victim of an  over-reaching elected official and will they be forced to spend  their savings to fight for our rights? For me the answer is obvious - I will gladly endorse and  support Shahram Hadian to be the next Governor of  Washington State!