This Is What It Looks Like When Right-Wing Activists Run For Public Office

As I noted yesterday, Rick Green is poised for a run-off election next month for a seat on the Texas Supreme Court … he is also a Chuck Norris approved, Tea Party Religious Right activist.

So what does it look like when someone like that decides to run for a seat on the state Supreme Court?  It looks a lot like this presentation where, unable to tout his judicial experience since he has none, Green instead assured the audience that his hard-core right-wing views would always drive his decision-making process on the bench and all they have to do is look at his long record of right-wing activism to know that there is no need to fear that he’ll ever “become a David Souter”: 

Something that makes me different from all the candidates in this race, and that is unlike most judicial candidates, you don’t have to wonder about my philosophy. You don’t have to guess what my convictions are or where I stand. You don’t have to worry about voting for me and regretting it because I become a David Souter, the ultra-liberal on the United States Supreme Court, appointed by George Bush because everybody though he would be conservative.

It’s not enough to say “I’m a conservative,” you gotta look at the record. And with me, you can do that. You can look at my voting record when I was a state legislator; when I was a state rep I was considered the fourth most conservative in the legislature. I received the Eagle Forum’s “Faith and Family Award.” The Chamber of Commerce gave me the “Fighter for Free Enterprise Award.” I was co-author of the Parental Notification Bill, I was always a 100% pro-lifer, I had property rights awards, Second Amendment awards.

… [Green talks about this endorsement he received from Charlton Heston] …

I’ve also been with David Barton and WallBuilders for about ten years now, teaching on the Constitution, the original intent of the Founding Fathers, going back to the formula that made us successful and teaching that to folks, and author of books on the subject as well.

I’m also the founder of Patriot Academy, for ten years we’ve been training 16-25 year-olds in the Founding Father’s philosophy so they have not only the right knowledge, but the skills to be effective at the process.

I want you to know that, as a former legislator, I respect the proper roles of the different branches. I will be the one sitting around the conference room table reminding my fellow Justices that it’s the folks we elected to serve under that big pink dome, they’re the ones supposed to make the law, our job is only to apply it

The bottom line is, you elect me to the Texas Supreme Court, you can count on me to fight for justice, to uphold the rule of law, but never to legislate from the bench.