Dec 25, 2018
Original release October 22, 2016.
Encore release December 25, 2018.
Encore release September 17, 2017.
Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore has been suspended without pay from his office until the end of his term, effectively putting an end to his judicial career. Moore becomes (as far as we can tell) the only judge in US history to be removed from office TWICE (the first time over his installation of a 2.5 ton Ten Commandments monument in the judiciary building; the second time over his obstruction of the US Supreme Court's same-sex marriage ruling in Obergefell v Hodges. Moore is appealing the decision, although there seems very little chance it will be reversed. Good riddance, we say, although it wouldn't surprise us to see him continue in the political arena; e.g. running for governor or for Congress.
Plus:
Teresa MacBain, who left the Methodist ministry in 2012 and "came out" as an atheist, has in recent months quietly returned to religion. The freethought community is obviously dismayed and disappointed by this decision, although we wish her the best as she explores what she has describes as a more "progressive" Christianity. (Listen to our interview with Ms. MacBain back in episode 160.)
Baseball legend Curt Schilling (lately an infamous anti-evolution tweeter and anti-transgender pinhead) has said he's considering running against Senator Elizabeth Warren in 2018. This could be interesting, but it seems a fair bet at this point that Warren would crush him like a bug.