In Steve We Don't Trust

"And I have no doubt that every new example will succeed, as every past one has done, in shewing that religion & Govt will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together." - James Madison, "Father of the Constitution"

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Gov. Steve Beshear said yesterday that he will push for legislation next year authorizing an "In God We Trust" license plate.

Tell ya what, Stevie boy: If you authorize another free plate reading "Atheists RULE," I won't sue your ass off.

(More after the jump.)

Beshear said vehicle owners could get the plates -- which have been controversial in other states, including Indiana -- as an alternative to the current standard-issue "Unbridled Spirit" plate at no extra cost.

" 'In God We Trust' is essentially our national motto," he said in an interview. "And that national motto belongs to every American and indeed every Kentuckian. In my opinion nobody should have to pay extra to have that national motto reflected on their license plate."

Is it too much to ask that elected officials know a smidgeon of American history? "In God We Trust" did not become the national motto until 1956, when McCarthyist witch hunts intimidated Congress into replacing the 174-year-old motto adopted by the actual Founders in 1782: "E pluribus unum," or for those of you who flunked Latin, "Out of many, one," a reference to the federalism that unites diverse states.

It was during the commie scares of the 1950s that "Under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance (which, by the way, was written in the 1892 by a Socialist who wanted a secular substitute for the prayers recited by children in Catholic schools), and that "so help me God" was added to the oath to tell the truth in court.

The Founders, who deliberately and decisively kept all mention of god out of the Constitution, would have been horrified.

"In God We Trust" was added to coinage during the Civil War, in a blatant and futile attempt to pacify Southerners who were, at the time, claiming divine christian justification for slavery.

The proper interpretation of the "In God We Trust" phrase on our money is: "God says n*****s aren't human, so we can enslave, starve, beat, rape and murder them all we want."

How about that one, Stevie? How about a license plate that reads: "God says n*****s aren't human, so we can enslave, starve, beat, rape and murder them all we want.")

In Indiana the 2006 General Assembly authorized an "In God We Trust" plate, prompting a lawsuit by the state's chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

SNIP

Carl Wedekind, treasurer of the ACLU of Kentucky, said yesterday that he did not know whether the organization would challenge the license plate in court if it becomes available.

And if you don't, Carl, you can cancel my membership and refund all my donations for the past seven years. The ACLU's stated mission, Carl, is to defend the Bill of Rights. This license plate violates my First Amendment rights, Carl. Get off your ass and do your fucking JOB, Carl.

Kentucky currently offers 99 - count 'em, that's one fewer than a solid hundred - different license plates in 11 different categories. They range from the special military plate for recipients of the Medal of Honor, of which there are currently a grand total of two in the entire state, and the "Choose Life" plate, which is an inexcusable discriminatory slap in the face to those of us who Choose Suicide.

In a coincidence that absolutely was not arranged by an invisible wizard in the sky, the July-August issue of Church and State, the magazine of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, has a cover story on the orgnization's lawsuit against South Carolina's "I Believe" license plate.

If the ACLU doesn't step up to the plate in Kentucky, I trust Americans United will.

One more thing, Steve. Pandering to the freakazoids never works. They grab everything you're got, demand more and vote against you anyway.

Cross-posted at Blue in the Bluegrass.