San Diegans Fight to Keep Vet Memorial, Cross

One more instance of an atheist wackjob seeking to assert a perceived right to freedom from the proximity to religion took a damaging blow in left-coast California Wednesday. Demonstrating that they have a far better grasp on what right looks like than the liberal activist judges responsible for 15 years of adverse court rulings, 75 percent of San Diego voters decided yesterday to transfer the city-owned site to the Federal government, to be designated as a war memorial.

As is usually the case in these matters, this particular battle began when atheist and self-appointed-arbiter-of-what-is-best-for-all-of-us, Phillip Paulsen, filed suit in 1989 , leading an activist judge to order the city to remove the cross. San Diego responded by placing the property up for sale, with the approval of 76 percent of voters. The subsequent sale was ruled unconstitutional after Paulsen objected, arguing the sale had the effect of preserving the cross. Paulsen argues that the cross is a violation of the First Amendment's ban on government establishment of a religion. (Is it just me, or does it seem that most atheists, queer rights activists, and Muslims don’t seem to need to keep a day job?)

In response, a Bill authorizing the federal government to take over the memorial was authored by right-minded Republican U.S. congressmen Duncan Hunter and Randy “Duke” Cunningham. President Bush signed the bill into law in December. The ballot initiative came about after the city refused to donate the cross and memorial to the federal government. A group called San Diegans for the Mount Soledad National War Memorial took just 23 days to gather 105,000 signatures.

"This is a tremendous victory in an important battle, but the war is not over," said Richard Thompson, the center's president and chief counsel. "The other side has not surrendered; court battles over the cross continue."

An attorney for the ACLU insists the vote is meaningless. "It still doesn't mean a damn thing," attorney James McElroy said."Voters should have never voted on it. It's a waste of taxpayers' money."

The property on which the memorial sits was sold to the Mt. Soledad War Memorial Association in 1998, in the face of similar court challenges. The sale originally was upheld but later ruled unconstitutional by the full panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals* in San Francisco. During its ownership, the Memorial Association made significant landscaping improvements and added 3,000+ plaques honoring veterans.

A Federal judge will hear arguments over the memorial’s central feature, a 29-foot concrete cross on August 15, and a California superior court judge will hear arguments on the constitutionality of the ballot measure Aug. 12. Joshua Gross, San Diegans for the Mount Soledad National War Memorial spokesman, believes the ballot result could influence the judges. "A judge is always going to be inclined to follow the will of the people, the will of the voters," Gross said. "The higher that number, the more inclined they'll be. That's just logical." We should be so lucky as to hope logic matters to activist judges.

Well done, San Diegans. Fact is, I never doubted the right-mindedness and patriotism of a town so closely linked with the Navy community. It is reassuring to see that in a state so well known for being the birthplace of radical governmental policies and inane legal precedent, the population remains grounded in character, loyalty, and honor. Likewise, thanks for respecting that many of those war dead memorialized there died not just for flag and country, but perhaps also for God and Cross.

* Keep in mind that this is the same Appellate Court panel whose rulings, over the past seven years, have been overturned 80% of the time when they were brought to the Supreme Court, often unanimously. Included among the 9th’s nutjob decisions: declaring there's no individual right to keep and bear arms, commuting the death sentences of more than 100 convicted murderers blocking oil drilling off California's coast, and forbidding Federal housing authorities from evicting drug users.