The fusion of the Republican party with evangelical Christian churches is now well-entrenched, as this latest NYT story reveals. Ralph Reed, of course, was unrepentant in his courting of the Southern Baptists for the Republican party last month. And the president addressed the SBC conference by satellite, while Richard Land launched the voter registration drive called “I Vote Values.” “I, for one, believe people of faith have the same rights to participate in the political process as any other citizens,” Reed said. “Christians should not be treated as second-class citizens.” Of course they shouldn’t. Still, it’s worth checking out the IVoteValues.com website to see exactly which values the president is endorsing. In the section on homosexuality, the Southern Baptists remind us of what the founding fathers thought of gays:
During the American Revolution, when the Continental Army Lieutenant Enslin was found “attempting to commit sodomy,” Commander George Washington issued an order “with abhorrence and detestation.” Enslin was to be “drummed out of the camp … never to return.” Thomas Jefferson authorized legislation to penalize sodomy with castration. At the time the Constitution was ratified, the states of New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Connecticut, Virginia, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Jersey each implemented the death penalty fo those who committed sodomy.”
Why is the SBC reporting this? There are other sections on the dreaded homos, entitled: “Targeting You … And Your Children.” And: ‘Homosexuality Costs You Plenty!” This is what Bush Republicanism is now about – beneath the surface. Worth considering in this campaign. (Hat tip: Roger Abramson).
DIRTY REPUBLICAN TRICKS: A Republican-financed outfit jammed the Democratic phone lines in the New Hampshire primary.
RYAN FIGHTS BACK: And he’s absolutely right to. Money quote:
“What benefit has the public now derived from knowing this information? There is no allegation, as you know, of breaking any laws, no allegation of infidelity, no allegation of breaking any marriage vows,” he said. He said this sort of intrusion into candidates’ personal lives will prevent qualified candidates from entering politics, and said it is “not good for American Democracy.” “I can’t tell you how many calls I got in the last two weeks from people who said, ‘I always thought about maybe going into public service. But not now, not, not after I’ve seen what’s happened to you.’ And so this cannot be the right standard now for entering into American politics,” he told Stosssel.
I really think the only solution to this is to threaten investigations into the private lives of the editors of the papers who peddle such stuff. Every editor who breaks a story like this should be asked in public exactly the kind of intimate questions Ryan was faced with. What do you like to do in bed? What’s the wildest sexual fantasy you have? When did you last have sex with your spouse? Let’s see if they like it when the witch-hunt is turned on them.
FIFTEEN POINTS: That’s the margin a Kerry-McCain ticket would beat Bush-Cheney. Won’t happen, of course. But you can see the huge gulf in American politics by the support for it.
MADONNA: I’m in awe. She’s 45 years old. The two hours of astonishingly athletic choreography, dazzling video effects, and crowd-pleasing music would have taxed an 18 year-old. She truly is one of the great performers of our time. Yes, she had some fatuous anti-war and Kabbalist moments. But I’ll forgive her anything.
The Dish 