The Dish

“I forwarded the anti-Kerry anti-gay ad posted on your site to my few gay Republican friends. No caption. No commentary. Today a friend who is a Bush supporter called me. Direct quote: “I’m voting for Kerry.” When I asked why she said: ‘Bush doesn’t scare me but the people who support and defend him do.”

I became a Tory because I despised them so much. I still despise them. You’ve all read this excrescence in the Guardian:

Throughout the debate, John Kerry, for his part, looks and sounds a bit like a haunted tree. But at least he’s not a lying, sniggering, drink-driving, selfish, reckless, ignorant, dangerous, backward, drooling, twitching, blinking, mouse-faced little cheat. And besides, in a fight between a tree and a bush, I know who I’d favour.
On November 2, the entire civilised world will be praying, praying Bush loses. And Sod’s law dictates he’ll probably win, thereby disproving the existence of God once and for all. The world will endure four more years of idiocy, arrogance and unwarranted bloodshed, with no benevolent deity to watch over and save us. John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley Jr – where are you now that we need you?

This kind of malicious, not-even-clever cant needs to be exposed and condemned. But the last thing it is is surprising. The editor should apologize. What on earth was he thinking? They’d never call for the assassination of the leader of Hamas. They’d condemn it if it happened. But the leader of the greatest democracy on earth? They have lost what minds they ever had.

Archaeologists think they have found the toilet whereon Martin Luther figured out that you could be saved by faith alone. Yep, the first protestant was seriously constipated, thereby beginning a noble tradition.

Josh, I think, nails the administration’s current attempt to rewrite history on what really happened in Tora Bora. It’s stuff like this that has undermined what confidence I had in the veracity of this administration. The gaps between what we know to be true and what they insist isn’t just keep multiplying. I used to give them the benefit of the doubt. No reasonable person can any more.

As usual, Jon Rauch has a calm, sane analysis of this election’s difficult choice. But he won’t say whom to pick! Jon, we need you! But it’s well worth reading. Money quote:

There is nothing wrong with Kerry’s senatorial “flip-flops.” Maneuvering is what senators do. More disturbing has been his irresolution on Iraq since becoming a presidential candidate. Most disturbing of all is that, with only days to go before the election, I still don’t feel I have a handle on what he is really all about. Perhaps Kerry is the scion of Dukakism, the doctrine that the election is about competence, not ideology. But Kerry is running for president, not city manager.
I don’t believe he is an empty suit. I just wish I knew what was inside the suit. I can understand why my father fears that Kerry might be captured by the Left.
Bush is a dynamic leader, but he lacks what a president most needs: guardrails. Kerry has guardrails, but where is the road? A dispiriting choice.
What’s a Swimmer to do? It helps to remember that the presidency matters a lot, but not quite as much as most people think. And that muddling through usually works out passably well. And that it is always darkest before the dawn, and you’ll never walk alone, and tomorrow is another day.
Think on that. And have a Prozac.

Prozac? How about a couple of valiums and a xanax?

BLOGJAM DC: The unutterably cool Bob Mould has put together a live blogjam in DC tomorrow night. A bunch of us will be reading from our blogs live, followed by Bob’s now famous Blow-Off night. There’s me, Wonkette, Geekslut, Vividblurry, Dog Poet, and many more. It’s at DC9 at 1940 9th Street NW, starting at 7 pm. Come have fun. Meet sexy bloggers. Dance. Forget about this damn election for a couple hours. See you there.

HEADS UP: I’m giving a keynote speech on marriage tonight in Boston at the Human Rights Campaign New England dinner. It’s at the Boston Sheraton. I’m also on Chris Matthews’ show this weekend, with Andrea Mitchell, Howard Fineman, and Katty Kay.

Goes over to Kerry. Dan Drezner makes the case.

EMAIL OF THE DAY: “Your post concerning David Barton wrongly implies that the following views are extreme: 1) the separation of church and state is a myth, 2) America is a “Christian nation,” and 3) pastors are allowed to endorse candidates from the pulpit. The trouble is that none of these views are extreme; on the contrary, it would be hard to gainsay any one of them.
First, the Supreme Court’s decision in 1947 to apply the Establishment Clause against the states has been subjected to sustained scholarly criticism. No scholar disputes that the Establishment Clause originally protected each state’s right to establish a religion (many states in 18th and 19th centuries in fact had established churches). To incorporate the Establishment Clause into the Fourteenth Amendment therefore is incoherent, for it is impossible to protect against state infringement a right that belongs to states in the first place. The Harvard Law Review has written on this subject, as have other publications.
Second, America has always been and continues to be a Christian nation in the sense that most of its citizens are Christians. There is nothing extreme about making this rather banal observation.
Finally, not only are pastors allowed to endorse candidates from the pulpit, but their right to do so is protected by the First Amendment. To be sure, there is a question as to whether churches will lose their tax-exempt status if they endorse candidates, but the only reason that the tax code potentially denies churches the power to endorse candidates is that in 1950s Lyndon Johnson managed to usher a bill to that effect through Congress in order to punish some of his political opponents. It has nothing to do with “separation of church and state” at all.” Much more feedback on the Letters Page.

Here’s the right link to the anti-gay anti-Kerry ad cited below. I’ve been on a plane for the last few hours and missed it before I left.

Here’s a revealing tale about what’s happening in the Republican party. It’s a story that needs to be followed up. Kudos to Beliefnet for breaking it. The gist:

The Republican National Committee is employing the services of a Texas-based activist who believes the United States is a ‘Christian nation’ and the separation of church and state is ‘a myth.’
David Barton, the founder of an organization called Wallbuilders, was hired by the RNC as a political consultant and has been traveling the country for a year–speaking at about 300 RNC-sponsored lunches for local evangelical pastors. During the lunches, he presents a slide show of American monuments, discusses his view of America’s Christian heritage — and tells pastors that they are allowed to endorse political candidates from the pulpit.

It gets worse. Barton is on the board of advisers for a Christian Reconstructionist group – people who believe that America should scrap its constitution and go back to Biblical law. When I have described the trend within the GOP as theocratic, I am sometimes criticized for hyperbole. But this is the reality. Barton is the vice-chair of the Texas GOP. Figures.

BIGOTS AGAINST KERRY: This has to be the most homophobic internet ad for Bush I’ve yet seen. Yes, I know it’s supposed to be jokey. But it crosses the line. The ominous music at the beginning, the images used, the appeal to homophobia are all too real. It implies Kerry and Edwards are gay; and ends with Bush holding a football with the background of a bald eagle. Really: classy. But what did I expect? This is today’s GOP. I might as well face reality.

Another eagle independent chooses the Democrat.

The cover of the latest Stern has to be seen to be believed.

CHAFETZ FOR KERRY: Another eagle takes the plunge.

SPORTS AND RELIGION: In Boston, there can sometimes seem no difference at all.

KERRY MERCHANDISE: Yes, it’s prayer cloths. Especially popular in Ohio.