For those of us who may have even the slightest inclination to give anti-abortion activists the benefit of the doubt, the time may have come to shed our last feeling of sympathy.

The Bush White House, in another spectacular display of ideology over science, is proposing a regulation that would deny federal funding to any medical facility that does not allow pharmacists to refuse to hand out Plan B, IUDs and even Birth Control pills for religious reasons. In classic right-wing strawman semantics, this is framed as a matter of "religious freedom" vs. patients' rights.

This alone, I expect, should not be too surprising. We have always been familiar with the Right's ongoing desire to overturn Roe v. Wade. But a deeper look reveals a new ideological battle front altogether: contraception. The Dominionist Right is now beginning to frame contraception as equivalent to abortion.

We would do well to remember that those who style themselves as "pro-life" are not simply anti-abortion. They are against modern sexuality and female sexual independence in their entirety. That the Dominionists are increasingly unveiling their radical agenda may be both a blessing and a curse. A short-term curse that hurts families with draconian punishments, but perhaps a useful opportunity that can help us begin to reverse the damage caused by this utterly wicked, perverse and backwards movement.

According to an article in USA Today, "Majorities of young people in America describe modern-day Christianity as judgmental, hypocritical and anti-gay. What's more, many Christians don't even want to call themselves "Christian" because of the baggage that accompanies the label." The artilce can be viewed in it's entirety here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2007-10-10-christians-young_N.htm?csp=34

In light of the recent shooting of eight Iraqi civilians by Blackwater mercenary troops, maybe it's time that we look at this whole privatization scheme more closely.

It's one thing for conservatives to extend their ridiculous imposition of the private sector onto the welfare state. In other words, we are not surprised at conservatives' preference for private healthcare, private education, and perhaps even private police and fire departments.

But the ongoing privatization of the U.S. military is concrete proof of the privatization model's unrelenting nature, as well as its inherent instability.

Think about it. If the conservatives really believe that government is always the problem, and the market can always do a better job, why not have a completely mercenary army, loyal to no interest - and certainly not the national interest - other than their own short-term profit? What we're seeing is not ignorance, but consistency.

Anarcho-capitalist ideologues like David Friedman call society-wide privatization the highest embodiment of personal liberty. I call it naked tyranny.

Righteous indignation. Sorrow. Hatred. The progressive community has experienced these and more emotions over the wave of conservative hypocrisy surrounding (and leading up to) Larry Craig's arrest and resignation.

Allow me to add another emotion to the list: dumbfoundedness.

Dumbfoundedness at the faction of openly gay Republicans who actually hope that one day, given enough time and sufficient enlightenment, the GOP will come to accept them as equals.

What these men and women seem to miss is the fact that the GOP is homophobic out of political necessity. The only way that the Republican Party can win elections is by encouraging false consciousness among working and middle class Americans - by getting them to believe that social conservatism is more important to them than healthcare, sustainable jobs, or a more accessible education system.

This is the reason why the GOP bothered to cultivate a relationship with the Christian Right in the first place. The theocrats get working class Whites to willingly vote against their own interests out of social fundamentalism, and homophobia plays a key role in doing that.

The day when the Republican Party openly accepts gays and lesbians is the day when it permanently consigns itself to minority party status. As it should.

Faux News and the CBC may need to review the terms of their presidential debate agreements... again... take it under full consideration for many, many reasons.

The least of which, but certainly the most recent:

A Case of Mistaken Identity!

In an ironic twist of fate, Al Sharpton is taking a ride on his own apology tour for his comments regarding Mormonism and Mitt Romney during a debate on "Is God Great?"

I guess his critics ignored Chrisopher Hitchens, whose new book asserts "God Is Not Great" and "Religion Poisons Everything."

So if you criticize part of a religious practice... conservatives can call it bigotry... but if you criticize all religions... they give you a free pass?

This Administration is quite frankly the unwanted gift that keeps on giving: The abundance of incompetence mixed with the paucity of accountability.

Even after Foley's "Page-gate" scandal, You wouldn't think an abstinence-only advocate frequently calls an escort service for, well, their "services," BUT...