perfidy

...so to speak.

The RNC has 'fessed up to being behind the mailing sent out last week to West Virginia Republicans. Remember? The one about how the bible will be Banned! and Gay Marriage will be Icky! and Allowed! if the Liberals win?

There goes the last shred of a chance that I was going to endorse even a single GOP candidate this year. Forget it, guys. You lost me.

(on the same page: Hey Democrats: John Kerry? Are you effing kidding me?!?)

[wik] I love the New York Times. In true natural-born elitist fashion, they dug up the nuttiest people possible to close their expose' article on Republican perfidy. I call it gilding the lily when the story itself is damning enough. Check out the capper:

But Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, argued, "We have the First Amendment in this country which should protect churches, but there is no question that this is where some people want to go, that reading from the Bible could be hate speech."

Still, Mr. Land questioned the assertion that Democrats might ban the whole Bible. "I wouldn't say it," he said. "I would think that is probably stretching it a bit far."

Witness as the redneck furrows his brow in an effort to concentrate! Aren't you glad you're not like him, dear reader of the Grey Lady?

[alsø wik] Let's be perfectly clear about this next part. The RNC was, so to speak, caught with the meat in their mouths and liking it. The statement about the mailing from RNC spokesflack Christine Iverson contained no apology but instead a defense of sorts. Sez Miz Iverson:

"When the Massachusetts Supreme Court sanctioned same-sex marriage and people in other states realized they could be compelled to recognize those laws, same-sex marriage became an issue. . . These same activist judges also want to remove the words 'under God' from the Pledge of Allegiance."

How, exactly, does that ball of unsupported assertions, generic FUD, and outright lies clarify, explain, or excuse the mailing? 'Cos I don't see it. So far, I see one state that has ok'd gay marriage, many more very much against it (viz. Virginia, where gay couples have fewer rights than my cat), and one Defense of Marriage Act. On the other issue, I see one failed bid by a libertarian dickweed to get the Supreme Court to nix "Under God," and an outrageous grandstanding conservative Republican timewaster of a bill stripping the SCOTUS of jurisdiction to hear any more such cases (real classy guys. I'm sure Abraham Lincoln, wherever he is, is damn proud.)

All I see is a lot of heat, no light, and a partisan political process that every day wallows deeper into the muck.