Old-Time Religion

Ever wonder if the heads of evangelical conservatives are exploding internally?

After numerous character assassinations of Kansas abortionist Dr. George Tiller on Fox News, a lunatic decided to do more than assassinate his character. A gunman shot Dr. Tiller to death in church in Wichita this past weekend. Abortion rights activists were appalled, but anti-abortion groups were even more outraged, quickly distancing themselves from Scott Roeder, the accused murderer, saying that they do not believe in killing doctors to prove killing unborn babies is wrong, and that all human life should be respected.

Someone forgot to tell Tom Coburn.

Meanwhile, President Obama spoke at a mosque in Cairo yesterday extolling the virtues of Islam and admitting to American mistakes in the Middle East while singling out Muslim extremists such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda as blaspheming the religion. Republicans are going ballistic over the first part, claiming that the President has some nerve apologizing for the United States of America, a country committed to freedom and justice. Like the CIA-backed overthrow of the democratically elected prime minister of Iran in 1953 to put the Shah back on the throne.

And, even though religious conservatives scored a victory when the California state Supreme Court upheld the proposition passed in November banning gay marriage, six states have now legalized it. Also, the two lawyers who represented the opposing sides of the Bush-Gore electoral case in 2000 - David Boies and Ted Olson, respectively - announced their commitment to overturn the California ban.

"If you look into the eyes and hearts of people who are gay and talk to them about this issue, that reinforces in the most powerful way possible the fact that these individuals deserve to be treated equally," one of them said.

Boies? No, Olson, the Republican.

Boies concurred by saying, "I couldn't have said it better."

Olson is the former Solicitor General under George Walker Bush. So, we now have two former Bush Administration officials - the other being Dick Cheney - to come out of the closet as gay marriage supporters. We'll know the pro-gay marriage side is winning when Karl Rove does the same.

Or Dub the Shrub himself.

That old-time religion ain't what it used to be.