We are this close

to becoming a Christian theocracy.

The RRR has been waging this "cultural war" against the left for decades now, based primarily on a few wedge issues such as abortion, women's rights (in general), immigration, gay rights and the whole idea of the "nanny state" vs. the "corporate welfare" state.

The left has, traditionally, not stooped to the level of the right in pandering to the baser fears of the ultra-religionists (and I'm sure that the right would counter that they have not stooped to the level of pandering to the cock-sucking baby-aborters, either).

Political discourse is at an all time low thanks to us creating generations of distrustful, sarcastic, snarky, pot-shotting, zinger-flinging, Swift-Boating, general all-round snowball throwing, accompanied by taunts of "NEENER, NEENER, NEENER!", voters. Thank you, Richard Milhouse Nixon - you slimy, conniving, red-baiting, anti-semitic, racist, fucking dirtbag - may God rest your soul.

In short, the fault, Dear Brutus, lies not in our stars but within ourselves, to quote some old Brit.

Having said, what's my point? The Political Right moved the Religious Right into the White House. Only they weren't "just" the Religious Right. They were THEIR Religious Right. The Right Religious Right. The Religious Right who think and act and speak like Republicans, because they ARE Republicans.

Now Barack has proposed doing the same. At first I was appalled... until I realized that it wasn't "exactly" the same. If the other side can pack the Faith-Based Initiative office with RRR Christians, why can't Barack pack the office with moderate to lefty Christians, instead? People more like me. People with affiliations such as the United Church of Christ? Or the Metropolitan Community Churches? Or the Unitarian Universalist Churches?

Now these are churches I can live with!

Yeah, I know. It's a slippery slope he's proposing to march down. But he didn't invent the slope. And nobody can blame us for simply acknowledging that the rules of the game have changed -- re-written against the clear will of the Founders by the party of Lincoln, who'd probably shit himself if he knew what his Grand Old Party had gotten up to in the last 50 years.

But I'm willing to let Barack take a shot at it. Especially if it means we have a better shot at winning the Presidency in the fall.

After all, why in the hell should the Republicans own all the Christians? Why can't we own some of them, too?