"The problem isn't Bill Maher's personal viewpoint per se- it's the fact that so many people who tout their "liberal" political and social views resort to the same dismissive stereotyping."

Fair enough, but it seems to me that we are being asked to make concessions to these people and getting nothing in return. There is a school of thought out there that says democrats have been compromising our principles and leaning further and further to the right to the point where we don't really have much of a platform anymore and yet we keep losing because it's never enough. We give and give and give and have very little to show for it. A candidate can't even come right out and say that they support something like gay marriage because that alone would cost them the election. No matter how great their plans for the economy or whatever were.

Christine Todd Whitman was on NOW last night and she was talking about how conservatives have turned EVERYTHING into some kind of "moral" debate to the point where they can't even talk to the other side or concede that they may have some good ideas for fear of being labeled a traitor. Conservatives have created an environment where their own leaders have been intimidated into not listening to opposing views on some baseless claim that they are doing "God's Work". Even Palin said that drilling in Alaska was God's will.

Bill Maher is reacting the way the rest of us feel about this baseless nonsense. We present these people with basic logic and it still doesn't sink in. How much education does it take to figure out that if you put toxic chemicals into the atmosphere, they have to go somewhere? They don't just disappear. And yet there's a very large segment of the voting public that doesn't beleive that. Unless it comes out of the lips of Limbaugh it is completely dismissed. Evolution has been around for over 150 years yet we are still debating whether or not there is enough evidence to support it. That's longer then slavery has been abolished. Corporations only care about making a profit for themselves and yet our entire economy is built around the idea that everyone will benefit if we let them just do whatever they want. All of this stuff seems to defy basic logic to me and I'm sure many others and yet the bulk of the population still believes it. The willfull ignorance is staggering.

And, in case you need to be reminded, the conservatives stereotyping are what this article is about. They are the ones who put out the image of "liberals" as a bunch of millionairs sitting up in New England lecturing the rest of the rubes about how to live their lives. This perception could not only be further from the truth (most liberals I know are burned out hippies to some degree or another) it also ignores the reigious lecturing they administer to us on a daily basis. Not to mention the fact that most millionairs are really republicans. At the very least they need to be reminded of this. If we come across as condescending maybe it's because we're sick of having it done to us with even less to base it on.

Not that her religous views aren't important, but it seems to me that if we really want to nail her we need to look into how they affect her policies. Saying God wants to build a pipeline looks exactly like the kinds of things we need to be poking the media into looking at. An organization that doesn't look like it's making a whole lot of progress, and is the butt of many a joke, doesn't strike me as the way to hold her faith up to scrutiny.

What's going on with all the death stuff?

Given that Bush wore his faith on his sleeve and bragged about how it was the basis for his decision making, it's no surprise that the GOP might be trying to avoid the whole faith issue altogether. They already know they have the RR in the bag, so they may not feel the need to court them. McCains pro-military rally may have been just that, a pro-military rally designed to appeal to the Air Force Academy.

That isn't to say that Dobson and company won't demand some kind of verbal shout-out, but McCain knows they aren't going to stay home even if they don't get one. His theme (at least up until he tried to steal Obama's theme) is "Country First". Needless to say, pandering to one of the most divisive organizations in the country, at least publicly, will come under some scrutiny, especailly in light of all the scrutiny Palin is already coming under now for her daughter's pregnancy and her stand on sex-ed. "Support the Troops" is more universal anyway and stands a better chance of winning over more conservative democrats.

Then why don't they hold their preciuos "party of god" accountable for not doing the right thing? They don't give a shit about babies or they would have demanded more by now.

How much tolerance did Dobson show to the gay community? Saying they need to go through a re-education program. Now what does that sound like?

How much concern has Dobson shown those groups? I used to listen to his program and all he ever seemed to care about was other people's sex lives. Especially those of non-believers. BTW: Maybe their wouldn't need to be a gay community if people like Dobson weren't persecuting them all the time. I'm sick of cons throwing around the word "tolerance" everytime a liberal criticizes them as though it is some blanket defense. Tolerance is a two-way street, you don't give it, you don't get it. Now, I ask you again, how much has Dobson and his followers shown towards gays or anyone else they disagree with? I think we both know the answer to that.