Um...that's not entirely true. The other day someone on my local newspaper website claimed that the collapse was God's punishment for abortion. Not kidding.

Let's be honest, if the moderates were the ones on the rise, this movie would have never been made. Instead our religious dialogue in this country is controlled by the "Katrina happened because there was going to be a pride parade" crowd. That isn't to say that the moderates have more to base their claims on then the literalists but do you think that Bill would still be riding this issue if they represented the majority of beleivers in this country?

Let's stop pretending he is being unfair. This needs to be said. Yesterday someone at my local paper's website posted a comment blaming the economic crisis on God punishing America for abortion. This. Needs. To. Stop. We need to stop letting these people make bullshit claims about God that can't be backed up to promote whatever issue THEY think is important. If God collapsed the economy for any reason, it would most likely be the war in Iraq. I can't prove it of course but in the recent political/religous climate in this country that doesn't really matter anymore.

The kind who lies. They must think we are as stupid as they are! So because you call yourself a liberal that automatically makes you one? This is the same logic behind talk radio: if Limbaugh says it, it must be true! This is how the cons work, lying in the name of "morality".

BTW: Disagreeing on an issue doens't make you a repub spy, but accepting funds from ultra-right wing organizatoins, as this guy clearly does, throws a lot of suspicion on your claims. I think we have good reason to question this guys actual beleifs under those circumstances.

"Perhaps because his day job is helming Britain's leading Catholic newspaper, the Catholic Herald, Thompson seems far less eager to attack irrationality when it takes place around an altar."

Basically all he's saying is "Every other beleif that can't be proven is stupid except mine." His very profesion discredits the whole book. Better trolls please.

Why DO you oppose gay marriage? You have addressed this issue in other forums before but never gone into specifics as to why. To us gays are a minority group being punished for the way they were born, unless you have a better explaination, we see no reason to change our minds. I'm not saying that universal healthcare and the war aren't important issues, they are more important given the number of people they affect, but that doesn't mean throwing this issue out either. I can tell you I don't consider religion to be a good enough reaosn. The government is supposed to serve ALL people, not just one faith and the arugment about raising children has since been deconstructed by more then one poster here.

Perhaps we would feel like you have a more valid positon if we knew where it was coming from.

What debate were they watching? Are they just trying to be polite? How could anybody have come away from the train wreck that was Sarah Palin and think Biden only did as well? I don't recall Biden going off topic to avoid issues he wasn't familiar with. I don't reacall Biden throwing out bumper sticker slogans that had nothing to do with the issues being discussed. I do remember Biden had to remind her that the mullahs were the ones who actually run Iran though.

How could anyone possibly think that Palin is qualified to even vote after that, let alone run the most powerful nation on Earth?

I don't think it's a coincidence that McCains support among evangelicals was luke warm until Palin was picked. Yes, there are other women, all more infinitely qualified. But would they have spread the simplistic narrative of Good v. Evil that Palin does? Would they have continued the Bush dog whistle tactics? I don't think so.

And, yes, in some parts of this country, this kind of non-thinking is very appealing. As a matter of loyalty they have to defend her no matter how bad she does. But ultimately her ability to answer the questions doesn't matter to them, only her position on abortion and gay marriage and Israel. Their priorities are not everyone else's priorities. They want a simplistic world and they don't care if real problems get int the way.

The few cons who tried to defend her today at my local papers blog could only try and point to Obama's tax policy and blame Gwen Iffil for not asking "conservaitve" questions (read: abortion and activist judges). And after months of chastising Obama, some of them tried to suggest that experience conviently no longer matters. Loyalty over consitancy. But it isn't about consistancy, it's about their issues. All three of them. The same ones that got Bush elected. The same ones that are still around after eight years of him anyway.