In an earlier post, I wondered whether John McCain might shift his stance on same-sex marriage to attract support from social conservatives.

I would like to discuss another possibility: does the California ruling create an opening for a socially conservative third-party presidential candidate?

In 2003, Roy Moore, then chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, gained national attention for his refusal to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama courthouse. Because of his actions, Moore was removed from office and, according to the Associated Press, "became a hero to the Christian right."

With a Reaganesque, "I didn't leave my party; my party left me," Alan Keyes has bid farewell to the GOP.  Clearly angling for the prez pick at the Constitution Party's convention next week in Kansas City.

That's right.  America's only mosh-diving presidential candidate is leaving the party that never appreciated him for the clear-eyed, visionary leader he is.

It seems that Judge Roy Moore got a gig posting at World Net Daily after his 10 Commandments publicity stunt down in Alabama failed so miserably a few years ago.  In his latest column Moore weighs in on the presidential primaries and discusses what he thinks the candidates' priorities should be.  Here's an excerpt:

If this happens, it will seal the deal for November for Barack Obama.

The right is already badly split with John McCain as their presumptive nominee. But if the right-wing Constitution Party can finally attract a presidential candidate with some name recognition it would open that split so wide you could drive a truck through it.

And they might be on the verge of doing just that. What follows is said to be from an email sent out by the party.

Fed up with the choices of the two major parties, a disgruntled group of voters and activists is gearing up to break away and start a third party in time for the 2008 presidential race.  

This might be the best news progressives will get this fall.  I will explain after the jump.

by Jane Hunter and Rabbi Haim Dov Beliak, JewsOnFirst.org, July 9, 2007

Leaders of the hardcore Christian right gathered under a Confederate flag in Maryland on July 3rd to honor Roy Moore, the deposed Alabama Supreme Court chief justice. That flag, and those present beneath it, concatenated Christian nationalism and Southern irredentism.

While this week bloggers around the world are engaged in the Blog Against Theocracy, we here at Theocrat of the Week wish to highlight the many fine people on whom who Our Distiguished Panel of Judges has bestowed the honor of Theocrat of the Week.

Here we unscroll the Honor Roll (so far):

Mark Your Theocratic Calendars!

Every summer is full of political conferences, events and protests of all kinds -- and that's as true for the farther reaches of the religious right as anyone else. Here are a few worth noting:

Drifting up like swamp gas from Montgomery is the pungent odor of yet another costly, destined-to-fail constitutional challenge to the First Amendment.

Folks, meet "Christian Heritage Week" in Alabama - aka - proposed House bill #482.  

From the bill's prologue:

"This bill would designate the first scholastic week in November each year as Christian Heritage Week in public K-12 schools and would require daily instruction during that week on the influence of Christianity on the history and heritage of the United States."

About two years ago, I sustained a series of blog posts I called Theocrat of the Week. I have been thinking about it and have decided to resume the series. Except for this, the first in the new series, I will not cross post it anywhere, and it will be available exclusively at Talk to Action.

In the course of the selecting the Theocrat of the Week, I shall consult with a Distinguished Panel of Judges, who will help me discern those individuals who embody the discriminatory, totalitarian and sometimes inquisitional spirit of the theocratic tradition. On occasion, we will also acknowledge those whose modesty may prevent them from acknowledging their role in facilitating the mission of the theocratically inclined. Of course, there are some well-known theocrats who are so obvious, their numbers should have been retired years ago. But since it is spring, a time of refreshment and renewal, nominations for Theocrat of the Week, are now open -- wide open. You may post your nominations here, or send nominations to Our Distinguished Panel of Judges at TheocratOfTheWeek@gmail.com. The winner will be announced next week.

  Throughout the cold war, the right labelled the Democrats the "party of treason." Well, while we haven't forgotten 9/11, we ought not to forget Oklahoma City, either. The GOP base and leadership are in a panic. As the Bush administration self-destructs, they just instinctively lunge further to the right, like drilling holes in a leaky boat to let the water out. Now is the time to jump on them.

  In particular, it is time to examine the economic program of the far-right. Do your homework and you will find that the Democratic Party of today stands for the preservation of capitalism and resistance against terrorism. The right accuses everyone else of socialism, but they spread more rage against the free market than Gus Hall ever did.

 Nothing is more socialist than local immigration reform. The intent is to confiscate businesses, artificially inflate wages, and intimidate potential replacement workers where there are labor strikes. Look how close the elections were in Mexico last year. If we persist with brutal, repressive policies, in six years we'll have another Cuba next door.

If you listen to bluegrass music on National Public Radio, it may make you daydream about giving up the rat race for the simple life in the Appalachians, organizing the humble pumpkin farmers against the robber barons. Well, I'm doing it.

 9/11 created a Trojan Horse effect for the right. Many liberals, angry about the violent, antisemitic threat coming from abroad, capitulated and joined the Vast Center-Right Conspiracy. We got the Weekly Standard and listened to Glenn Beck. When the far-right took over the GOP, we bean-sprout eating freaks turned up in the darndest places.

 I had the Baptist religious experience two weeks before 9/11, submitted myself to Jesus Christ. In the fall of '03, I felt the Holy Spirit leading me to north Alabama, i.e. Nickajak. A tree fell on my apartment, so I told the landlord adieu. Furthermore, I felt the need to marry a woman who can skin a squirrel and talks like a truck driver. The birthplace of the KKK and place of the murder of its first victim: both are within a 30-min drive.

Former ten commandments waving, former Alabama state Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore has written an op ed piece that’s so far to the right it’s just plain wrong. Published in "WorldNetDaily", Moore decries Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Texas’ and her H.R. 254, a bill that proposes to extend federal hate crimes law protections to lesbian and gay people across the country.
from http://codylyonblogolater.blogspot.c...

The short answer is NO, the will of the voters should prevail but I was shocked to read an article by Right wing Conservative Roy Ten Commandments Moore advocating that Ralph Ellison, the openly Muslim Congressman elect from Minnesota should be barred from Congress even though Ellison was fairly elected.

The Article follows the flip and the caps are my substitutions.  Applying Moore's logic to RW Christians, well you'll see.

Ya gotta love Roy Moore. He's certainly consistent.

Barely six months after getting trounced in his bid to be governor of Alabama, the Protector of the Ten Commandments is now going to protect the Constitution from the terrible evil of Muslim officeholders.

Muslims, he says in his latest column, should be barred from holding office because they cannot swear an oath to uphold the Constitution. In fact, he says Congress should just flat refuse to seat  Rep.-elect Keith Ellison of Minnesota.

Warning!: If you read this, your head will explode.

In the wake of the Democrat's stunning November rout of the Republicans,  I began to wonder what became of their elite corps of culture warriors?  Have they, chastened by America's resounding rejection of their message,  gracefully quit the field to spend time in sober reflection of their values and message?

NOT.  

If anything their Agincourt-like defeat in November seems to have driven the Right's Noise Machine into a higher gear that previously thought possible (apparently they go to 11) resulting in pieces so stupefying illogical and stupid, that they are capable of causing spontaneous  cranial explosions in unwary readers

Exhibit A Ex- Judge Roy Moore's column on Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison  in which he argues that as a Muslim he should not be allowed a seat in Congress, because the Constitution requires the  separation of church and state!!!

No, I'm not kidding.  Go get a very large drink to insulate your synapses and join me on the flip

Yesterday, the Institute for Progressive Christianity issued a press release challenging several of James Dobson's crackpot assertions made during a recent hour-long interview on Larry King Live on CNN.  The effort is already getting some traction. The conservative Cybercast News Service, picking up on the release notes:

The Institute for Progressive Christianity -- a new group -- accused Dobson of making "highly inaccurate statements" and "crackpot assertions" during his conversation with Larry King.

In a lengthy news release on Wednesday, the IPC rebutted Dobson's comments one by one. But it's not so much what the liberal Christians are saying -- it's that they're saying it at all.

Indeed.  Progressive Christians are running back onto the playing field of American public life. They are regaining their voices, and are directly addressing the excesses of the religious right.

Frederick Clarkson has an excellent piece on Talk2Action today which explores the possibility that the religious right might break away from the GOP in 2008 and run a third party candidate. Clarkson mentions the possible signal given by Judge Roy Moore in a November 23rd op-ed in the Washington Times.

http://robwire.com/...