Desert Rat Democrat forgets to do his homework:

Fred Phelps, the crazed Baptist psycho who gives Kansas a bad name (ok, an even worse name than they already deserve) by picketing funerals of people who have died of AIDS, has decided he and his followers aren't getting enough attention burning crosses in Durham, North Carolina...

This is your party, moderate Republicans. The racist, sexist, misogynistic group of assholes that your party considers its base have a great deal of liking for people like Fred Phelps....

This is what you voted for, Republicans. I hope it hurts you to realize that. And I hope you think about it every day until November 2006.

Ah, the beauty of ignorance. The man to the far left in the picture above is none other than Fred Phelps, Jr., oldest son of Fred Phelps, Sr., and notorious for his representation, I guess, of all things Republican. But who is that next to him? Some of you Dems might remember that guy.

The picture above is taken in front of Phelps' house, where you might have forgotten said dashing fellow held a fundraiser when he ran for President.

And you might have forgotten that said dashing fellow, when he was Vice President, sent invitations to both innaugurations to the Phelps family.

And you may have forgotten that Phelps was a convention delegate for that dashing fellow when said fellow ran for President in 1988. It's in Wikipedia, right after the heading that notes Phelps' political affiliations as "Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro, Al Gore, and the Democratic Party":

In the 1980s, the Phelps family were strong political allies with then-senator Al Gore. The home of Fred Jr., Phelps' eldest son, located in the Westboro compound, acted as Gore's campaign quarters for one of his senate races, and the Westboro compound was host to a fundraiser. Numerous photos exist on the internet of Fred Phelps Jr. and his second wife, Betty Phelps-Schurle, posing with Al and Tipper Gore in Phelps Jr.'s home. Phelps also served as a Gore delegate on the floor of the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta in 1988.

And you might not recognize the young lady next to AlGore in the photograph. That's Joan Finney, then Democratic Governor of Kansas.

And you can be forgiven for forgetting that Phelps was a Democratic candidate for Kansas governor in 1990. He came in third place after all.

Those who live in the desert might have a small excuse for not understanding the intricacies of Kansas politics (like FRED PHELPS AND HIS CHURCH ARE DEMOCRATS), and I understand that. If they were in my party, I'd try to brush them off on the other guys, too.

But they might want to consider what Fred Phelps' father said:

Phelps, Sr. told CNS that Gore "looked us in the eye and gave us assurance, that, based on his Bible beliefs, he was against the homosexual agenda and the killing of babies."

So which is better, a man who sticks with his principles even in the face of significant (and in the case of Phelps, well deserved) opposition, or a man willing to chuck those principles in pursuit of power?

Copyright 2005, El Borak, inc. Makers of Macarena Al brand jointless marionettes, guaranteed to dance just like the real thing. But you’ll never guess who’s pulling the strings.