OK, this is an appalling thing, but it’s been suggested that a blogswarm will bring attention to it. As tiny as this blog is, it’ll be a contribution. July 27-29th this year, a group of sick individuals will be holding Paul Hill Days in Milwaukee. In case you don’t recall, Paul Hill is the man who brazenly shot Dr. John Britton and James Barrett, his bodyguard, because he was “avenging” aborted fetuses.

Regardless of whether you are against legal abortion or not, it should be abhorrent to you to commit such an act – a normal-thinking person would never murder in such a cold-blooded, premeditated way. As a society, we even have laws that punish such an act with much more serious consequences than accidental homicides or crimes of passion. However, Mr. Hill proudly proclaimed his guilt, held himself up to the world as a messenger of god, and blatantly entreated others to follow in his footsteps, which is why he was executed by lethal injection.

The people who are planning this “celebration”, though, are clearly not normal-thinking people. To exemplify the degree of their irrationality, and for those who elect not to visit the site, I present the fact that they plan to culminate their celebration of Paul Hill with a re-enactment of the shooting of Britton and Barrett. This is sick and repellant. Their co-conspirators, Children Need Heroes and , Street Preach, with the support of the reprehensible Army of God (Warning: Graphic Images) represent some of the worst in Christian extremism. While much of their venom is aimed at abortion, they do give some time to other people they’d like to kill – and if they can’t find it in their loving, Christ-like hearts to do it themselves, they sure as heck hope someone out there will read their sites and take up the task themselves. The people who’ve killed doctors, nurses, “ho-mo-sekshuls” and innocent bystanders are given high praise – and for those who are still alive and serving time, addresses where you can write and support them and donate money to get them out. Presumably so they can continue killing for Christ.

When people ask why atheists can’t “just shut up”, these people are one of the reasons. When people argue that bringing God into government, schools, and all possible aspects of American life would be a good thing, these people are the counterargument. And when Christians who see only the love and goodness their church preaches wonder why their religion is getting a bad rap, these people are why. Any decent human being, regardless of his or her faith, or lack thereof, should be adamant and vocal about their opposition to these terrorists. Just because they’re not in another country, or practitioners of Islam, does not make them anything else but that. The killing of people who oppose their hateful agenda is an act of terror, because it puts all other people in fear for themselves and their loved ones. The people who will be at the Paul Hill “celebration” should be recognized for what they are, and treated the same way as any other terrorist or potential terrorist. If this event finishes up without the FBI rounding some people up, it will be a sad statement about the true level of safety we’re given by the Department of Homeland Security.

There’s a lively discussion over at Crooks and Liars about Senator Brownback’s latest moral declaration. All I can say (besides what I said on the comments thread) is that I’m glad he’s making so many theocratic statements now, so we don’t have to worry about him becoming president and surprising us. I wish they’d all be so open (keep it coming, Huckabee! You’re falling behind Brownback!) so we’d have a crystal clear picture of who’s going to respect the Constitution if he’s elected. It’s bad enough that they’re already elected officials somewhere, we don’t need any more presidents who don’t see the line between fantasy and reality.

This time from the folks who are trying to make us think that Foley’s an innocent victim. Both Matt Drudge and Rush Limbaugh posit that the IMs were pranks, or plants by Democrats to “lure” Foley (Limbaugh and Hastert). I can’t find the link now, but another Limbaugh transcript had him saying that the pages were pulling a boyish prank on Foley, as boys do – and he remembers doing such stuff himself. Ick. Here’s a list of Whom To Blame Besides Foley Himself that will make your stomach churn. Fox News circumvented all this creativity, and simply changed the caption under its Foley news stories to show him as D-FL – removing all Republican blame by turning him into a Democrat instead. Further examples of Republican moral values can be found here, if we’re not yet convinced that we have the wrong people in office. I tried finding a similar list for the Dems, but I suppose nobody’s quite as angry with them right now as they are with the GOP. They’re not innocent or exonerated, just looking better and better every day.