Lawless Roads

*Graham Greene

Let's start with the good stuff before descending into the swill.

Andrew Sullivan artfully described the present scene yesterday:
"I see the rise of religious fundamentalism and the emergence of purely symbolic, policy-free movements to 'take our country back' as partly psychological expressions of loss in the face of modernity's complexity and diversity."

My favorite millenial diarist at the Daily Kos appeared again with some upbeat observations. His tag line is "pleasedon'tbeafake". He followed up his previous observations by saying that people under 30 give Democrats a 29% margin, while no other age group gives them double digits. He noted that this was only a 22% margin in 2006. He urges Democrats to make 2010 a realignment election more like 1934 than 1994. He points to an almost 75-90% support of the millenials for gay marrigae, immigration reform and climate change legislation. He calls millenials partisans, who should be mobilized. He outlined a brief plan of action that would urge millenials with the slogan "Vote every time." He promises a third installment on his plan and reminds us that millenials have alot of time on their hands in August. What's interesting is that Howard Dean ,appearing on Countdown, sounded alot of the same themes about younger voters not buying into the Republican lines. My instinct is that Dean is playing a more active role in broader Democratic, establishment politics than previously thought.

And if that doesn't motivate you to vote --our young people shaming us--then maybe this will. Tomorrow on May 1 , the religious Right is holding a rally here in Washington "to beg God to forgive America for having elected wicked leaders like President Obama" Sponsored by the America Family Association, the rally will be led by prophetess Janet Porter, who says that America is under the curse of God for having "made the choice of death by electing Obama" even though God warned us not to. The rally is supported by such luminaries as James Dobson , former director of Focus on (Your,Not My) Family, Randy Forbes, Trent ("Obama is an enemy of humanity" Franks, Louie "hate crime laws only protect pedophiles" Gohmert and Rep. Steve King, one of Iowa's best and brightest. At the rally, which will be attended by members of Congress, you will be given the new "Christian Manifesto", which provides a roadmap for America to return to its" bibical roots".

51% of Americans ,according to the Gallup Poll, support the Arizona immigration law. South Carolina under the leadership of the Love Governor wants a similar law but secessionist Rick Perry of Texas does not. The Republican candidate for Governor of Colorado wants to go farther and adopt a policy of racial profiling. The Republican Party is in the midst of a civil war over this issue. Illegal college students have trekked to Washington to be embraced by the Cuban-American Republican congresspeople. Rep. Connie Mack criticized the bill as "frontier justice" and said it echoed a time when the Gestapo picked up people in Nazi Germany. Then again, an Arizona Republican legislator said that the slight delay in its application had the purpose of "instilling fear" into the immigrants. And Chief Arpaio went on the prowl last night with his men dressed all in black to seize Spanish-speaking loiters. His criteria for an illegal immigrant is "they speak Spanish."

The more you examine the Arizona immigration bill the worse it is. For example, if United States citizens are stopped and can not prove their citizenship on the spot, they face six months in jail. Apparently, there are several hundred such people already in jails in Arizona that are citizens. One wag commented that conservatives claim Obama wants to create a European-style social welfare state, while they want to create a European-style surveillance state. Already two lawsuits have been filed challenging the law.

Rachel Maddow had on her show last night the head of FAIR, the immigration reform group, who claim credit for drafting this great legislation. The head of FAIR took the occasion to attack those "discredited smear artists" of the Southern Poverty Law Center, even though Dr. Maddow never mentioned them. The SPLC has been tough in examing the white supremacist roots of this group and their personnel. As I've written before, they are funded by the Pioneer Fund in New York City, which sponsors research and activities to prove the racial superiority of white people. FAIR has tried to distance themselves from these connections but one in particular stood out on the show. FAIR funded Proposition 200 in Arizona, which was very similar to the recently passed law. The Proposition was organized by a group named Protect Arizona Now, which was led by one Virginia Abernathy. Ms. Abernathy gained unwanted notoriety when she proudly proclaimed to the local newspapers that she was an "ethnic separatist". Her ethnic group declared as "European-American". I guess these people want to create the Bantustan structures of apartheid South Africa.

Mike Huckabee doesn't like the bill since America is like Disneyland, once you're in, you can go on all the rides--that's liberty.

From the ridiculous to the sublime, our own Attorney General the Cooch is sending out mailers extolling his historic role in suing the federal government on healthcare reform. Having been elected less than a year ago to our eternal shame, he's asking for your donations so he can continue the fight. The C in conservative stands for Cash.

Master wordsmith Frank Luntz has produced another meme against financial reform. First, you'll recall it was an endless bailout, then it was bad for Democrats. But now it will create a "checkbook tax".

"Hell no" John Boehner dismissed any talk of immigration reform this year. In fact, so did President Obama until he landed in Washington from his Midwest tour. Charles Schumer, Senator Menendez and Harry Reid within hours submitted the outlines of such a bill to the Senate. Watch the place explode over the next two months. As if to drive the stake in the GOP's heart, the House passed a bill calling for a referendum on the status of Puerto Rico.

And small government Gov. Bobby Jindal asked for federal assistance in cleaning up the oil spill that is engulfing the Gulf Coast, making the disaster several times worse than the Valdez. Drill, Baby, Drill.

Democrats shut down the Florida House yesterday in protest of the bill requiring ultrasound before an abortion.

And, surpise, Tony Scalia in the Washington case about whether anti-gay activists have to reveal their names in a dispute over who backed a referendum said," Democracy is not for crybabies. You can't hide your political positions." Wild.