That was the message of a rather wealthy, influential conservative colleague of mine when he said, "The world would be a very different place if the Crusades had been successful."

His infinitely myopic display of cowardly ignorance was no doubt an attempt to summarize his feelings about MidEast-based terrorism. And by God, he couldn't have expressed himself with more clarity.

Not surprisingly the flatulent quote rings with the essence of yet another mentally dilapidated conservative who spoke lustfully of his Jurassic mentor:

"I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had of followed our lead we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either."

-- Trent Lott at Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party

Also unsurprising is the fact that this sort of conservative, totalitarian drivel is not uncommon. In fact, one of the most horrific statements of theo-prejudice I've yet had the displeasure of hearing occurred with another colleague of mine who opined about the 'deserving nature' of the 'heathenous' inhabitants of the coastal lands annihilated by the tsunami of 2004.

They Deserved It