In his latest column for the New York Times, Paul Krugman discusses the way John McCain is cozying up with Jerry Falwell and the Religious Right. It used to be that McCain was an avowed enemy of these people and thought that they had no place in the Republican Party. His campaign against them was a campaign against them just as much as it was a campaign against Bush. But now, John McCain has flip-flopped. From being an enemy of the Religious Right, he had blatantly sucked up to Jerry Falwell, the very man who was the symbol of the evils John McCain was supposedly against.

You see, the problem is that John McCain is not knowledgeable when it comes to Iraq. So, the logical question is, what else is he not knowledgeable about? Apparently, he is not knowledgeable about social issues, either. So, instead of thinking for himself, he forfeits his credibility as a maverick and drinks at the halls of power with Jerry Falwell instead.

This is directed at anybody who thinks that their vote will not be important in the next election for whatever reason. It doesn't matter whether you are a Green disgusted at what you see as a lack of spine by the Democrats or a former Hackett supporter disgusted at what you see as an insular establishment who determines the candidates for Senate in smoke-filled backrooms. You are missing the key point as to why it is so important that you go to the polls and vote for a Democrat. You forget that a vote for a Democrat for Senate or the House is a vote for John Conyers as chair of the House Judiciary Committee.

Canadians will elect a new government on January 23, and, unless trends change, the Conservatives will not only win a minority government, they are on the edge of a MAJORITY government.  The Conservative Party in Canada, led by Stephen Harper [who bears an uncanny resemblence to Spongebob] is much like the American Republican Party, heavily influenced by the so-called Christian Right.  

I love Jesus! Not as the savior of humanity, but as one of the most powerful and influential liberals of all time.

That's why I lose it when I see the fundamentalist conservative 'Christian' movement in America using his likeness and reputation to further their decidedly un-Jesus-like agenda.

Most recently, our friendly neighborhood fanatics have taken to promoting a movie, the Chronicles of Narnia, claiming that its popularity is evidence that their brand of 'Christian pop culture' is taking over America.

If these were 'true' Christian principles at issue here, I doubt I would mind much since they'd naturally consist of such things as love, understanding, peace, good will and the like.

Unfortunately, the religious right has consistently advanced 'false' Christian principles -- maddeningly heavy on prejudice, intolerance, hatred, heavy and frequent judgment, and various sorts of lethal vengeance.

Regardless, after taking my kids to see the holiday flick -- a recent tradition in our household -- I can report, to my delighted surprise, that Narnia seems more like the 5th installment in the Harry Potter series (ironically demonized by the religio-wingnuts for its 'anti-Christian' setting) than a rehashing of the conservative Christian spiel.

In fact, you drop a few keywords from the movie and you're left with a good ol' fashioned,  simple-yet-compelling story of 'good vs. evil'.

So why all the winger Christian hype?

Sometimes it's not easy living in Virginia, especially down here in the deeply Biblical southwestern sweep of the state. But every once in a while it feels pretty good. Case in point: sitting in a bar last Tuesday night, watching the election results roll in.

And it's true that we do things a bit differently below the Mason-Dixon, but I'd like to point out that there's still a very easy way to talk about the issues with our southern brethren; you just have to come at it the right way.