Syndicated snickers from my east coast correspondent

I have been preoccupied with work, finishing up the film (more on this soon, it debuts at the Reel Affirmations Film Festival in DC in a few days), and worrying about paying the mortgage. Like most people worried about paying the mortgage these days, I am too busy to worry about what nonsense the right wing is up to (which, of course, may be their nefarious plan!). So, I’ll let Mac of Pesky Apostrophe fame fill you in. There’s a few doozies today. First up:

Thorington Road Baptist Church and former employee of Jerry Falwell, Reverend Gary Aldridge, was found dead in his home a little over a month ago. The autopsy reveals the good Reverand was a bit of a freak:

An Alabama minister who died in June of “accidental mechanical asphyxia” was found hogtied and wearing two complete wet suits, including a face mask, diving gloves and slippers, rubberized underwear, and a head mask, according to an autopsy report. Investigators determined that Rev. Gary Aldridge’s death was not caused by foul play and that the 51-year-old pastor of Montgomery’s Thorington Road Baptist Church was alone in his home at the time he died (while apparently in the midst of some autoerotic undertaking).

One has to wonder where Reverand Aldridge bought his dildo – you’re not allowed to purchase sex toys in Alabama. Oh, the sweet irony.
And then there’s Louisiana Republican Joey DiFatta, a councilman running for a Senate seat. He and Larry Craig are made for each other – they both like soliciting for sex in public places:

Joey DiFatta is the chairman of St. Bernard Parish Council and a prominent Republican leader (until 2004 on the GOP state party Executive Committee).
He just withdrew from his state senate race, after his arrests for lewd behavior in a public restroom were made public.

From the Times-Picayune article:

“The report said DiFatta slid his foot into the deputy’s stall and tapped the deputy’s foot. In the report, Conley noted that such activity is common among men to indicate a willingness to participate in sex.

The deputy inside the stall, Detective Wayne Couvillion, responded by tapping his foot, and DiFatta reached under the partition and began to rub the deputy’s leg, the report states.

The detective asked DiFatta, ‘What do you want?’ according to the report, and he replied, ‘I want to play with you.’ “

If DiFatta is like Larry Craig, he’ll try to withdraw his guilty plea and keep on running for office. And really, I applaud that kind of thing – why shouldn’t Republicans who espouse the true values of the party run for office?

But wait! That’s not all. How about this?

In case you haven’t heard, after President Bush vetoed the S-CHIP [the state program that provides millions of kids with health insurance] the Dems let a 12 year old kid named Graeme Frost give the Dem radio address afterwards.  Frost and his sister have both benefited from the program, using the insurance to help them recover from brain injuries after a bad car accident.

Outraged that the Dems would make their king look heartless and cruel, Republican politicians and conservative bloggers decided to take the 12 year old down.

Shockingly, this isn’t convincing anyone that SCHIP isn’t a good idea and it’s making them look like total assholes.  Behold the fervor to discredit the kid:

• Rush Limbaugh calls Graeme a brain-washed liar
• Rep. John Boehner [R-OH] claims Graeme is being used as a ‘human shield’ by the Dems – this after his own child photo op, of course
• Whackadoo Michelle Malkin does everything but accuse the kid and his family of slaughtering kittens, and then stakes out their home and business
• The Wizbang crew says the family is lying about being able to afford insurance and, well…everything else on earth.
• This tries to expose the ‘spoiled brat’ parents who are really just too lazy and too sex-crazed to provide for their kids

There’s more if you care to look for it.  Lots more.  They’ve been called wealthy liars, poor hypocrites, sponging-off-the-system welfare queens, and much worse.