First, it was VP Cheney speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, a collection of right-wing bigots such as The Free Republic, Gary Aldrich's Center for Individual Freedom, Insight Magazine, The Eagle Forum, the Family Research Council, Christian Coalition, and The Bradley Foundation. It wasn't the extreme views of some of these wingnuts that disturbed Mr. Cheney, but the fact that their neo-Nazi sympathies were openly displayed.

When the material on display and for sale was pointed out to the VP, he supposedly asked that it be taken down, but did not condemn the views of these groups. Indeed, he praised their involvement in GOP politics (see Atrios here and here, Daily Kos, and Liquid List for more.)

Now, we have Mr Bush, el jefe himself, speaking at the National Religious Broadcasters convention where he calls for more "faith based initiatives," which means giving your tax dollars to these idiots so they can spend it on "helping people." Of course, these organizations will get your money but not have to adhere to any fair labor or anti-discrimination laws.

These people actually think American should be a quasi-theocracy, where government is directed by the word of God, whatever that is. Then we could be more like, let me see, Iran! As an example of the type of thinking endorsed by the President, consider the NRB chairman Glenn Plummer, who today declared that Islam is a pagan religion, that the only way people can reach God is through Jesus, not Muhammad, and not Allah, and by the way, showing he is not biased at all, that people can't get to God through Buddha, the Dalai Lama, or Sun Myung Moon, or any other religion either, except perhaps his own church.

If you thought that Mr. Cheney's appearance was a mistake or the result of poor staff work, you now have come to the sickening realization that the GOP and the Bush Administration actually agree with and supports these groups. These are bedrock Republicans who put this clique in office. It's just another appeal to the racist base, an extension of the "Southern Strategy."