Oh, yeah, like the Mrs Grace L. Ferguson Storm Door and Cable TV Company is going to be able to make a bid for the remains of Adelphia.

And what's the practical difference even if they could? It's still the same bunch of channels.

I don't hate Republicans- I am one. I hate some of the excesses that have been exposed in the past few months.

And I don't hate religious people. I hate people who use their religious beliefs as a weapon, and I hate the way the GOP is cynically using people of faith as a weapon.

And I haven't changed any of my beliefs. I am just furious about the intervention in the Schiavo case, I think Tom Delay is an ethical cretin, I think Sensenbrenner's desire to criminalize 'obscenity' are absurd, as is his desire to create hideous new mandatory minimums in a war on drugs we are already losing is equally odious, and I think that allowing people who are already government licensed pharmacists in a heavily regulated industry to deny people medicine perscribed lawfully by their doctor is absurd.

That makes me hysterical??

ANd this is not merely an issue of what they want to stock- I am not dictating that. They refuse to even pass on pharmaceutical referrals to other pharmacists.

If this were an over the counter drug, or say, condoms, I would have no problem if they refuse to sell them. But this is a heavy regulated drug.

John, the Illinois state senator/pharmacist that was in that NYT interview clearly states that his pharmacy DOES NOT STOCK the morning-after pill, but Blagojevich's order will require him to dispense it. Now, I may misunderstand the whole thing, but that sounds to me like a requirement that Watson's Pharmacy will have to stock that medicine, in order to fill any prescriptions that need to be filled.

The law already requires pharmacies to refer customers to other pharmacies if they are unable to fill the prescription. I would fully support throwing in jail any pharmacist who failed to comply with the law. As to the "morally opposed" employees, I believe my comment (over at your blog) made it clear that I share your views; it's when discussing the views of the owners where our positions differ.

As to your beliefs, I stated you really hadn't changed them much (unlike Sullivan), but can you deny that your coverage of the two parties has been just a tad different over the past three weeks or so?

Again, I agree with your postition on the whole Schiavo case (as I noted in this post), but I don't see it as some definitive turning point. The busybody social conservatives (as opposed to the social conservatives who don't try to make everyone conform to their view of morality) are not acting any differently than they normally do; this time the GOP caved in to them, and they got one of their few successes at the federal level. Despite the rhetoric from the left, the religious right is not thrilled by the Bush administration's record on their pet issues.

And I don't hate religious people. I hate people who use their religious beliefs as a weapon

And everyone who stands up for their beliefs is using them as a "weapon," right? We all see what "weapons" we choose to see, I guess.

That makes me hysterical??

No, John, that wouldn't make you hysterical, IF that's all that was going on at your blog.

What make you hysterical is that a) it's what virtually every one of your posts is about since the Schiavo case, b) you attempt to stretch every remark from GOPpers who opposed Michael Schiavo like fresh mozzerella in an attempt to sound like the Next Crusade is gearing up, and c) you are flip-flopping like John Kerry on the Parallel Bars from one minute to the next on core issues like government intervention in people's lives, all so you can bash people of faith from both sides.

Look, I was always ambivalent about the Schiavo case, and the pharmacy case is only slightly more interesting to me, and there are certainly some horns to rattle on the GOP side about legitimate issues, but what I care about enough to write this is that what is usually the first blog on my morning list has been reduced to a painful display of bad logic and ad hoc philosophy, all because you want to pretend that religious people are out to "get" you and America.

Would that "too much religion" was the worst problem we faced...

Blagovich's bill does not require people to stock certain medicines in their pharmacy. They require already in stock drugs to be dispensed, free of moral chicanery:

Others want to require pharmacies to fill any legal prescription for birth control, much like Governor Blagojevich's emergency rule in Illinois, which requires pharmacies that stock the morning-after pill to dispense it without delay.

I am not flip-flopping on issues- I am not requiring people what to stock in their damned pharmacies, but when they refuse to dispense what they have, refuse to refer a prescription that they do not want to fill, or in some of the extreme cases that have been mentioned, take the prescription, refuse to fill it, and then refuse to give bakc the prescription, I have an issue.

That they are doing it because of religious beliefs has nothing to do with it other than this is but a recent trend of moral 'activism' from theocratic front groups trying to stir shit up. I don;t care if a little puppet in their top drawer told them not to dispense the drugs- they are licensed pharmacists, required to dispense heavily regulated drugs that can not be obtained elsewhere but through pharmacies.

Personally, I hope RU-486 is made over the counter. It isn't an abortion, it doesn't have dangerous effects, and it will prevent more abortions and tedious debates about 'values.'

It doesn't bother me that people say 'so help me God' when sworn into office. It doesn't bother me that there are numerous religious holidays, such as Good Friday- I celebrate Easter and Christmas myself. It doesn't bother me that God is on our money, in our law, in our Declaration of INdependence, and on the ceiling of the Supreme Court. It doesn't bother me if we were to have a moment of silence in school that people could use for prayer. I think Barry Lynn and his ACLU folks tearing down nativity scenes and trying to erase every aspect of God from public life are nuts. Hell- I don't even really care if people want an ugly two ton stone with the ten Commandments engraved in it in their court house. There is some good advice in those Comandments, you know.

I don't have a problem with religion. I have a problem of people who want to dictate what is on television and cable because of their religion. I have trouble who want there to be more blue laws because they don't like sales of certain products on holy days. I have a problem with people running around claiming that because elected officials have a difference of opinion on judicial nominees, it means that people of faith are being 'oppressed.' I have a problem with people who claim that their religious beliefs require them to view and treat homosexuals like second class citizens. I have a problem with people deciding that their concept of life dictates that they should use the weight of the government to intervene in people's end-of-life decisions. And I have a problem with people denying legally prescribed medicine to people because it gives them the vapors.

The problem isn't religion. It is people using religion as a weapon, and that is what many in the GOP leadership are doing- using relgious beliefs as a source of political power and cynical divisiveness.

And, horror of horrors, religious bigot that I am, I STILL support Bush's faith-based initiatives.

It boggles my mind how easily people can ignore history. Religion has been shown time and time and time again to be easily used to stir up violence, wars, etc. You conservative apoligists have no idea that you're playing with fire. You really think that the Republican Party majorly pandering to its extremist religious base is no big deal? Just politics as usual I guess.

Re this: "the religious right is not thrilled by the Bush administration's record on their pet issues"

Yes, and they never will be. The nutjobs John is speaking about are not run of the mill religious folk. They are a minority, but a very loud, angry and active one, and one that has shown it can control a major party in the face of universally unpopular sentiment. They are radicals who want a theocracy or a war to get them there.

They didn't get their way just this one time. They have forced Bush into renominating judges who were already turned away by a perfectly legal process. They have multiple Congressman giving muted threats to our judiciary in our nation's capital. They convinced (hopefully coerced) our top Senator to say that political disagreements over judges are an "attack on people of faith". They want to completely change the rules of government not because there are activist judges, but because the judges aren't activist enough subscribing to their very narrow worldview.

No, sorry. This isn't politics as usual. And it is a tad scary.

RU-486 is not the morning after pill. No one reasonable has supported giving RU-486 over the counter.

The morning after pill (Plan B) was approved by the FDA for OTC use, but that approvial was withdrawn when the White House objected to lessining those restrictions on pharmacies. Somehow, there was no right-wing libertarian outcry over that statist intervention into the free-market rights of pharmacists. I wonder why.

Nice site, and sadly, an accurate assessment of John Cole's recent crack-up.

But it has had what may the ameliorativ effect of drawing to Balloon Juice readers that have similarly deep misunderstandings of our society and the governmental processes, such as evidenced by a comment above earlier this day.

Cordially...

You really can't see the difference here? Please. Actually doing the deed is very very different than speaking about the deed done. One is using a personal tragedy for one's own personal gain. The other is using that crass f#@$ up for one's own personal gain. They are two completely separate things. You just want the whole thing to go away because your guys exposed themselves as the a-holes they are, not that most politicians aren't a-holes, but still.

That's the nice thing about leaving the South Bay for La Jolla: I've only heard three loud stereos in three years....and one of them was mine when I was in a frack-them-all-mood-and-blasting-Ozzy....

TK, believe me: I feel your pain.