Julian Borger in the Guardian provides the usual scary glimpse of the religious right (don't get me wrong: many of these people are scary!), but also the usual bullshit:
No matter what happens in Iraq, and no matter what the American economy does between now and the presidential election, Randy Bernsen will be voting for George Bush. It will be an act of faith.
Religious faith will be at the heart of the presidential election in November. About a quarter of the electorate are white evangelical Protestants, like Mr Bernsen. They represent the most powerful single bloc in American politics, one that is more engaged in the battle this year than at any time since the moral majority brought out the vote for Ronald Reagan.
This is the same tired old cliche we see every time, and it just shows how ignorant many political journalists are. The first paragraph above demonstrates why the second paragraph, proclaiming the Religious Right "the most powerful single bloc," is absurdly wrong.
Precisely because these people will vote Republican no matter what - they'd rather tattoo a pentagram on their foreheads than voting for John Kerry- they are far less important than the numbers may indicate. Bush only has to throw a few bones their way, say a few cliches, and they are there. They will moan and whine about his concessions to the center, but they will vote for him. Thus, they are far less powerful than blocs of voters who may swing either way. depending on the candidates' message, the perceived personality of the candidate, the economy and, this year, the war on terror.
PS: Salon joins forces with the Guardian. Good grief!
There are obviously many reasons to burn an effigy of George Bush, but I am pretty sure that the 50 irate members of the Indian youth organisation Prathikarana Vedi are the first to do so over the president's cat, or, more precisely the name of the president's cat, India.
"This is a disgrace to our great country and this has come from none other than US President George W. Bush. This is nothing but an insult to India because there are hundreds of thousands of Indians in US, and many who occupy key posts in the White House," said M A Latheef, president of the group.
"He should make amends," Latheef added.
A little research, like reading whitehouse.gov, would reveal that the cat has been in the Bush family for more than ten years, under the same name, and that it is not named after the country:
Named for former Texas Ranger baseball player, Ruben Sierra, who was called "El Indio"
The cat is popularly called "Willie", presumably not after the owner of its predecessor Socks, or a part thereof...
There are obviously many reasons to burn an effigy of George Bush, but I am pretty sure that the 50 irate members of the Indian youth organisation Prathikarana Vedi are the first to do so over the president's cat, or, more precisely 
