Fred's redneck soldiers

Fred Phelps' gay-bashing soldiers are here today, protesting several "sodomite whorehouses masquerading as Parsons churches" and protesting the newspaper, which isn't open today for those who appreciate irony.

We drove around downtown to check it out, and for a bunch of people spewing so much hate, Fred's thugs put up a pretty lame showing. Their illogical display — signs declaring "God Hates America," for example — was pathetic, and the use of children to help spread their message of hate is disgusting.

Of course, the counter-protestors weren't much better. When one of Phelps' boys announced that Sept. 11 was God's punishment for America loving gay people, a counter-protestor came back with, "Sept. 11 was a planned attack by the U.S. in order to pass the Patriot Act. End of story."

I suddenly wished I could take back the thumbs-up I had shot the counter-protestors only moments earlier.

I consider myself a pretty liberal guy, especially by SEK standards, but there were some crazies out there on both sides of the spectrum.

All of a sudden I'm wondering, am I mellowing and moving toward the middle in my old age, or are the people around us getting crazier all the time? Maybe it's a little bit of both.