Danforth in todays NY Times

Republican Ex-Senator John Danforth writes a fine op-ed piece in the New York Times today called, "Onward Moderate Christian Soldiers". It does a good job of outlining the dangers of having the Republican party run by radical social conservatives with a narrow-minded religious agenda.

In the decade since I left the Senate, American politics has been characterized by two phenomena: the increased activism of the Christian right, especially in the Republican Party, and the collapse of bipartisan collegiality. I do not think it is a stretch to suggest a relationship between the two. To assert that I am on God's side and you are not, that I know God's will and you do not, and that I will use the power of government to advance my understanding of God's kingdom is certain to produce hostility.

Let's be perfectly clear about this. "Conservatives" aren't conservative any longer. They want to abolish Social Security, they want to abolish Medicare, they want to overturn environmental protections that keep polluters in check, they want one party rule, with that one party ruled by a very specific brand of evangelical Christianity. They want to change America so much that you won't recognize it anymore.

Liberals are this year's conservatives. And conservatives are this year's theocrats.