"In His Image"

From a two-pager on the "brewing" (Hee hee. Get it?) rebellion on the right, some of the most irksome & inflammatory passages.

Ralph Reed, the longtime Christian conservative activist and former chair of the Georgia GOP, predicted that opposition to same-sex marriage would become, like abortion, a litmus test, if a lower-profile one. "There used to be muscular and vocal disagreement in the party on our pro-life plank," he recalled. "That has largely been resolved. Nobody raises the issue of changing the pro-life plank."

In English: It's official. The loonies are in full control of the asylum. It can no longer be denied that the GOP is a party of & for Christians, & very specific Christians at that.

Meanwhile, the hottest new conservative outfit is the National Republican Trust PAC, which raised a stunning $6 million in the waning days of the 2008 contest from millions of small donors who helped fund a slashing television advertisement attacking Obama for his ties to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. It’s taken a similar approach to recent congressional races. Rick Wilson, a consultant to the group, explained the outlook of “real Republicans” when it comes to Obama. “They think this guy has grabbed the reins of power and that he is racing as fast as he can first off to reshape the economy and the culture in his image – they are mortified at that and they are terrified of it.”

"In his image?" What, pray tell, does that mean? Scared that "real Republicans" will somehow be turned into mulattoes? Or is it not some sort of racism but an anti-Christ dog-whistle for the mortified, terrified base?

The bigger point of the two "pages" is that although 

consensus is emerging among GOP elites that the party needs to move away from discordant social issues [...] outside Washington, the reality is very different. Rank-and-file Republicans remain, by all indications, staunchly conservative, and they appear to have no desire to moderate their views. GOP activists and operatives say they hear intense anger at the White House and at the party’s own leaders on familiar issues – taxes, homosexuality, and immigration. Within the party, conservative groups have grown stronger absent the emergence of any organized moderate faction.

Popcorn, hell. Call out for pizza, this is going to be a long one.