Ed Kilgore on the Right and the Supreme Court fight

Here's where we find out just how much clout the Christofascist Zombie Brigade has (and I suspect it's a lot):

This appointment represents the giant balloon payment at the end of the mortgage the GOP signed with the Cultural Right at least 25 years ago. Social conservatives have agreed over and over again to missed payments, refinancings, and in their view, generous terms, but the balance is finally due, and if Bush doesn't pay up, they'll foreclose their entire alliance with the Republican Party.

Sure, they care about other issues, from gay marriage to taxes to Iraq, but abortion is the issue that makes most Cultural Right activists get up in the morning and stuff envelopes and staff phone banks for the GOP. And for decades now, Republicans have told them they can't do anything much about it until they can change the Supreme Court. With a pro-choice Justice stepping down, the subject can no longer be avoided. And thanks to the Souter precedent (and indeed, the O'Connor and Kennedy precedents), there's no way Bush can finesse an appointment that's anything less than a guaranteed vote to overturn Roe.

Kilgore's blog entry makes an interesting point; that abortion is the one issue for which these nuts really have a hard-on. Isn't it funny, how with all the issues the Christian right fights for, the one that's most important to them is the one that involves putting a lid on women's sexuality? What do you think that says about them?