And O my Lord, how the money rolled in. The quote above comes from a New York Times story describing how far-right groups like Sheldon’s Traditional Values Coalition, along with Operation Rescue and RightMarch.com, are cashing in on the furor that has arisen around the matter of Terri Schiavo. The Puritans believed you could tell if a person was in good graces with the Lord by seeing if they had a lot of money in the bank. Some things, I guess, don’t change.

Rank hypocrisy, of course, is as constant as the North Star. We have progressed beyond hypocrisy this week, however, and are barnstorming towards a kind of fundamentalist theocracy that is cancerous to the basic underpinnings of the republic.

First question: Who is actually running the country? The easy answer is George W. Bush, President of the United States and Commander-in-Chief. An easy answer, but wrong. As has been conclusively proven, no catastrophe or threat can dislodge George when he has boll-weevled into his Crawford ‘ranch’ for some sorta-earned vacation time. Yet last week, in the dead of night, he boarded his chariot (which flies at $34,000 per hour using your taxpayer money, by the way) and raced back to Washington to sign that ‘Save Terri’ legislation.

At whose request? Why, at the request of Rep. Tom Delay. The warnings in the summer of 2001 about an imminent and massive terror attack on the United States could not dislodge George from his repose, but DeLay crooks his little finger and George comes a-runnin’.

Mr. DeLay, with the Traditional Values Coalition, Operation Rescue and RightMarch.com at his back, is fast becoming the most powerful politician in Washington. His strength comes from people like this:

These are but a few of the protesters who have followed DeLay, Frist and the fundamentalists into the maw of the Schiavo struggle. While the polls say some 80% of Americans do not approve of the congressional sideshow that has been playing out on this issue, DeLay and his crew know where their collective bread is buttered. People like those depicted above make up the backbone of the GOP, the hard-right flank that always always always votes, and votes Republican. These folks are so devoted a GOP voting bloc that if the God of the Righteous swooped down from Heaven on a flaming chariot and denounced George, DeLay, Frist and the rest as craven scumbags, these folks would petition to have Him arrested for disturbing the peace.

Some of them can be a wee bit too devoted, as was the case of the Florida man arrested for trying to steal a gun so he could “take some action and rescue Terri Schiavo.” I wonder how happy the fundamentalist leadership was upon hearing this story. I’ll bet, secretly, they were pleased. You can’t buy this kind of passion, and if a few eggs get broken in a shootout at the hospice, well, perhaps that’s the price of doing the Lord’s business.

Second question: What is the ultimate goal of all this?

There are a number of answers. This Schiavo matter, clearly, helps these far-right groups line their pockets. It gets the far-right grassroots worked up into a froth. The leaders of this push believe it provides them with a wedge issue with which to attack Florida Democratic Senator Bill Nelson, a supposition yet to be proven. The more strategery-minded in the crew saw it as some cheese dangled before Senate Democrats to lure them into a ‘Culture of Life,’ mudfight, and perhaps as a distraction to deflect attention from the looming battle over the filibuster. Thankfully, the Senate Democrats refused to take the bait.

There’s more to it, though. Much more. The group Americans United for Separation of Church and State got hold of a recording from a March 17-19 meeting of the right-wing group The Family Research Council. Both Rep. DeLay and Sen. Frist spoke at this meeting, and both declared their intention to refashion America into the United States of Jesus. A tasty quote from the confab by Mr. DeLay: "One thing that God has brought to us is Terri Schiavo, to help elevate the visibility of what is going on in America."

According to the Americans United release, during the FRC meeting, Frist and DeLay assured attendees that they would do what it takes to keep Schiavo connected to a feeding tube and also would exert great power to push a whole host of issues central to the Religious Right's agenda. DeLay urged the gathering to contact lawmakers in both chambers to support legislation that would allow churches to become much more involved in partisan politicking. The Texas Republican blasted current federal tax law, which bars both secular and religious nonprofit groups from endorsing political candidates. "It forces Christians back into the church and that's what is going on," DeLay claimed. "That's not what Christ asked us to do. We have to fight back."

I forgot to mention one aspect of this: The Schiavo noise is an excellent blast shield for DeLay, who is facing a raft of serious ethics charges that include a scandal in Texas for his active participation in illegally funneling corporate funds to assist state political campaigns. DeLay's political action committee, Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC), is under criminal investigation for using corporate money to finance Texas campaigns. DeLay has tried to distance himself from the group, but documents show DeLay "personally forwarded at least one large check" to the group and was "in direct contact with lobbyists for some of the nation's largest companies" on TRMPAC's behalf.

DeLay also has admitted offering to endorse Sen. Nick Smith's (R-MI) son Brad, who was running for Congress at the time, in exchange for Smith's "yea" vote on the Medicare bill. His actions violated House rules and earned DeLay a "public admonishment" from the Ethics Committee. Smith originally alleged - and then retracted after pressure from House leaders - that DeLay also offered a $100,000 bribe for his vote. DeLay extended the role call on the Medicare bill for nearly three hours in order "to avoid an embarrassing loss."

The House ethics panel rebuked DeLay for using government resources to help locate a private plane he thought was carrying Texas Democratic legislators. DeLay was trying to force the legislators back to the capitol so he could push through his "bitterly disputed congressional redistricting." The ethics report cited House rules that bar members from taking "any official action on the basis of the partisan affiliation…of the individuals involved" and said DeLay's behavior raised "serious concerns" under such "standards of conduct."

DeLay also used a children's charity, Celebrations for Children Inc., as cover for collecting soft money from anonymous interest groups, some of which was used for "dinners, a golf tournament, a rock concert, Broadway tickets and other fundraising events" at the Republican convention in New York. Because the money was supposedly for charity, companies wishing to curry favor with DeLay were able to do so without revealing themselves as campaign donors. Federal laws governing tax-exempt charities allow no more than an insubstantial portion of a group's revenue to be spent on activities other than the charity's main stated purpose.

You don’t suppose...nah, he wouldn’t use a dying woman to help save his career, power and position. He’s a good Christian man.

In the end, we appear to be witnessing yet another Classic GOP Overreach. While DeLay, Frist and Jeb Bush snuggle in the warm bosom of the far-right, the rest of the country is looking at these guys as if they are certifiably deranged...which, really, is not too far off the mark. The hand of the Democrats in the looming filibuster fight has been strengthened by this debacle, as few Americans outside the fundamentalist community think these guys have shown themselves to be able to handle the power they already have, and never mind the unlimited reach they’ll get if the filibuster goes poof. George has gone Full Turtle on this, tucking his head into his shell and waiting for the bad noise to stop. Meanwhile, there is money to be made off Ms. Schiavo…if you know the right people.

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