Republican Alabama legislator Gerald Allen wants to ban books by gay authors and about gay people to "protect the souls and minds of our children." Got this via AMERICAblog, which links to the story on CBS News.

Is it really true that today, in the USA, this is of concern only to godless liberals with no family values, as we're called? Surely there are conservatives, even those who vote Republican, who are incensed by this. Yes, opposing censorship is a fundamentally liberal stance, but does that make it anathema for a thoughtful conservative?

So, you ban gay authors. Well, then why not also ban any book that argues for a woman's right to choose? And then there are all those books that sing the praises of prophets...er, saviors that are not Jesus, why expose your children to those?

If I were a non-nut Republican, I'd be very scared that my party is hurtling towards becoming marginalized in American politics. Of course, a Republican would call it wishful thinking on my part, but that's not the point. Regardless of their individual party affiliations, Americans deserve at least two viable alternatives for political parties. Today we have none.

3:14:18 AM