OMG I love Charlie Pierce with a deep and pure love: [link]

As a result of the Santorum, erm, surge, Romney "must move even further right, which means he might ultimately end up running for Mayor of Gibraltar."

OMG, Suela, that was so funny. "hardest-working political Catholic since Torquemada"

Yeah, the whole thing is just marvelous. Charlie Pierce is a national treasure (although I doubt anyone to the right of Obama would agree).

I have never viewed the FLOTUS job as something potentially fun before Michelle.

Any use of the phrase "Santorum surges" or possibly "Santorum comes from behind" is so very, hilariously unfortunate.

Any use of the phrase "Santorum surges" or possibly "Santorum comes from behind" is so very, hilariously unfortunate.

I know! I couldn't help myself.

Someone tell me to stop spanking bigots spouting legal hogwash on John Scalzi's blog. It's not good for my blood pressure, and I come across as terrifically condescending.

Someone tell me to stop spanking bigots spouting legal hogwash

Will do... just, let me read it first...

Pierce is all kinds of awesome, and his "About This Blog" may be the very best About This Blog ever.

You know, I never knew that. That's kind of awesome.

Isn't it, though? Between that, the doctrine of informed conscience (i.e., if the Church says X and you examine your conscience, pray, research, ruthlessly strip yourself of all the self-justifying bullshit, devil's advocate your own argument to pieces, and yet still find a bedrock, bone-deep refusal to stomach X and a bedrock, bone-deep commitment to Not-X, God will be much prouder of you for following that inner voice than for stifling it and going along to get along), and the fact that practically everyone now knows that the Vatican took its anti-BC in direct opposition to the near-unanimous recommendation of the commission it had convened to study the question (theologians, lower-down bishops, parish priests, married couples, physicians, and therapists specializing in marriage counseling) that the Church was in fact morally obligated to say yes to BC -- in the long run, they're just totally fucked on this, from within.

It's all well and good and sometimes right on to say that you can't dismantle the master's house using the master's tools, but if the master goes around handing out its own tools to everyone, which is what Vatican II amounts to, the master's got no one but himself to blame if people use 'em and he doesn't like the results.

oi. you made a good point Consuela.

spanking bigots spouting

I would prefer never to see this phrase so close to the phrase "Santorum surges" ever again. Please, it's lunchtime over here.