Today's Daily Schadenfreude: social conservatives

This might be my favorite Daily Schadenfreude so far, since I think ultimately it's social conservatism that has wrecked the direction of the country and turned politics away from serious debate about how our country should be governed and forced it into what happens in the bedroom ... but I digress ...

Social conservatives, or "people who have nothing better to do than to interfere in others' lives," don't think Gov. Crist has done enough to appease them, and they're "worried about the coming presidential election as well."

Just this week, Republican Gov. Charlie Crist said the state Republican Party should not spend any more money supporting an effort to ban gay marriage in Florida. The party gave $300,000 to florida4marriage.org, a group collecting petitions to get the ban placed on the ballot as a proposed amendment to the state constitution.

John Stemberger, an Orlando attorney who is leading the petition drive, said this is a time of "tough decisions" for social conservatives, who will have to carefully assess the candidates and work harder to protect the gains they have made in recent years, both in Florida and nationally.

It is a dramatic change from 2004, when Florida's social conservatives succeeded in helping Republican Mel Martinez, an opponent of abortion, win election to the U.S. Senate. They also contributed to President Bush's reelection victory.

By 2005, with the help of the White House, Congress and the governor's mansion, social conservatives were leading the battle to keep the husband of Terri Schiavo from removing her feeding tube. They lost, and now some leaders of the movement wonder whether they "overplayed their hand," as [former Florida Christian Coalition leader Pat] Neal put it.

I couldn't be happier to see the hand-wringing and pearl-clutching going on among these groups. The fact is that they did overplay their hand, and they didn't have a very good hand to begin with. The irony is that they found a home in the Republic Party, which at one time stood for less government, but which the hyper-religious nutjobs pushed into social issues that actually require more government intervention ... namely, Big Brother-style invasion of the home and the private lives of individuals.

The very idea that Gov. Crist isn't pandering to them like his predecessor Jeb! Bush (and Jeb!'s big brother, Drunky McStagger) is confusing and frustrating to the wingnuts, who are so used to Bush-style blind allegiance that they don't know what to do. Good.

The simple fact is, the days of the Christian right dominating the political agenda are over. Values are a deeply personal thing, and my values may not jibe with yours. But, no one has a right to tell me what my values "ought to be" or to tell me what I can and can't do, within the bounds of the law, as a consenting adult. And I don't have the right to tell you that either. Finally, Americans are getting the picture that a free society demands such individual independence, and the James Dobsons of the world are losing their stranglehold on us.

Get used to it, "social conservatives." Your days in the sun are coming to a swift and fitting end. But, one more chance for glory -- congratulations to the right-wing crazies! Today's Blast Off! Daily Schadenfreude is for you!