This is another Fred Phelps story. If you're not sure who Fred Phelps is, here's a bit of background:

Fred Phelps is a self-styled Baptist preacher and life-long Democrat from Topeka, Kansas. When Phelps is not busy campaigning for Al Gore and attending inaugurations for former President Clinton, Phelps like to spend his time spreading his "God Hates Fags" message.

Yep, he's a nutcase. And, no... I don't think it's fair to align him with the Democratic party any more than it's fair to align him with all Christians. But, hey, if I'm gonna try to paint a picture of the guy, I want to paint the whole picture. Leftist love to use this guy as a symbol for everything they hate about Christianity. Clearly some of us see him as a symbol of another group.

Now, read this and get up to date on Phelps and his latest stunt:

Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church is one of the most notorious anti-gay hate groups in the country. Consisting primarily of members of Phelps' family, it has traveled the country for years picketing funerals--most notoriously, Matthew Shepard's--and many other events that mourn for, celebrate, promote, or acknowledge the lives of lesbians and gay men. Not satisfied with this notoriety, Phelps' clan has taken to picketing the funerals of U.S. soldiers with bullhorns and signs reading "THANK GOD FOR IEDS" [improvised explosive devices] and "THANK GOD FOR DEAD SOLDIERS." Phelps' logic--to whatever extent that it can be called logic--is that soldier deaths (and the civilian casualties of 9/11) are signs of God's wrath against Americans for not persecuting lesbians and gays enough.

If you're not good and mad yet, look at a few pictures of these nutcases carrying out their "protests" at the funerals of soldiers:

Now, get this: The good people of the state of Kentucky decided that this BS was just unconscionable and they weren't going to have it. In March, Kentucky signed into law a ban on Phelps and his cronies protesting within 300 feet of a funeral. Sounds pretty reasonable, right? Of course it does. It does to me, and I'm sure it does to you... it sounds reasonable, in fact, to all reasonable people.

Which is why it's no surprise, I'm sure, that the ACLU is against Kentucky's law.

That's right, the ACLU is once again revealing itself for the America-hating group of slimeballs that it is by arguing on behalf of Fred Phelps and his ilk:

The American Civil Liberties Union's Kentucky chapter filed a federal lawsuit Monday on behalf of a man who sympathizes with the notoriously anti-gay Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church. The plaintiff, Bart McQueary, is challenging two new state laws that limit protests within 300 yards of a funeral...

... the Kentucky ACLU affiliate chose to take action on its own in defense of free speech. "The Commonwealth cannot prohibit free expression because it doesn't like certain activities," said Lili S. Lutgens, the staff attorney of the Kentucky chapter. "Nor can it suppress the speech of groups or individuals because it doesn't like the message. The First Amendment applies to all of us."

You got it, pal... the ACLU thinks that the best way to protect your constitutional rights... and my constitutional rights... is to guarantee Fred Phelps and his followers the right to show up at the funerals of fallen soldiers with the signs pictured above.

All of which compels me to, once again, make my standard offer to the ACLU:

I hope you'll excuse the hostility. It's just that some things really bring up the bile.

If you're wondering how these Phelps nutjobs can possibly justify their actions, go to Blonde Sagacity and watch a video of the daughter of Fred Phelps on Hannity and Colmes. Both Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes try to talk some sense into this troll of a woman and, of course, get nowhere.

Phelps and his wackjobs are almost beside the point, though. The focus, as far as I'm concerned, is the ACLU. Phelps and his followers are a small group of crazy people, and they're really best ignored. The fact that the ACLU is actually fighting for them, however, is beyond belief. To argue for something this disgusting in the name of an academic "freedom" is beyond the pale.