from the "erosion of constitutional rights" department

many recent articles, including this one have commented upon the increasing number of times and ways mr. bush uses the language of religion as a means to get his message across.

furthur complicating the idea of separation between church and state is the disturbing news that the bush adminstration is pushing to have dr. w. david hager appointed to head an influential FDA panel on women's health policy. hager, along with his wife, wrote as jesus cared for women: restoring women then and now, a book that puts an emphasis on the restorative power of Jesus Christ in one's life and recommends specific Scripture readings and prayers for such ailments as headaches and premenstrual syndrome.

one hail mary for a headache and three for cramps? must we hope that the over-the-counter drug lobby will come to the rescue on this one? politics makes strange bedfellows indeed.

conason gets in on the action, too.

conason ended a recent salon.com article: "While I put together my survival kit of duct tape and canned soup, I hope an administration spokesman will explain why we are sending 150,000 troops to overthrow Saddam Hussein when we wouldn't send in 5,000 to capture or kill bin Laden.