Irony of Aargh

In the shadow of the reverse-mulleted Vox' complaint that contemporary American ethnic cleansing fails to meet the efficiency standards set by Nazi Germany, I come across this op-ed in today's LA Times about a video game for apocalyptic-minded Christian fundamentalists. Based on the "Left Behind" books (which I'm sure I don't have to read to be sure they suck as literature almost as much as the suck as theology), the game offers players a chance to

· Lead the Tribulation Force from the book series , including Rayford, Chloe, Buck and Bruce against Nicolae Carpathia – the AntiChrist.

· Conduct physical & spiritual warfare : using the power of prayer to strengthen your troops in combat and wield modern military weaponry throughout the game world.

· Recover ancient scriptures and witness spectacular Angelic and Demonic activity as a direct consequence of your choices.

· Command your forces through intense battles across a breathtaking, authentic depiction of New York City .

· Control more than 30 units types - from Prayer Warrior and Hellraiser to Spies, Special Forces and Battle Tanks!

· Enjoy a robust single player experience across dozens of New York City maps in Story Mode – fighting in China Town , SoHo , Uptown and more!

· Play multiplayer games as Tribulation Force or the AntiChrist's Global Community Peacekeepers with up to eight players via LAN or over the internet!

I know I've hectored about this before, but it ain't Liberals getting together for drinks and communal bitching about The Decider! who are arming, it ain't Liberals hankering so spiritually insipidly for an end-time that they'll actively try to bring one about, it wasn't Liberal senators winkwinking away violence against judges, it wasn't Liberals who blew-up a building in Oklahoma City. When a Liberal is elected President, say about 2008 perhaps, that's when you will see an increase in domestic violence.

There's irony aplenty in the fact that some of the very people who most strongly support the current assault on civil liberties, approve of domestic surveillance and phone-tapping, who condemn Liberals as traitors for fighting for their constitutional rights to privacy, are the very people who present the greatest threat to civil society in America. If I was Head Buffalo of the Idaho Branch of the White Christian Militia, I sure wouldn't want my phone tapped while I made arrangements for the delivery of machine guns next Thursday. If I was a half-mad charismatic skilled in glossolalia leading a congregation of childish zealots praying for Horsemen, I wouldn't want the government data-mining all church communications.

And irony that we will be defending their rights to be treated justly and by the law and Constitution (just as the ACLU defended Rush Pantload's) even as they attack us as weenerous traitors. Because we are the bastards threatening America.