MULLAH DOBSON GETS A LITTLE SMACK DOWN

(h/t Howard Kurtz of the WaPo)

Alan Wolfe of the New Republic has the appropriate take on our mullah of morality:

In rushing to Sarah Palin's defense, the leaders of the Christian right have made it abundantly clear how they define a Christian. We don't care if you sin. We are not bothered if you put your ambition ahead of the needs of your children. If you have lied or broken the law, we will look the other way. It all comes down to your stand on guns and fetuses. Vote the right way, and you have our blessing. If any proof were needed that James Dobson is a political operative rather than a spiritual leader, his jumping on the Palin bandwagon offers it.

This should be part of a larger campaign that points of conservative hypocrisy. Almost any time you look at conservative claims, you either find hypocrisy, lies or contradictions. Here's just one example of the latter:

Analysis: GOP contradicts self on Palin family
Sep 3 07:32 PM US/Eastern
By TED ANTHONY
AP National Writer

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - People: Make up your minds.
For two days, the chorus from Republicans on TV news and in the halls of the convention has been resounding: Back off and let the Palin family be. "That's out of bounds," said Minnesota's Republican governor, Tim Pawlenty. "There's no need to be intrusive and pry into that."

Yet Wednesday found the following scenes unfolding:

_Sarah Palin's pregnant, unmarried 17-year-old daughter and probable future son-in-law stood in a nationally televised, politically packaged airport receiving line to meet and greet the Republican candidate for president.

_The extremely cute and bubbly Piper Palin, 7, made her debut on her mother's behalf, appearing in a video on John McCain's daughter's blog. "Vote for my mommy and John McCain," she said, giggling as Meghan McCain grinned.

_Bristol Palin and her 18-year-old boyfriend, Levi Johnston, were expected to appear together as part of the GOP political narrative at the convention Wednesday night, according to the young man's mother.

Huh? The Republican message about the Palin offspring comes across as contradictory: Hey, media, leave those kids alone—so we can use them as we see fit.