For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.

Not content to leave the above warning where the Book of Deuteronomy does, certain Roman Catholic clergymen have taken it upon themselves to extend it, punishing supporters for the sins of their candidates.

Consider the case of Douglas Kmiec, a supporter of Barack Obama’s presidential run who was denied Communion in April by a priest who takes exception to Obama’s pro-choice views.

How can social conservatives who yearn for an America where the Ten Commandments are posted on every stationary object across this great nation be so obtuse as to the meaning of those Commandments?

I’ve been asking myself that very question after reading the results of a study that found people with conservative ideologies are happier than their liberal counterparts. It’s not that I begrudge the conservatives their happiness. Heck, this country was founded on the right to pursue happiness.

No, I’m concerned about the reason conservatives are so happy. According to researchers Jaime Napier and John Jost of New York University, conservatives are happy because they are able to rationalize social and economic inequalities.

When it comes to the Great Depression, Herbert Hoover probably gets a bad rap. The fact that he shares a surname with W.H. "Boss" Hoover, whose eponymous firm helped popularize the vacuum cleaner, has only further cemented his reputation as an economic scapegoat. (We had a Hoover in the White House and the economy sucked!)

But however clean Hoover’s hands may be when it came to the stock market crash of 1929, there’s no getting around the fact that he helped pave the way for the current economic downturn.

How did it all go so wrong? Some history is in order.

Several years ago, when I was practicing the craft of journalism in a small town, a co-worker who was disappointed with the community's exceedingly shallow dating pool planned a trip to Nevada. His primary purpose was the opportunity to patronize one of that state’s legalized brothels. Several of us at the office asked him why he would be willing to spend a significant percentage of his biweekly paycheck on a sexual encounter.

"You always pay for it," he responded with the world-weary cynical air of one who has picked up the tab on dinner and a movie one time too many.

When it comes to the home-lending crisis, I figured that I'd heard it all: People losing their homes, discovering that their homes were not the automatic money-maker that they once were, treasured companion animals abandoned as evicted families leave.

But when the loan company foreclosed on Louisville resident Emily Trowel, her problems were only beginning.

As reported by Jason Riley of the Courier-Journal Sunday, Ms. Trowel bought the home in a lower-income area of the city in 1990. Her mother transferred ownership for $1.

When William F. Buckley Jr. died Wednesday at the age of 82, conservatives mourned the loss of an intellectual titan whose life’s work had helped give birth to the modern conservative movement.

But seriously, how much brainpower does an individual need to command in order to be considered an intellectual titan in crowds populated by the likes of Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh?

I’ve never shared Ebenezer Scrooge’s contempt for Christmas. The bustle of the holiday season, the bright lights and the attitude of goodwill toward men affected by even the most avowed secularist all appeal to me. It would never occur to me to extinguish that glow of seasonal joy that is shared by so many.

Valentine’s Day? Now that’s another story. The idea of a cherubic, fashion-challenged and/or incontinent archer firing off darts at various and sundry passersby in an effort to stir up romance is preposterous and slightly creepy. If a human being were playing Cupid in this manner, they’d be branded a stalker.

My fellow progressives:

I’m afraid the Republicans have caught on to us. Brett Winterble, a contributor to Human Events, uncovered the bare bones of our plot to take the reins of power from conservatives. Here’s what he’s uncovered so far:

What we have is the sick and twisted dreams of Pinch Sulzberger, Don  Imus, Maureen Dowd, Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews come true: the GOP has been forced to choose a nominee designed to cause the base to retch, and thereby not vote. Guaranteeing 4 years of Clinton score settling or Obama socializing entire corporate sectors.

I was concerned when I saw an online advertisement for Barack Obama Exposed! while surfing the ’Net recently. After all, if a scurrilous, anonymous email that couldn’t even distinguish between the Illinois senator and a lawmaker from Minnesota could cause problems for the campaign, how much damage could be inflicted by a recognizable repository of conservative thought?

Not to worry. This compilation of 16 essays penned by contributors to Human Events contains no revelations about sexual predilections or a double life. In fact, some of the articles mention Obama only in passing. Barack Obama Exposed! has all the earmarks of having been patched together after a hasty Google search, the result relying upon Human Events’ 64-year history to lend it some gravitas. (Imagine: Human Events, a profoundly conservative publication, was founded in 1944, in the middle of wartime, during the term of a popular liberal president. Despite this, none of Human Events’ founders were branded as unpatriotic or treasonous. The mind boggles.)

The emergence of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as a viable standard-bearer for the Republicans (placing a respectable third in New Hampshire after winning the Iowa caucuses) has left conservative commentators almost apoplectic.

But some of those people howling the loudest are the very same people who made Huckabee’s candidacy not only likely, but also inevitable.

Only a few minutes remain in 2007, so it’s high time to take a look back and give some well-earned recognition to those people without whose foibles the past year would not have been possible.

The It Takes A Village Award to Lynne Spears, who apparently needs an entire village to keep track of the doings of her daughters. Britney and Jamie Lynn have devolved from celebrities into the sort of individuals who make The Jerry Springer show what it is.

Ah, Christmastime. A season that holds enough innate magic to redeem fictional baddies such as Ebenezer Scrooge or the Grinch. It’s the time of year when even the most secular of secular humanists is supposed to be overcome by the sentiment of "peace on earth and goodwill toward men."

Unless, of course, you happen to be one of the ink-stained wretches who practice their craft within the pages of The American Thinker, a publication that has precious little to do with either being an American or actual thought. Last week, contributor Stephen Rittenberg, MD attempts to construct a case that finds common ground among the forces of jihadism, perversion and – wait for it – liberalism.

Baptist doctrine may not be what it used to be.

A survey conducted by the Southern Baptist LifeWay Research organization for the Kentucky Baptist Convention shows that many state Baptist hold beliefs that are contrary to long-cherished denominational doctrines. Doctrines that are challenged by state Baptists include the idea that people can go to heaven from non-Christian religions or that Christians can loose their salvation if they don't work at it.

A survey of 223 Kentucky adults who identify themselves as Southern Baptists found support for the importance of serving God but only sporadic scripture reading, volunteering in church and sharing their faith with others.

Captain America is coming back. And this time he's packing heat.

The star-spangled hero returns to action in January. The former Captain America, Steve Rogers, was killed off in March after leading a protest against a law in the Marvel universe that required all those with superhuman abilities to register with the government. He was being led to the court house when he died in a hail of bullets.

It remains unclear just who will be adopting Captain America's colors in January. It's possible that the book's writer, Ed Brubaker, may figure out a way to resurrect Steve Rogers. It's also possible that someone else might be wearing a revamped Captain America costume.

After listening to Rush Limbaugh's non-apology to US soldiers who don't support the War on Terror, and after listening to Ann Coulter's non-defense of a type of antisemitism that hasn't been part of mainstream thought since about 1590 or so, I have come to the following conclusion: Everything the right says to tear down the left actually more closely reflects the conservative mindset.

For my first exhibit, I respectfully submit the entire Petraeus/betray us debate. Despite Rush Limbaugh's protestations to the contrary, it is apparent to anyone who had heard Rush's version of the excerpt that the word soldiers was clearly pluralized, meaning he could not be simply talking about one particular "phony soldier" as he claimed.

You can't build a movement on a philosophy that ultimately consumes its members.

This is the lesson that has been lost on The Imperial Klans of America, who have set up shop in the tiny Western Kentucky city of Dawson Springs. The group, which claims at least 23 chapters in 17 states, has taken over a 28-acre compound. The group is led by Ronald Edwards, 47, who earns money with painting and contracting jobs. He lives on the group's property with a girlfriend and two young children.

I wonder if Michelle Malkin is willing to put her children where her mouth is.

Malkin, the always disagreeable right-wing commentator, came down on actress Sally Field's speech during Emmy broadcast Sunday night. Mrs. Field said this: "If mothers ruled the, ruled the world, there would be no god-damned wars in the first place."

Mrs. Malkin's response was to claim that mothers can be categorized as either sheep or lions.

Much has been written about the upcoming reports on the US military efforts in Iraq. Words like redeployment and withdraw have been bandied about, but the favorite in the language of conservatives is surrender. Typical usage: "The defeatist democrats want us to surrender in Iraq."

But the literal definition of surrender at least suggests that the act of surrendering involves compulsion from some other entity. Here is the definition: 1 a: to yield to the power, control, or possession of another upon compulsion or demand <surrendered the fort> b: to give up completely or agree to forgo especially in favor of another; 2 a: to give (oneself) up into the power of another especially as a prisoner b: to give (oneself) over to something (as an influence)