Biting the outstretched hand

It appears that Obama was asked what biblical passages should be used to guide public policy. Obama replied that there are many instances in which biblical "laws" are way out of step from modern America (ban shellfish?) and that the Sermon on the Mount is "a passage so radical that it's doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application."

"Folks haven't been reading their Bibles," Obama said.

Predictably, James Dobson fired away, saying "He is dragging biblical understanding through the gutter."

Which gives a guy named Pastor Dan a delicious opening. Dobson could have said that he agreed with some things Obama said and here are reasons why he disagreed with others. But Dobson didn't.

Pastor Dan says:

You have been had. Punked. Owned. Fooled into showing yourself for the hateful ignoramus you are …

For all this, I am deeply grateful. Every time you open your mouth, you demonstrate your lack of understanding of the religion you claim to uphold, and in doing so, you erode a little more of your authority. Thank you for that.

But thank you most of all for spurning the Obama campaign's overture to you, and most violently at that. Because you have absolved them of their supposed duty to reach out to people just like you. Every time you open your stupid gob to complain about the campaign between now and November, Obama's people will say, "Well, we tried."

That means they no longer have to waste money on voters they never would have gotten anyway, and they get to position themselves as the voice of reasonable moderation.

Read the whole thing here.