Who's this "we" you speak of, kemosabe?

"In the great country of the United States, we believe that you should be able to worship any way you see fit; that you're equally American, regardless of your religious beliefs," quoth our only president, during a July Fourth speech in West Virginia.

As for the Bad Guys, Bush adds: "They believe that if you don't worship the way they see it, then they're going to bring you harm. We believe in an Almighty, we believe in the freedom for people to worship that Almighty. "

Rewind the tape. "We believe in an Almighty." Rewind again. "We believe in an Almighty." Swwrp goes the tape as it rewinds yet again. "We believe in an Almighty."

We do? Gee, I was under the impression that some of us don't believe in an Almighty, and that we deserve equal treatment.

Bush says "you're equally American, regardless of your religious beliefs." Two sentences later, he says, "We believe in an Almighty."

I guess some religious beliefs are more equal than others. Someone should ask Bush if atheists, agnostics, Wiccans, Mormons and liberal Episcopalians have religious beliefs. If they do, can we all agree to treat them equally with fundamentalists and conservative evangelicals?

Bush and other Republicans are fond of boasting that we're all equal, because that's the American way -- and in the next breath, hissing about Massachusetts liberals or San Francisco values. They believe a dead Marine from the Bay Area isn't as valuable, and his death isn't as lamentable, as a dead Marine from Alabama.

(Thanks to the Rude One.)