Trying to keep up with the Republican circus is hard work.

Those of us who regularly follow the elephant parade -- we're the ones at the back pushing the wheelbarrows full of you-know-what -- sometimes get overcome from shoveling so much ... well, you get the picture.

Lately it's been brought to my attention how much of the GOP's doo-doo is domestically produced, and I ain't talkin' 'bout the Bushes, or James Baker or even La Cucaracha Grande, the Imperial Bugman from Sugar Land, the self-described "Federal Government", Tom DeLay. No, I'm referring to those who operate a little closer to the grassroots, down where the fertilizer is. I'm talkin' homegrown, home-canned, homemade, fresh baked horse hockey.

We've previously been introduced to Pearlanders Bobby Eberle and Kevin Cole, but there's another man -- a "Patriot Pastor" -- who's recently come to our attention: Rick Scarborough.

The former pastor of the First Baptist Church of Pearland's most urgent task of late is advocating for the 'nuclear option', which of course is the GOP-led Senate's efforts to eliminate the filibuster. He was heavily involved in the "Justice Sunday" event last month, coordinating the Christian Right's efforts with Bill Frist to rise up and strike down the Democrats' last impediment to the slate of fundamentalist judges President Bush has renominated. Among his pedigrees is his nationwide protest of the ouster of Roy Moore, former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and the man who placed a 2.6-ton granite Ten Commandments monument in front of his courthouse. No less an authority than Jerry Falwell anointed Scarborough as one of the new leaders of the religious right in America.

Here's a choice quote from Pastor Scarborough:

"One of my goals in life is to give the Republican Party courage ... We have a lot of gutless wonders who wear the tag conservative Republican. Anytime there's any amount of fire, they crater."

Did I mention that Tom DeLay has called Scarborough "one of my closest friends"?

So with no intent to disparage all of the good folks of Pearland, what is it in the water down there south of Houston that's spawning all of these ultraconservative freaks?

(Tip o' the chapeau to Tom Kirkendall. And The Carpetbagger Report has more on the good minister.)

Rabid conservatism defeats itself!