Bigoted fanatics need to be laughed at -- and taken seriously

I've been trying to think of a way to make political points against those so far out on the right that they see Mitch McConnell as a dangerous liberal.

Marion Robertson

The people like the Rev. Marion (Pat) Robertson, who thinks anything horrible that happens in the world is God punishing humanity. Of course he may be prejudiced. His father Absalom -- no kidding, although he went by his middle name Willis -- gave him a name far more popular for girl children.

So as Piyush (Bobby) Jindal would decades later, young Marion decided that he needed a name that made him sound more like a real boy.

Imagine how he felt in the late 20th century, when thanks to "Saturday Night Live" and Julia Sweeney, his chosen name became almost a joke for the mostly androgynous.

Now this is mostly silly, although the names Absalom and Marion are real. I have no idea who started calling young Marion "Pat," although I doubt it was anything as silly as young Piyush Jindal wishing he were one of the boys on "The Brady Bunch."

The fact is, you cannot get into serious arguments with these people, and one of the worst things that has happened to our country is that people like Rev. Pat and his late friend Jerome Falwell are taken seriously and not just seen as the douchebags they are.

Most of their fame comes from the total explosion in media outlets with the coming of cable television and later with the Internet. Rev. Jerome started the so-called Moral Majority, which generated one of the great buttons of the early 1980s.

Most of the so-called Religious Right is desperately trying to stand astride history screaming, "Stop!" As our society evolves into one more tolerant and open to most kinds of people, we see laws like the "Religious Freedom Restoration Act," passed in Indiana so that bakers can't be forced to make wedding cakes in the shape of a cock and balls for a wedding between two men.

An apparently confused Gov. Mike Pence, who appears to have been frightened by the uproar and threatened boycotts of his state, said today that the bill did not allow discrimination against anyone. Of course that's kind of silly. There's no other purpose to a bill like that.

Just watch.

Instead of "No shirt, no shoes, no service," Indiana businesses will put up signs with a much more succinct message:

"NO HOMOS"

The sad part of it is that most people -- even most religious people -- in Indiana are not closed-minded bigots. They're almost certainly embarrassed at the way their politicians roll over and show their bellies whenever the fanatics start getting worked up.

What can we do?

Well, electing better people would be a start, but that would also require keeping up with what is really happening instead of just what we see on television.

These days, that's a lot to ask.

Of course, with the country slipping away ...