Comments on Surprise, Surprise

the afghan incident is worse than the heath ledger incident.

instead of dragging islam into the 21st century, we should be building a very tall wall with barbed wire on top & guard towers all around it. and stop making them rich.

Yes, Afghanistan, that land of the rich...

Afghanistan, no. Saudia Arabia and UAE, yes.

One wonders how the Westboro Baptist saga will end. I can't imagine they'll still be doing this shit in 20 years.

Thank goodness for the comical bad-guys. The Westboro folks should start wearing capes and masks.

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times.

If Heath Ledger's servicing Satan's nadgers in Hell, it's not for Brokeback Mountain.

It's for Brothers Grimm.

Looking at the big picture, Phelps and his church are great PR for progressive and sane causes everywhere. He's so over the top, that he marginalizes religious wackos and weakens them politically.

I don't get it. I mean, aren't we running the show in Afghanistan? Who the hell told those ragheads it was OK with us to execute this guy?

Here in America you can't write anything that insults George W. Bush.

Heath Ledger is now in Hell, and has begun serving his eternal sentence there—beside which, nothing else about Heath Ledger is relevant or consequential.

Did Bellevue Ave write this press release?

can you really 'begin' serving a sentence that will last for all eternity? i'd think he would have had to start it a looong time ago...

Wasn't WBC sued out of existence?

This development isn't surprising, but then I wonder if the media would just ignore them, would they go away?

anybody got the thing he printed off the internet?

and a program to spam it all over Kabul?

If need be, I will spend my last dime to travel to Topeka, a city I loathe, to picket Fred's funeral...

the only problem is, the old sumbitch, WILL NOT DIE!!!

I wonder if the bikers will keep Fred & gang from Heath's funeral?

instead of dragging islam into the 21st century, we should be building a very tall wall with barbed wire on top & guard towers all around it. and stop making them rich.

Should we just build a wall around the 31 million Muslims in Afghanistan? What about the 150 million Muslims in India and the 200 million Muslims in Indonesia? We're going to need a lot of barbed wire and a better explanation than "max's xenophobia."

@13: Right there with ya, guy.

I keep waiting for these WBC wackos to show up at a military funeral and have the honour guard aim their tribute volleys at the incestuous Westboro klan.

I know that if, god forbid, my brother were to be KIA, and those asswipes were there shouting their crap, I would grab the nearest shovel and start swinging wildly at them.

People that are filled with that much hate & ignorance forfeit their right to exist, especially when they deliberately attack decent people.

apparently he's being flown home to australia. hopefully those scumbags won't follow.

...the sordid tacky, bucket of slime seasoned with vomit...

I'm totally adopting that as my signature insult.

I'm afraid the Phelps' Econoline van won't make it all the way to Perth, even if the Aussies granted them visas (which they probably won't), assuming they have passports in the first place.

@9: why should we care about heath burning in hell when there are millions of other people burning in hell? just because they are not famous? no, we should care about everyone but heath burning in hell.

Let's start a picket Phelps' death website. We can gather fans along the way and ramp up for that day. It's probably one of the few things homos and right wing military moms can agree on.

The Phelps klan should all drive to Australia to picket.

Australia, for all its faults, probably won't let an a-hole like Fred Phelps in to their country. I'm gonna forward this PDF on to the Australian Embassy in Washington and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Canberra to make sure this jack ass doesn't spread his crap over there, where they don't need it (Australia already has enough problems with gay/lesbian issues, Sydney Mardi Gras aside...)

So, um is THIS the result of our efforts to "promote democracy" in the region?

Well, I suppose if this sort of "justice" was good enough for the State of Texas under shrub, there's at least some consistency...

@21: Uncanny!

On the Afghan student: The sentence wasn't just for printing off the "paper," it was for distributing it. The case is going to appeal, and considering the attention it's getting, I think it is unlikely that the student will actually be put to death. What I find more alarming than the sentence itself is this:

"Rhimullah Samandar, the head of the Kabul-based National Journalists Union of Afghanistan, said Kambaksh had been sentenced to death under Article 130 of the Afghan constitution. That article says that if no law exists regarding an issue than a court's decision should be in accord with Hanafi jurisprudence.

Hanafi is an orthodox school of Sunni Muslim jurisprudence followed in southern and central Asia."

Does this remind anyone else of Huckabee's campaign promise to put "God's law" into the Constitution?

I am totally going to refer to vomiting as "seasoning" now. As in, "last night I had wayyy too many gin & tonics, and gave the toilet a right good seasoning!"

Hell is having to live on the same planet as Fred Phelps--at least the dead don't have to keep hearing about his hateful stunts. Count me in for the naked happiness parade at his funeral.

@ 21

Yeah! Equal rights for all of us who are going to hell! Not Fair!

I'm right there with you!

@13: The word is that Fred Phelps is essentially on his deathbed. Most of the church's functions, if you can call them that, have been taken over by underlings, virtually all of whom are among the more gullible of his relatives.

why didn't mike hucklebee do something about this bullshit when he was governor of arkansas? birds of a feather thats why. militate gays need to do something about this once and for all

Alas, Heath passed on only yesterday, and is already taking abuse from psychotic eejits who think God sends them email newsletters. May Heath's memory be eternal, and may Fred Phelps be forgotten in a heartbeat...

And yes, the WBC folks should be required to DRIVE to West Australia (LOL)...