My colleague Rick has had a prolific morning, writing two stories that caught my attention -- one here, and one on his own personal site. I find I agree with him on both matters -- but he didn't quite go far enough. So I'm going to lift his topics and give my own take on them.

Or, in the words of the great American poet C. E. Daniels, "Well you're pretty good ol' son. But sit down in that chair, right there, and let me show you how its done."

First up, he talked about a Christian woman who objected to an artist's work that she found blasphemous. And, as a non-Christian, I have to agree with her; this depiction of "the Second Coming" is pretty much aimed, as Harmon commented, to provoke and offend Christians.

That's fine with me. I find it tasteless and cheap, but not offensive.

But Ms. Folden has a ready-made Constitutional defense at her disposal, should she be charged with damaging the artwork: the equal protection clause.

In America today, as a practical matter, all religions are not equal. Islam has become a protected class, above and beyond that accorded other faiths -- de facto if not de jure.

Remember a couple of weeks ago when some nutjob minister was threatening to burn a Koran? The federal government intervened, with many high-ranking federal officials actively intervening in the matter to dissuade him from acting. The FBI also contacted him, informing him that he was putting his life in danger. And just to add insult to injury, he was presented with a bill from law enforcement for the costs of protecting him.

Recently, a cartoonist who proposed an "everybody draw Mohammed day" was faced with very credible death threats from offended Muslims. How did our federal government respond? By, essentially, beating the Muslims to the punch -- they told her to "kill herself" by moving, changing her name, and finding a new career. And she did.

So here we have a clear precedent: the federal government, when confronted with situations of American citizens being threatened with bodily harm by the adherents of a religion they have offended, will not act to protect the citizens for exercising their First Amendment rights. Further, it will not take action against those who are threatening to commit the violence.

In that light, what Ms. Folden is almost commendable in its restraint: she didn't attack or threaten the artist, just expressed her outrage on the specific work. And it shows that Christians are finally smartening up and figuring out how things are these days: if you want respect for your faith, don't ask for it or appeal to people's better natures or hope to be lauded for your good works. No, the way to win respect is to demand it at swordpoint. It's to threaten violence -- and, occasionally, carry out those threats.

Now for Rick's second story. This one he didn't cross-post here, it's just for his readers over at Brutally Honest. It seems he has a pen pal. And that pen pal is one of those people who is always asking for money.

His perpetually-needy correspondent? Barack Obama.

(And no, despite the name, it's not one of those Nigerian scams. This correspondent lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.)

Rick did a pretty job rebutting the e-mail, but one part of Obama's beg letter caught my attention:

Please donate $3 -- and renew your commitment today:

https://donate.barackobama.com/OctoberMatch

www.barackobama.com. Where have I read that URL recently?

Oh, yes, it's the domain of Organizing For America, Organizing For America, the heir to the Obama presidential campaign. After he won election, the staff decided they didn't want to go their separate ways and return to their previous lives. So they reorganized into an ongoing political group -- and as a parting gift, then-president-elect Obama gave them a truly priceless gift: his own name. Instead of having to buy and build their own domain, they operate literally in the name of the president of the United States.

As I said earlier, Organizing For America has been linked to some exceptionally shady activity -- mainly involving voter registration scandals, but other areas as well. They have done all this literally in the name of the President of the United States.

Now, I've never seen anyone who was as quick to distance himself from those close to him when they prove embarrassing as President Obama. It's gotten so bad that Obama has single-handedly made "throwing someone under the bus" a huge cliche'. Greyhound One must be a Bigfoot of a bus, as he's thrown so many under it -- his political mentor, one of his bigger fundraisers, his minister of 20 years, even his own grandmother.

But how does he repudiate and step away from his own name?

And now, Rick's shown us that he is still involved with Organizing For America -- he's personally helping them raise money to continue their work (even -- or, perhaps, especially, in helping to ratfuck the election process).

Congratulations, Mr. President. You've just reaffirmed that you literally still own Organizing For America, and own everything they do in your name.

And thanks, Rick, for giving me some great fodder for a Friday morning.