Bush bars media from Stem Cell Veto ceremony, continuing a trend of massive White House fear of being seen in public with the religious right

Seriously, how many times does Bush have to treat the religious right and its agenda like pariahs before they get the picture?

Remember how during the gay marriage White House speech Bush hid the leaders of the religious right from the TV cameras? Then there was the time Bush let Laura and Mary Cheney undercut his message on gay marriage right as the vote was coming up. Then there was the time he refused for 3 months to endorse the anti-gay marriage amendment. Then there was the time he endorsed gay civil unions right before the election. And let's not even get started on the incredible number of gays working at the RNC, in Republican offices on the Hill (ahem, George Allen), and the executive branch, including the White House.

Other than Rick Santorum, a lot of Republicans seem far more willing to embrace gays than they do the religious right (not that the Republicans don't do their fair share of damage to the entire civil rights agenda, including gays). Sure, the Republicans pander to the religious right for elections, but otherwise, even when they're in the midst of pandering, like today's stem cell veto, the Republicans won't be caught dead getting photographed with the crazy aunt wing of the Republican party.

It would almost be funny if it weren't so pathetic. No, scratch that, it is funny.

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