It's the corporatism, stupid.

The mysterious Cipher helps me out yet again with this piece from Alternet, and it could show another front on which the Bush Republicans will face growing opposition: fundamentalists. As it dawns on them that the GOP-- given the choice between keeping big business happy and keeping End Times Christians happy-- will always put corporate interests before social legislation. It reminds of that quip about Democrats not having to do anything substantive for blacks because, hey-- what are they going to do? Vote Republican?

The fundamentalist right have been voting in lockstep with the GOP, even when it hurts them and their brethren economically. All for the tantalizing carrot of a Christian state. And that isn't going to happen. Creationism is a joke, the Establishment Clause ensures that there'll never be a solid case for theocracy, and... most people don't really want the likes of Pat Robertson dictating morality.

[The religious right] should be used to it, but I doubt that'll be much comfort. After the 2004 election, I caught up with right-wing direct mail guru and Moral Majority co-founder Richard Viguerie. I was struck by how much resentment he said his "traditional conservatives" had for the corporate wing of the GOP.

Viguerie told me to keep in mind that "these corporations propped up the Soviet Union for years." He recounted a story about a White House reporter asking a senior Reagan aide what the new administration would do for "the Moral Majority types" just after the 1984 election. Viguerie paused in the telling before saying: "symbolism, and that's all social conservatives have ever gotten. They felt they were good troopers; they worked hard for that administration." He then added matter-of-factly: "The corporate wing could care less about social issues."

And that corporate wing always gets what it wants in the end. Despite having a flimsy record on those hot-button social issues, Miers -- along with new Chief Justice John Roberts -- are what business writer Lorraine Woellert described as "legal wonks who have packed a powerful punch in the corporate world," and who now stand poised to be part of a "CEO's dream team."

Congratulations. And be sure to order my latest t-shirt: "I fought twenty years for a theocracy, and all I got was this lousy oligarchy." It'll be a big hit at your neighborhood megachurch. Suckers.