Fundamentalists begin Haggard damage control

It was a big day for Ted Haggard, who admitted-- sort of-- that some of the allegations against him were true. I think the worst part for me would be the whole eternity-of-suffering thing. According to the National Association of Evangelicals, of which Haggard was the president until today:

"Homosexual activity, like adulterous relationships, is clearly condemned in the Scriptures," the evangelicals' association says on its website. It claims the Bible says homosexuality is a sin that "brings grave consequences in this life and excludes one from the Kingdom of God".

That group has 30 million members and an extremely powerful lobbying arm. (Haggard has previously boasted of getting personal calls from Bush.) But it's not like he had any influence or anything. Sort of a nobody, really.

Jerry Falwell, a prominent conservative Christian and Republican party loyalist, sought to play down Mr Haggard's importance.

"He (Haggard) doesn't really lead the (evangelical) movement. ... He is the president of an association that is very loosely knit and I've never been a member of it," Mr Falwell told CNN.

Now there's a good Christian you want to turn to in your darkest hour.