P-P-P-Pick up a Message from God ?

You could have been forgiven for thinking that recent weeks haven't gone particularly swimmingly (no pun intended) for the American far-right; their man in the White House has radically increased the Democrats' chances in the south in 2008 thanks to his appalling response to Hurricane Katrina (although given the Democratic penchant for organised incompetence its perhaps a little too early to tell)...over on Capitol Hill it looks as if Rehnquist replacement on the bench might not be the unabashed bible-bashing hellfire-and-brimstone character they had expected Bush to appoint...

However all is not lost...a new film has just come out which - while just a simple nature film to you and me - apparently is clear evidence of 'intelligent design' and epitomises good ol' fashioned American family values.

The French made film (see, maybe these cheese eating surrender monkeys have SOME redeeming qualities) tells the story of a flock of penguins migrating hundreds of miles to their breeding grounds in the depths of the Arctic winter...one right wing pundit described it as :

"'the motion picture this summer that most passionately affirms traditional norms like monogamy (it is unclear whether the penguins had been vetted for marital fidelity), sacrifice and child-rearing'. Speaking of audiences in America's heartland who often feel snubbed by liberal Hollywood, he added: 'This is the first movie they've enjoyed since The Passion of the Christ. This is The Passion of the Penguins."

As if this response wasn't ridiculous enough, it goes on...

"That any one of these eggs survives is a remarkable feat - and, some might suppose, a strong case for intelligent design. It's sad that acknowledgment of a creator is absent in the examination of such strange and wonderful animals. But it's also a gap easily filled by family discussion after the film." (or alternatively in one of Mr Blair's excellent faith schools)

Naturally at this point you groan "the pro-life lobby will be trying to get in on the act next" :

And sure enough :

an opponent of abortion wrote that the film "verified the beauty of life and the rightness of protecting it"...

Unfortunately all is not quite hunky dory in this theocratic utopia of Pingus...the voiceover to the film contains the words, "for millions of years" - as any good bible-basher knows, the Earth is only a few thousand years old. Still, no-one's perfect...