I know, I know

We have to be very careful with the "guilt by association" stuff. But there is a trend among the hard right that has to be questioned and at least brought to light. During the Ashcroft hearings, we heard that he had done interviews for the Southern Partisan magazine.

During Ashcroft's confirmation hearing, Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware raised the issue of his interview with Southern Partisan magazine. That publication is so favorable toward the days of slavery that it has sold a T-shirt bearing a picture of Abraham Lincoln accompanied by the Latin words of his assassin, "Sic Semper Tyrannis" -- "Thus Always to Tyrants."

Biden neglected to bring up the fact that Ashcroft went out of his way to praise Southern Partisan during his 1998 interview -- when he said that the magazine "helps set the record straight" and lauded it for "defending Southern patriots" such as Jefferson Davis, the vehement advocate of slavery who was president of the Confederacy.

It is bad enough to give them an interview, but to embrace their racist view of history is horrible. And unchristian. Where were the Christian voices to chastise the soon to be AG? Missing.

Maybe we know why. The religious right, in my opinion, defers to their political leaders in a way that the left has been unable to cultivate. So, Dobson, Falwell, Mohler, Land all play a huge role in speaking for people. And here we have in Dobson's own political organization, Tony Perkins, who has his own shady past.

Justice Sunday Preachers: "For years, Jenkins had been grooming Perkins as his political successor. 'To Jenkins, Perkins was like a son, and the feeling was and is mutual,' wrote former Jenkins staffer Christopher Tidmore. In 1996 Perkins cut his teeth as the manager of Jenkins's campaign for US Senate. It was during that campaign that, in an attempt to consolidate the support of Louisiana's conservative base, Perkins paid David Duke $82,000 for his mailing list. After Jenkins was defeated by his Democratic opponent, Mary Landrieu, he contested the election. But during the contest period, Perkins's surreptitious payment to Duke was exposed through an investigation conducted by the FEC, which fined the Jenkins campaign.

Six years later, in 2002, Perkins embarked on a campaign to avenge his mentor's defeat by running for the US Senate himself. But Perkins was dogged with questions about his involvement with David Duke. Perkins issued a flat denial that he had ever had anything to do with Duke, and he denounced him for good measure. Unfortunately, Perkins's signature was on the document authorizing the purchase of Duke's list. Perkins's dalliance with the racist Council of Conservative Citizens in the run-up to his campaign also illuminates the seamy underside of his political associations. Despite endorsements from James Dobson and a host of prominent CNP members, Perkins was not even the leading Republican in the senatorial race."

Is this unfair criticism? Believe you me, whenever people can associate anyone on the left with Lewis Farakhan, they call them unpatriotic. And people on the left should stay away from him. But having people of faith cozying up to racists like Duke and the Council of Conservative Citizens is horrible.

Am I off base here?