Fourth Circuit, fifth column

This past Friday seems to have been windfall day for right-wing cults.

Not long ago, the father of a Marine who was killed in the Iraq War sued Fred Phelps's cult because they picketed the funeral.

For those unawares, Phelps is pastor of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. This particular congregation is actually a cult. Its followers are known for carrying signs saying "God hates fags" at various events and for picketing the funerals of celebrities and military personnel. Like Sun Myung Moon, there's not a good thing to be said about Fred Phelps. He is truly a lost cause.

The Marine's father didn't win his suit against the cult, but that's not really the issue here. The reason we have courts is to decide cases like this.

The real story here is this: On Friday, the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit then ordered the plaintiff to pay Westboro Baptist Church all of its court costs - including those that the cult incurred when it chose to appeal the case.

What message does this send? Extremist cults now know they can disrupt military funerals AND win thousands of dollars from the families of the deceased.

All because the Fourth Circuit doesn't appreciate our fighting men and women, I guess. And I truly believe they don't. The jurists who made this ruling are the enemy within.

Hell, if I was the Marine's father, I just wouldn't pay it. Fred Phelps is threatening to take his property and garnish his wages if he doesn't pay up, but if Phelps's cult tried taking money or property from me, I'd so dare them to.

How can a court even THINK of making a Marine's family PAY Westboro Baptist Church over something like this? Is this any way for the government to treat the family of someone who died for the country?

(Source: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/carroll/bal-protest0329,0,3866909.story)