The Republicans in the House of Representatives are determined to actually punish schools that allow students to sing the national anthem or recite the Pledge of Allegiance in freedom.

The Larochelles were seeking to separate the flag from the Constitution, and to make it a symbol of religious belief – and officially recognized by Congress as such. Congressman Mike Turner was more than happy to help them do this – and to try to use the boy scout as a tool to push religion as a wedge issue – when he introduced H.R. 3779.

To vote for this bill was to insult the Constitution of the United States of America, and in doing so, to insult the USA itself. A vote in favor of this bill is a betrayal of the Oath of Office every member of Congress has taken. It is unpatriotic, and a grave breach of trust.

This legislation does exactly what Republicans say they want to do. It makes public schools more efficient. In fact, the bill makes such plain sense that 27 Republican members of the House of Representatives crossed the aisle yesterday to vote in favor of it. Thanks to them, the bill passed, and will become law if passed by the Senate.

There can be no rational objection to the Crane Conservation Act on the grounds of fiscal responsibility. The legislation has been examined and been certified to contain no earmarks for pork barrel spending. The Crane Conservation Act also contains no extra provisions to deal with any matters other than crane conservation. It does not secretly modify any existing U.S. law or provide financial kickbacks to anybody.

Do these politicians expect us to believe their excuses, that their failure to protect endangered great cats and canids is due to conservative principles? That explanation is absurd on the face of it. True conservatives support conservation.

Do Christians really believe that the Bible is such an anemic piece of literature that it needs the support of a nanny government to coddle it and protect it from competing ideas? If you are among those who believe in the Christian God, do you really believe that God is weaker than the Congress of the United States of America?

This collection of backwards-thinking members of Congress, numbering 25 including Michelle Bachmann herself, have all signed on as sponsors of the Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act. I hereby name them the Dim Bulb Caucus, both on account of their stubborn dedication to wasteful technology and for their dazzling dim-wittedness in ignoring the economic and environmental threats that arise from their efforts to thwart energy efficiency.