Republicans Burn Their Witch

At their state convention this past weekend, Republicans did what they do best ... boiled one of their own in oil. They stripped State House Co-Speaker Robert Morgan of his position on the state executive committee and banned him from statewide leadership for five years. In throwing out Morgan, they opened the rift in the party between moderates and conservatives even wider. Several members of the executive committee resigned to protest the ouster of Morgan.

But at least freedom of speech was honored, right? Well, actually, no:

"Morgan backers were angered that the Republican Executive Committee allowed no debate. 'It's not democratic at all,' said Betty Wilson of Asheboro, who also resigned from the committee in protest. 'No freedom of speech. I bet you 75 percent of the people who voted for this thing don't even know the man. He is a very gentle, genuine person.' "

The Republican mullahs are not content with just getting Morgan out of the party. They're also targeting his allies in the state house of representatives, principally five fellow Republicans who helped him form a coalition with the Democrats for the co-speakership in 2003. They're all marked for extinction. Their families' throats will be slit, their farm animals slaughtered, and their arable land sown with salt.