Jim Burroway of Box Turtle Bulletin has created the LaBarbera Award. The Peter deserves to have his name on it, given his incredible output of crap. Jim:

It will be awarded on an as-earned basis for the most outrageous, offensive, malevolent, crazy, excessive — you get the picture — statement or claim. (Paul Cameron is ineligible; otherwise nobody else would ever get a chance to win.) I thought about naming it for Fred Phelps, but he’s in a class all by himself.

And the winner of the first LaBarbera Award is…Rick Scarborough of Vision America. The mission of his organization is to “inform, encourage and mobilize pastors and their congregations to be proactive in restoring Judeo-Christian values to the moral and civic framework in their communities, states, and our nation.”

What did the professional oppressed “Christian” say? Rick’s with the rest of the “Christians”-for-pay crowd that is opposing hate crimes legislation, and he has raised the bar of shrill fear-mongering with this winner:

Mark this down; the day that this law becomes federal statute, the open persecution of major conservative broadcast ministries like Focus on the Family and D. James Kennedy will begin, and it will not end until it arrives at a church near you. If you want to avoid having the blood of martyrs on your hands, then join tens of thousands of other Americans who still hold to the truths of God’s Word and click here to send a message to your senators and President Bush that you do not want this legislation. Finally, please click here and make the largest contribution you can to Vision America Action, our 501C4, to assist us in fighting this battle.

As Jim notes in his post, Scarborough easily wins because of the bonus points earned for combining the unhinged shrieking with a fundraising appeal. It’s pretty clear once the claims become this untethered from reality it means the coffers must be empty.

Anyone out there with P’shop skills want to create a graphic for this award?

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Speaking of hate crimes legislation, the measure, which was filed by Senators Kennedy and Smith to the Department of Defense (DoD) Authorization bill before Congress, is a temporary casualty of the battle over troop withdrawal from Iraq. Senator Harry Reid pulled the bill after this week’s GOP filibuster. via HRC Back Story:

This could mean that a vote on hate crimes may not occur before Congress adjourns for its August recess.

Our congressional allies – including Senate leadership – remain committed to getting a vote on hate crimes this year.  Senators Kennedy and Smith continue to look for ways to advance this crucial legislation.