Thanks to Shea Gunther over at Mother Nature Network for putting attention on this. It's always so nice to see the good guys win. The Westboro Baptist Church thrives on spreading a nice helping of hate around. They sent their minions to West Virginia to let the families of the 29 dead miners know their loved ones died because we're too tolerant of alternative lifestyles. Their website says there are too many Catholics in West Virginia, another reason for the protest.

Anyway, watch this video. Seriously, watch the whole thing. I especially love the part where the guy from West Virginia starts quoting Bible verses back at them and tells them to "get out". As it rolls on, it's clear the good people of West Virginia have no intention of letting the haters get even a little bit of traction in their state.

But the WBC are an unstable bunch of busy haters. Not only did they head to West Virginia for a harassment fix, but they also deployed to Iowa, where their 6 protesters were met by a group of 500, letting them know that Iowa is a spacious state, but there is no room for haters.

It's so nice to see free speech at work on both sides. While the Phelps family cult depends on indoctrinating children and using them for their evil ends, the good people of Iowa and West Virginia gave their kids an object lesson in meeting evil with good.

A virtual fist bump to Iowa and West Virginia, and true prayers for the families of the mine victims goes to them, from me. Long live the first amendment.