In some circles, Elvis Presley is referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll," others claim Little Richard as the true "King"; Harry Belafonte has been dubbed the "King of Calypso," but he may have to share that title with The Mighty Sparrow; at various times in film history, Siegmund Lubin, America's first movie "mogul," Francis X. Bushman, the screen's first great romantic idol, and Clark Gable, a star for more than thirty years, have all been referred to as "King of the Movies."

When it comes to the End of Days, however, the undisputed "King of the Apocalypse" is Rev. Tim LaHaye.

No matter how many pastors, preachers, novelists, and self-described prophets (think Harold Camping, Joel Rosenberg, Pastor John Hagee) might try to stake a claim to that title, LaHaye sewed it up several years ago when he, along with co-author Jerry Jenkins, managed to sell more than 63 million copies of the "Left Behind" series of apocalyptic novels.

Over the past 10-20 years, rhetoric from the far right that would once have been relegated to the fringe has been creeping into mainstream political discourse with Newt Gingrich, as much or more than any leading GOP politician, helping the process along.

Sure Mike Huckabee is a human gaffe machine that makes dumb remarks on a regular basis. But why are prominent Christian Zionists allowed to get away with blatant anti-Semitism?

I'm just a soul whose intentions are good:
Oh Lord! Please don't let me be misunderstood ..."Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," written by Bennie Benjamin, Gloria Caldwell and Sol Marcus

Welcome to Huckabee-land, where the gaffes, blunders, faux pas and misunderstandings are growing like apple blossoms (the Arkansas state flower), and are coming at you twenty-four/seven.

Oklahoma University professor and scholar Dr. Charles Kimball has just published a new book entitled, When Religion Becomes Lethal.  Kimball worked with the World Council of Churches as a Middle East expert on the world religions in the region.  He has first hand experience dealing with world leaders working with the U.S. government to understand the nature of conflicts around the globe which often have roots in religion.

Meet Nick Ayers, the 28-year-old 'wunderkind' who apparently believes he's received a directive from God to help lead Pawlenty to the Promised Land.

If you've been occupying space on this hemisphere, you certainly are aware of Karl Rove, aka "Bush's Brain."

And baby-faced Ralph Reed, the man Time magazine dubbed "The Right Hand of God," definitely rings a bell.

And lets not forget that before either of them,  there was the masterful political consultant and strategist Lee Atwater.

Now, there's a new "wunderkind" on the block.

Meet Nick Ayers -- no relation to Barack Obama's Chicago pal Bill Ayers -- a Georgia native who was cited as one of the Republican Party's five "fastest rising stars in the nation" by the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

The daughter of Sarah Palin pulled in more than $340,000 during the past two years promoting abstinence for The Candie's Foundation, dubbed by one critic, "the tax-exempt arm of Candie's, a line of sleazy apparel for young and teenage girls."

In 2008, Bristol Palin had, as almost everyone in America probably knows my now, a child out of wedlock. She was pregnant at what seemed to be a most inopportune time -- while her mother Sarah was running for vice president - or so many observers thought. But as been seen over the past three years, the Palin family have become experts at turning an otherwise awkward situation into prosperity. Despite the fact that her relationship with Levi Johnston, her on-again-off-again boyfriend and the father of the baby, didn't work out, the baby (Tripp) appears to be doing fine.

And so is Bristol Palin. Especially financially.

Did You Know That:

It was a hotbed of Populism in the late nineteenth century?

It was once home to the largest selling socialist newspaper in the United States?

Two Jewish guys from New York wrote its most iconic song?

It was the birthplace of Langston Hughes, Gordon Parks, Buster Keaton and Amelia Earhart?

It was the site of the first women elected to any political office in the country?

Brown v. Board of Education and Fred 'God Hates Fags' Phelps have something in common?

It has been 'Ground Zero' for ruthless anti-abortion activists willing to spill blood in pursuit of their crusade?

All that and more after the jump!

For nearly forty years the American Legislative Exchange Council has been providing conservative legislators with the tools to undo the New Deal piece by piece. Now, in the Year of the Cold-Blooded Republican Governor, ALEC is achieving an unprecedented level of success.

As puzzle master Will Shortz might say, what is a four-letter acronym for a virtually unknown, but politically powerful conservative organization? If you guessed ALEC, you won't be receiving an NPR lapel pin, but rest assured, you are in very elite company.

Most people are unaware of the existence or reach of this shadowy organization. The members of ALEC would rather you remain ignorant of their purposes. In fact, these folks are so uncomfortable with anyone knowing about them that a University of Wisconsin history professor is being hammered by the Republican Party of that state for suggesting in an entry on his blog that in order to better understand the actions in various states with new Republican governors whose radical legislative proposals are remarkably similar, it might be worthwhile paying attention to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

The head of Samaritan's Purse is collecting aid for the people of Japan devastated by the earthquake and tsunami, while at the same time hurling McCarthyist charges accusing the Obama administration of being in league with the Muslim Brotherhood.

He's the son of the Rev. Billy Graham and he'd love to inherit his father's unofficial mantle as "America's Pastor." The organizations he heads have relief projects galore, aimed at both helping those in need and proselytizing the suffering and vulnerable.  He sees Christians as victims, and he appears to be flirting with a twenty-first century brand of McCarthyism, epitomized by claims that the Obama administration has been infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood.

Is Franklin Graham delusional or is he merely uninformed?

Her Facebook posts and tweets continue to be harsh and uncompromising, and her favorability ratings amongst Republicans continues to drop. But don't feel sorry for Sarah Palin. She's laughing all the way to the bank.

If you think that any squawking that she's unelectable by lamestream conservatives (George Will, Karl Rove, Ari Fleischer), any polls by lamestream media organizations (Washington Post/ABC News) finding that the percentage of Republicans having a favorable opinion of her has sunk to an all-time low, any jokes by A, B or C-list comedians (David Letterman, Robert Klein, Kathy Griffin), any portrayal of her in HBO's adaptation of the best-selling book, Game Change, or anything Joe McGinniss may write about her in his forthcoming book, will slow Sarah Palin down from whatever Sarah Palin intends that Sarah Palin should do, then I've got a Bridge to Nowhere to sell you.

Despite flack from fellow Republicans, dipping poll numbers, funny business from Hollywood elites, Palin is still in demand, as witnessed by an invitation for her to speak in India at a prestigious international conference.

No matter what you might have read in the mainstream press, no matter what you've heard, no matter what you've hoped for, these are not the end times for the Religious Right.

Before there was Google, there was the modern-day Religious Right. Before YouTube videos, Facebook, My Space, and tweets, there was the Religious Right. Before e-books, Wi-Fi, and Podcasts there was the Religious Right. Before IPods, IPads, and IPhone Apps, there was the Religious Right. And it is likely, as each of these late-twentieth/early twenty-first century marvels (read life's bare essentialsJ) morph into something even more social networky and more amazingly gadgety there will be the Religious Right.

Despite the predilection of its leaders and organizations to be deeply suspicions of and express disdain for modernity, the Religious Right has done one heck-of-a-job adapting to, harnessing and working with much of the above phenomena.

It may not leap out at you, but what's going on in Wisconsin and several other states is a fusion of Koch-ist free-market fundamentalism, Tea Party swagger, and the Religious Right's traditional values agenda; think the Heritage Foundation's full-blown project coming home to roost.

With the stripping away of fifty years of collective bargaining rights for public employee unions in Wisconsin, the culture wars of the past three decades are morphing into something much larger: a right-wing cultural revolution. And while battles over reproductive rights, same-sex marriage and an assortment of other highly-charged social issues will continue to be fought over, the political landscape is dramatically changing.