We already know one thing about E.W. Jackson in the short term--his wingnutty statements have all but handed the Virginia lieutenant governor's chair to Ralph Northam on a silver platter.  But he may end up doing more damage in the long term.  He has all but admitted what those of us who have watched the religious right have already known--that fundies, not gays and lesbians, are the ones who want special rights.

If you'll remember, back on Monday, Jackson appeared on Bryan Fischer's radio show and wrung his hands about the evil, evil librul media calling him out on his laundry list of wingnuttery.  For those of you who missed it, watch here.

The crux of Jackson's argument is that the media has no right to call him out on his statements because he was speaking as a pastor.   His reasoning?  When you're questioning the statements of a pastor, you're imposing an unconstitutional religious test.  

This statement, more than any other I've seen from a fundie over the years, exposes a fundamental misunderstanding the religious right has about politics.  If you decide to run for office, you should expect to have your views put under the microscope.  Can't handle that?  Don't throw your hat in the ring.  Then again, you have to remember that much of the religious right's clientele lives in a bubble, so they aren't really used to having to defend their views.

More importantly, it all but demolishes the most common argument the religious right uses against gay rights supporters--"You're fighting for special rights!"  And yet, we're not supposed to subject your pastors to the same scrutiny we subject anyone else who runs for office?  Tell me again who wants special rights?  Ten to one if Mike Huckabee were to win the GOP nomination in 2016 and make a statement similar to Jackson's, it would pretty much guarantee a 40-state Democratic landslide.

Seems to me that Jackson didn't just hand us at least one elected office on a platter.  He also handed us a brand new talking point.