Atrios (here, here, and here) and Roger Ailes (here) are absolutely right -- no one ever calls for the excommunication of pro-choice Republicans such as Tom Ridge, George Pataki, and Rudolph Giuliani, and no one ever makes a huge stunt out of threatening to deny them communion. Things like that only happen to John Kerry and other Democrats.

Let me talk about Giuliani for a second. Not only is he pro-choice, he signed New York City's domestic-partner bill into law. He opposes Bush's gay-marriage ban. He lived with a gay couple while separated from Donna Hanover, from whom he is now divorced.

Not a problem, apparently, for any bishop in the Catholic Church.

By the way, you might want to listen to "Vatican Official: No Eucharist for Abortion Supporters" from today's Weekend Edition -- Thomas Reese, a priest who's also the editor of America Magazine, points out that only four American bishops have taken a no-communion-for-pro-choice-pols stance, while some 190 have said nothing of the sort. Reese also ponts out that there is nothing like this going on in Europe. This is an American issue -- aimed at one, and only one, American party.