"LIBERAL" MEDIA LOVES ROMNEY'S "ATHEISTS HATE FREEDOM" SPEECH

Or, at least, the part of the "liberal" media that features Chris Matthews chatting with Pat Buchanan and Joe Scarborough. Watch the clip here.

...MATTHEWS: I have to say that if he wins the presidency, it started here, Pat.

BUCHANAN: It certainly did. It was a magnificent speech, splendidly delivered. It was moving.... He used terms, Chris, of "secularism" and "public square" which are very familiar to conservatives. He placed himself very squarely in the conservative tradition. I've got to agree with you: If Governor Romney wins the Iowa caucuses and wins the nomination, it will be because of this speech here....

MATTHEWS: For the first time in this campaign, and it's been a long campaign already, I've heard greatness this morning.

SCARBOROUGH: ...I thought this was a great idea. He got to stand next to the president of the United States, he got to talk about his faith, and he hit this thing out of the park....

Well, Matthews is right at the top of that excerpt -- if Romney wins the presidency, it started with getting an endorsement for the message "Freedom requires religion" from the mainstream press. But, really, it's been inevitable that whomever the Republicans nominate will make outrageous far-right statements and these guys will say those statements are absolutely centrist.

Oh, and Joe Scarborough, I didn't realize Poppy Bush was still the president of the United States.

The only dissenter in the clip is, of all people, Sally Quinn -- and good for her:

QUINN: I have to say that I'm really stunned because I think it was an obliteration of the idea of the separation of church and state. He eliminated anybody who was a doubter, an atheist, an agnostic, a seeker. It's like, if you believe in God or Christ, you're on my side. If not, you're not.

The rest of them don't care -- he's not reducing them to second-class citizenship, so what's the problem?

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually looking forward to reading what Christopher Hitchens has to say about this speech.