These are increasingly dark days for America's haters.  More and more, some Bloviating Fucktards of the Right seem to be coming up hard against the realization that while the First Amendment of the US Constitution may technically protect their right to spew hateful, bigoted rot, public tolerance has its limits, and it looks like some of the more egregious purveyors of filth are discovering those limits.

The German language has some marvellous words.  Words that declare in just a few syllables what it takes whole subordinate clauses to say in English.  There's gemutlichkeit, which means, essentially, "the cozy life".  A place that is gemutlich is a house or tavern or apartment that's not just cozy, but also has an air of restfulness and ease, where the stresses and problems of the world at large seem far away.

Another great German word is schadenfreude, which means "pleasure at the misfortune of another", and while it's not the prettiest of human emotions, it's certainly real and, I would venture, even justified in some cases.

Which brings us to a series of recent calamities that have befallen the members of the Westboro Baptist Church.  Westboro Baptist is the church of Rev. Fred Phelps, Jr., those Good Christians who first came to your attention, probably, when they showed up to disrupt the funeral of Matthew Shepard , the 21-year-old gay man who was brutally beaten and then left to die hanging from a fence in Laramie, Wyoming.  Not content to mock his family and turn an already tragic occasion into a hellish circus, Reverend Phelps also "made attempts to gain city permits in Cheyenne and Casper, Wyoming to build a monument 'of marble or granite 5 or 6 feet in height' on which will be a bronze plaque bearing Shepard's picture and the words: "MATTHEW SHEPARD, Entered Hell October 12, 1998, in Defiance of God's Warning: 'Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind; it is abomination.' Leviticus 18:22."

Nice, huh?  Make no mistake, folks.  These are good Republican Family Values at work.  While most "christian" right wingers stop short of the level of poisonous hate exhibited by Phelps and congregation, their insane prejudice stems from the same spiritual sickness, an urge to punish and destroy anyone who is Not Like Them.

Phelps and company have made more of a name for themselves in recent years by disrupting the funerals of US service personnel killed in action.   Thus far, this has gone swimmingly for them, but a lawsuit filed by the father of a slain US Marine Lieutenant appears to be poised to stop them right in their flat-footed, inbred, mouth-breathing, self-righteous tracks:

For the first time since members of Westboro began protesting at military funerals, someone is using the courts to stop them. A distraught father has filed suit in Maryland against what he views as a gross violation of privacy and intentional emotional abuse. 

On March 3, 2006, Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder was killed in the Al Anbar province of Iraq. His father, Albert Snyder, buried him on March 20 at St. John's Catholic Church in Westminster, Md.. It was supposed to be a peaceful, private ceremony.

But the funeral was interrupted by members of the church. "The protesters — Westboro Baptist Church — showed up with their signs, their hatred," Snyder said.

According to Snyder's attorney Sean Summers, the demonstrators bore their infamous "God Hates Fags" signs, as well as a lesser used "Semper Fi Fags" sign, particularly offensive to the dead Marine's family.

Though (Phelps's daughter and family attorney Shirley) Phelps-Roper maintains that the protesters "were hundreds — hundreds — of yards from where the funeral was," Snyder was forced to travel past them to enter. "To be honest with you, I tried not to focus on (the protest), and more on my son," he said.

But according to the lawsuit, the church's presence was emotionally damaging to the already grieving father. Postings by Phelps-Roper on the church's Web site following the protest that claimed Snyder "taught Matthew to defy his Creator, to divorce, and to commit adultery," and "raised him for the devil," further added to the father's pain. 

Wouldn't Jesus be proud of how this particular group of His Little Sunbeams are behaving?

Here's what happened when they were confronted by a real man of the cloth:

At Arlington, Pastor David Foote of Franklin, Penn., saw the protest and attempted to engage the demonstrators. He told them that "God loves everyone," prompting church members to descend upon him in a hail of insults.

"A lying, false prophet — that's what this is," Phelps-Roper told CBSNews.com, and dismissed him as a "dumb-ass" and a liar.

Foote was in Arlington to pay his respects to Army Spc. Jonathan Kephart, killed near Baghdad on April 9, 2004. Seeing the contempt demonstrated by the church for both the dead and the living was troubling to the Baptist preacher.

"Christians don't talk the way they talked to me," he said. "We show respect to each other."

I'm going to take you at your word on that one, Pastor.  Having seen the respect shown to others by Good Christians like Tom DeLay, Ralph Reed, and Jerry "Punkinhead" Falwell, I'm a little skeptical of that statement.  But I do believe that we can agree that Phelps and his Phlock are not exactly paragons of Christ's love.

In addition to general damages, the lawsuit is seeking punitive damages against the church to act as a deterrent against future protests,

Phelps-Roper feels this is a misuse of the judicial system. "Their stated purpose is to tie this little group — the servants of the living God — up in litigation," she said, "not caring what the merits are … or if they could possibly prevail." 

That's precisely what this is, you hateful bizzatch.  A tiger-trap for your band of bleating psychopaths.

And if that's not enough to muzzle you, maybe the new laws enacted in Indiana (with twelve other states pending) to make what you do a felony will.

A U.S. Army soldier was buried Monday, surrounded by hundreds of friends, family and a heavy police presence. Sgt. Rickey Jones, age 21, was killed Feb. 22, 2006, while on patrol in Iraq. The Kokomo native is the first serviceman to be buried in Indiana since the governor signed legislation that restricts protests at funerals.

A church group that has protested at military services across the country failed to show. The Westboro Baptist Church had publicized on its Web site plans to picket the funeral.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels cited the planned protest as one of the reasons he quickly signed a bill into law that makes disorderly conduct within 500 feet of a funeral a felony.

(snip)

Disorderly conduct at funerals, burials, funeral processions or viewings in Indiana is now punishable by six months to three years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

At least a dozen other states are considering similar measures.

The Westboro group did not show up for a funeral this weekend in Missouri, either. That state also has a ban on picketing and protests at funerals.

Sounds to me like you guys are having a hard time, Mrs. Phelps-Roper, et al.  Pretty soon, you may have to shut down, or at least confine your particular brand of toxic hooey to your own churches and homes.  Awwwww.  That's a shame.  Cry.  Me.  A.  River.

Really, though, if this does mark the end of the road for the folks at Westboro Baptist, I'll sort of miss them.  In the final analysis, I think they are really the worst enemies of their own cause.  Their hysteria, their gall, their frothing bigotry and casual, pie-eyed atrocity have ultimately driven more people around to our side of the argument than the entire run of "Will and Grace".

Reverend Phelps?  By the way, your son Nate called.  He said you're a violent, abusive sociopath, and seeing you on TV gives him flashbacks. 

Oh!  And 5,000 angry bikers called right after that.  They told you to go fuck yourself, too.

Wearing vests covered in military patches, a band of motorcyclists rolls around the country from one soldier's funeral to another, cheering respectfully to overshadow jeers from church protesters.

They call themselves the Patriot Guard Riders, and they are more than 5,000 strong, forming to counter anti-gay protests held by the Rev. Fred Phelps at military funerals. 

Now that makes me proud to be an American.

Yay!  Life sucks for Westboro Baptist!  YAAAAAAAY!!  Schadenfreude for everyone!  It's delicious!  Hooray!