Last week a bi-partisan group of senators averted a showdown over the president’s judicial appointments with a compromise that allowed some of the nominees to move forward but retained the right of minority democrats to filibuster others.

The elimination of the filibuster was sought by the religious right.

Now the religious right is promising retribution for those republicans who voted for the agreement. Religion News Service reports:

WASHINGTON -- Richard Land, James Dobson and Paul Weyrich are angry -- angry at "activist" judges who they say are legislating from the bench, angry at Democrats who try to derail judicial nominations and angry at Republicans who are allowing the filibuster to survive.

But these leaders of the Christian right reserve a special anger for Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who helped broker a compromise on judicial nominees with seven Democrats and six other Republicans.

McCain can "forget about his presidential ambitions" in 2008, said Weyrich, co-founder of the now-defunct Moral Majority and president of the Washington-based Free Congress Foundation.

McCain, a longtime nemesis of religious conservatives, wasn't the only lawmaker threatened with retribution.

"Trust me," said Land, president of the Southern Baptists' Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. "Conservatives know who to blame, and they will have an opportunity to express their feelings in the primaries of 2008."

Where does Land, representing a religious denomination, get off involving his church in partisan primary campaigns?

There is nothing wrong with religious people becoming involved in partisan politics - we do it all the time - but it can not be done through our churches.

It is simply against the law if Land and the others are using non-profit church groups to influence partisan elections.

Any chance the Bush Administration will enforce the law?  Hardly.

Related Post: Deal Kills "Nuclear Option" Supported By Religious Right; Allows More Bush Nominees To Move Forward