Getting the devil out of politics and onto license plates

Whenever the number 666 appears somewhere intentionally, one must wonder what the messenger wants to say. There is always the possibility that there are 665 cars out there with licenses BIG001 through BIG665, but I have to think this personalized plate was chosen on purpose.

Whether you think this 666, number of the beast, refers to the Emperor Nero, Ronald Wilson Reagan, the Pope or any other fantastic numerically conjured figment of your imagination, this license plate has something for everybody.

It certainly goes well with the current propensity for politicians to call their opponents the devil. Hugo Chavez famously called George Bush the Devil during his UN speech.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took his verbal battle with the United States to the floor of the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, calling
President Bush "the devil." "The devil came here yesterday," Chavez said. "He came here talking as if he were the owner of the world."

Not to be outdone, Jerry Fallwell yesterday said that the only thing that would galvanize evangelicals more than Hillary Clinton running for president would be if Lucifer did so.

The Rev. Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority, looked ahead to 2008 and the possibility that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton might be the Democratic presidential candidate. Ms. Clinton's nomination, Mr. Falwell said to laughs, would arouse even more evangelical opposition than Lucifer's.

I think in this day and age we need less diabolical, apocalyptic rhetoric rather than more. I guess I can try to be ready if need be.

tags: devil, Lucifer, license plate, Apocalypse Team, Hugo Chavez, George Bush, Jerry Falwell, Hillary Clinton