Ha! We are working on a couple of new slide shows, which has been taking up a lot of time. And will be getting on the water on the Black Warrior River Friday, in spite of the cold front.

But we just couldn't resist a quick note this story. One of the chief religious right advisers to President George W. Bush and Karl Rove is now going down in another sex scandal.

The leader of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals, a vocal opponent of the drive for same-sex marriage, resigned Thursday after being accused of paying for sex with a man in monthly trysts over the past three years, according to the Associated Press and other news organizations.

Evangelical Leader Hit With Sex Claims

The Rev. Ted Haggard also stepped aside as head of his 14,000-member New Life Church while a church panel investigates, saying he could "not continue to minister under the cloud created by the accusations."

The investigation came after a 49-year-old man told a Denver radio station that Haggard paid him to have sex on multiple occassions, sometimes high on crystal meth. The new drug of choice for the deranged Christian Right?

Oh, and then there's this:

Rep. Paying Ex-Mistress About $500K

A Republican congressman accused of abusing his ex-mistress agreed to pay her about $500,000 in a settlement last year that contained a powerful incentive for her to keep quiet until after Election Day, a person familiar with the terms of the deal told The Associated Press.

Rep. Don Sherwood is locked in a tight re-election race against a Democratic opponent who has seized on the four-term congressman's relationship with the woman. While Sherwood acknowledged the woman was his mistress, he denied abusing her and said that he had settled her $5.5 million lawsuit on confidential terms.

The settlement, reached in November 2005, called for Cynthia Ore to be paid in installments, according to a person who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal is confidential. She has received less than half the money so far, and will not get the rest until after the Nov. 7 election, the person said Thursday.

So much for Sen. John Kerry's slip of the tongue on Bush and/or the troops...