In another odd twist to the already strained argument about the separation of church and state Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the nation’s first openly gay Episcopal bishop, has officially endorsed presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

So far no outrage from the Church/State separation nuts. There will be no media outrage so don’t bother looking for it. No IRS investigation. No punditry circus. Just a little more unheralded hypocrisy galloping through politics.

Obama’s campaign isn’t being shy about the endorsement either. They put out a news release announcing Robinson’s support. It identified Robinson as “a civil rights leader and a leading voice in the faith community.” A leading voice in the faith community? Yeah, like the Captain of the Titanic was a leader in the boating community.

Anyway, just a few weeks ago, Obama lectured us religious types on the importance of the separation of church and state.

For my friends on the right, I think it would be helpful to remember the critical role that the separation of church and state has played in preserving not only our democracy but also our religious practice.

So he thinks it’s important for his friends on the right to remember but not so much him or his friends on the left.

Hey, remember when Jerry Falwell wrote an email to his supporters endorsing Bush. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, complained to the IRS and charged that Falwell appeared to have blatantly violated federal law barring tax-exempt groups from partisan politicking.

The same group urged the IRS to investigate the Archdiocese of Santa Fe for violating federal tax law by intervening in the New Mexico governor’s race simply for distributing a flyer indicating which candidate was pro-life.

Well I checked their website for some outrageous verbiage on this issue but nothing yet. Should I keep checking?