Next Up for Westboro: Picketing Liz Taylor's Funeral?

The Westboro Baptist Church has reacted predictably to Elizabeth Taylor's passing. The Kansas-based extremist church has sent out a series of hate-filled tweets denouncing the star, and says it will picket her funeral, reports PopEater. Sample tweet: "Anyone trying to pretend No RIP Elizabeth Taylor is anywhere but in torment in hell #stoprightthere - get over your lying mean self & OBEY." The Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that the anti-gay church's funeral protests are protected under the First Amendment. Westboro's hatred of Taylor presumably stems from her tireless advocacy for AIDS research, for which she was widely praised yesterday.
GO AWAY!

Westboro to Obama, Justices: You're Going to Hell (Too)!

Westboro Baptist Church may have scored a key First Amendment victory this week, but they're not about to send out thank-you notes, reports Politico. In an appearance this morning on Fox News Sunday attorney and Fred Phelps daughter Margie Phelps said that the Supreme Court justices are hell-bound. “I have no objective indicator otherwise," she said. As for President Obama, he's "going to be king of the world before this is all said and done, and he is most likely the beast spoken of in the Revelation.”

ISSUES: Gloating Westboro Vows to Quadruple Protests!

The Westboro Baptist Church reacted to its Supreme Court victory yesterday with its usual amount of tact and good grace. Gloating leaders of the Kansas-based extremist church vowed to quadruple the number of protests at military funerals now that the court has ruled such demonstrations are protected under the First Amendment, ABC News reports. Samuel Alito, the sole dissenting justice, "simply didn't follow his oath—he'll have to take that up with God," a church spokeswoman said. "I very much appreciate the fact that I get to be the mouth of God in this matter," she crowed.

Members believe military deaths are God's retribution for America's tolerance of homosexuality. Albert Snyder, who sued the church after they picketed the funeral of his son, a Marine, slammed the decision. "This court has no problem with the government sending our children over to these wars, sending them back in a body bag, and not even having enough respect for that dead soldier to be buried peacefully," he told reporters.

NEWS FLASH: Supreme Court Rules 8-1 for Westboro Baptist Church in Soldiers Funerals Case!

SCOTUS has ruled for Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church: "The Supreme Court has ruled that the First Amendment protects fundamentalist church members who mount attention-getting, anti-gay protests outside military funerals. The court voted 8-1 Wednesday in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan. The decision upheld an appeals court ruling that threw out a $5 million judgment to the father of a dead Marine who sued church members after they picketed his son's funeral."

ISSUES: Anonymous Hackers Take Down Westboro!

The Westboro Baptist Church told Anonymous to "bring it" and the hackers—apparently somewhat reluctantly—have duly brought it. The hackers, who said an earlier threat to hack the Kansas church was a hoax, hacked Westboro's website and posted an open letter to the church while an Anonymous member was engaged in a live radio debate with church spokeswoman Shirley Phelps-Roper, CBS reports. Said the Anonymous member on the air, "In the time Shirley was blabbing her religious preach I actually did some business ... We just put up a nice release. We had enough. We responded maturely."

"If you're reading this, it means Anonymous has lost its patience with you, likely because you've threatened us again after we denied you a war," the letter posted on a Westboro website read, explaining that Anonymous is too busy with operations in Libya, Bahrain, and Iran to waste much time on Westboro. "Take this defacement as a simple warning: go away. The world (including Anonymous) disagrees with your hateful messages but you have the right to voice them. This does not mean you can jump onto Anonymous for attention."