Fred Phelps is scum, and being barking mad is no excuse. The asshole who picketed Matthew Shepard's funeral now exults in the deaths of US service personnel in Iraq, claiming that it is God's revenge on the US for an attack on Phelps' church and for, I dunno, having not yet rounded up and shot all the icky gays:

Thank God for IEDs killing American soldiers in strange lands every day.
WBC rejoices every time the Lord God in His vengeance kills or maims an American soldier with an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). "The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked" (Ps. 58:10).
This nation bombed and raided the Westboro Baptist Church, and now the Holy God that Inhabits Eternity is repaying those heinous acts with His retaliatory wrath; "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Rom. 12:19).
To most effectively cause America to know her abominations ² (Ez. 16:2), WBC will picket the funerals of these Godless, fag army American soldiers when their pieces return home. WBC will also picket their landing spot, in Dover, Delaware early and often.

These miserable excuses for human beings picketed the funerals of Sgts Bryan Opskar and Christopher Taylor, and plan to picket (inter, no doubt, alia) the funeral of Sgt Jason T Palmerton.

There is an up side, though, the brainchild of one Keith Orr, proprietor of the Aut Bar in Ann Arbor, MI. Phelps picketed the bar in February 2001 as part of a protest against the University of Michigan’s annual "queer visibility week" on campus. In response, Orr sent a note to his customer mailing list, asking them to join him in pledging a certain amount of money per minute that Phelps spent at the picket. With only 48 hours' lead time, Orr wound up with pledges totalling more than $100/minute and made $6000 (which was donated to WRAP). The idea, christened Every Minute Counts, has been implemented in Bloomington IN, Plattsburgh NY, Lowell MA, Nashville TN, Seattle WA (use bugmenot) and Madison WI, to name just the first few turned up on Google.

It's also in use against the military funeral picket in Opelika:

If you wish to make a pledge, you can contact Melissa Yoannon at (706)366-0945. To e-mail your information, send it to sgt.taylorfund@hotmail.com.

If you wish to make a flat donation, you can do so by stopping by or sending it to any Charter Bank location. In Opelika, you can call (334)742-0266. The mailing address is:

Charter Bank
114 S. 7th Street
Opelika, AL 36801

Make your donation to the Sgt. Christopher Taylor Fund. There are two accounts, so you need to specify the one for which you wish to donate. One is set up for "wife and kids," and the other is just "kids."

Hat-tip: Julia.

Update Aug08: an anonymous commenter at Objective Justice offers another good idea:

People who want to counteract the Phelps' sickness can also get some big, cardboard wings and step in front of them, like the "Angels" did at Matthew's funeral.

That way the family doesn't have to look at their disgusting, hateful signs.

If that phucker Phelps shows up in Portland, I may just do something like that. Big ol' signs saying "God hates shrimp" maybe.

^1,2see Leviticus 11:9-12 and Deuteronomy 14:9-10