(2004-11-15) -- President George Bush today added to his "record of fundamentalist bigotry" by replacing his departing secretary of state, who is black, with National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, the daughter of a minister who has admitted to praying to God up to 10 times per day, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

"It's another step back toward the stone age," said an unnamed ACLU spokesman. "This is a perfect illustration of how hard it is for black men to keep good jobs in this country because of the policies of this administration. It's clear that Bush dumped Secretary Powell because he's black, and will replace him with Condi Rice, because she shares the president's extreme religious views."

The ACLU has filed suit to block the appointment of Miss Rice on the grounds that having an openly-Christian person heading that department would violate the separation of church and state.