Oh. My. Freaking. God.

Update: Thankfully, it appears that this is a hoax. Color me relieved.

Handbasket. Hell. Us going to.

John Hostettler, the Congressman representing the 8th district of Indiana, has been convinced by local religious groups to introduce legislation in the House that would change the name of an Interstate 69 extension to a more moral sounding number.

There are plans to extend the interstate from Indianapolis through southwestern Indiana all the way through Texas into Mexico in the coming years. While most believe this highway will be good for the state’s economy, religious conservatives believe “I-69” sounds too risqué and want to change the interstate’s number.

Hostettler, a proponent of the interstate extension, agrees. “Every time I have been out in the public with an ‘I-69’ button on my lapel, teenagers point and snicker at it. I have had many ask me if they can have my button. I believe it is time to change the name of the highway. It is the moral thing to do.”

As a matter of fact, naming the highway’s extension I-69 is a violation of the Interstate Highway System’s rules for numbering roads. Interstates numbers are to increase from west to east. If the extension through southern Indiana is named I-69, then 69 will be west of I-65, a direct violation.“Naming the road I-63 not only follows numbering guidelines, it doesn’t have the sexual undertones that I-69 has,” says Hostettler, “It is a win-win situation.”

Seriously, people. Seriously. This is what we've come to. OK, I know it's not a crisis on par with the crapfest going on in DC or the killing spree in Fallujah. But this kind of wingnut, knee-jerk, quote-unquote moralistic bullshit really gets under my skin. And who's the prurient one here? Not the snickering teenagers - they're just being teenagers, for chrissakes. No, the prurient ones are the fools who take the snickering seriously and try to change the name of the goddamn highway. What the hell is wrong with these people? (Thanks to Pandagon for the link.)