Church says it will picket Richardson's funeral

THOSE CHARMERS from Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., better known as those people parading around with "God Hates Fags" signs, are at it again: The group says it will picket the funeral of Natasha Richardson, the Tony-winning actress and wife of Liam Neeson who died after a skiing accident Wednesday at the age of 45.

With the same verve, bizarre capitalization and disconnect with reality typical of its news releases, WBC announced:

"God appointed the Bunny Slope to Ensnare the Simple Sluts of Doomed America! Thank God for the Bunny Slope of Cursed Quebec, Canada!"

Westboro Baptist Church, with a congregation of about 70 members, seems to do little but try to get its message into the news via picketing random media-heavy events. It tends to get the most outraged news coverage for turning up at funerals for American soldiers killed in action. It started doing that in 2005. It also recently picketed the 2008 inauguration, the pope's visit to America last April and the National Holocaust Museum.

Besides Richardson, who the church says has been targeted because of her donations to AIDS research, her marriage to Liam Neeson, (it's not his first) and her involvement in theater, which the church sees as a haven for homosexuality (SatTatt could not even make this up), Westboro Baptist Church has also said it would demonstrate outside the funerals of the following disparate people:

Matthew Shepard, Heath Ledger, Jerry Falwell, the 50 people who died in the recent Buffalo plane crash, Coretta Scott King, Fred "Mr." Rogers, Bernie Mac, Tony Snow, Obama's grandmother Madelyn Payne Dunham, four Boy Scouts killed in a sudden storm in Iowa, dozens of soldiers who died in Iraq or Afghanistan, and Gordon B. Hinckley, former president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints;

Incidentally, the Westboro Baptist Church caught fire last Aug. 2. The cause was believed to be arson, but the culprit has yet to be apprehended.

Inanity now!

Dame Judi Dench has pulled out of her new play "Madame de Sade" in London's West End after spraining her ankle while leaving through the theater's stage door. The 74-year-old actress refused an ambulance, but has been ordered to stay off the ankle for the time being . . . Rapper M.I.A. will be filling in at Coachella for Amy Winehouse, whose legal problems have prevented her from leaving Britain. It will be the first public appearance for M.I.A. since the birth of her son, who M.I.A. would like to make clear is NOT named Ickitt . . . Britney Spears yesterday got her restraining order against paparazzi ex-boyfriend Adnan Ghalib . . . Singer Mariah Carey is moving from New York to Beverly Hills, and rumor has it she is in talks to buy a super-expensive mansion. The asking price is $125 million for Fleur de Lys, with 15 bedrooms, a 50-seat theater, a private jogging track and staff quarters for 10. *

Daily News wire services contributed to this report.