Ladies and gentlemen...this is your Republican Party.

Oh how times change! I seem to remember a time when any who criticized then President Bush, should be charged with treason and locked in gulags!

Dear Leader.....

The always entertaining former Sen. Rick "Man-Dog love" Santorum.

Tom Delay espousing as only he can.

And because Rush is just a font of douchey commentary and hypocrisy, this statement is just too rich.

From Steve Benen at Washington Monthly:

[Got it. Limbaugh has always believed that it "doesn't matter" if Obama is black. It's never made any difference if Obama is "authentically black." Racism "doesn't exist" among conservatives and was "exclusively" in the realm of Democratic politics.

Perhaps Limbaugh's memory is failing him. I'm happy to help refresh his memory.

February 2007:

On Feb. 13, Rush Limbaugh derided Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) -- who is biracial -- for saying, "If you look African-American in this society, you're treated as an African-American." Limbaugh claimed that this statement meant Obama didn't want to be black and should "renounce it": "If it's not something you want to be, if you didn't decide it, renounce it, become white!"

March 2007:

Limbaugh continued to refer to Obama as the "Magic Negro" throughout the broadcast -- 27 times, to be exact -- and at one point sang "Barack, the Magic Negro" to the tune of "Puff, the Magic Dragon." ...]

Got it.

These are the new arbiters of the Republican party. Devoid of ideas, all they have is vitriol (that they accused others of having during the Bush era) and anger. This is what passes as critical thought.

Forget the problems we have, just roll out old and staid ideas (John Cole with the smack down)!

I wish the GOP a very nice and long trek in the wilderness...I hope they brought a picnic lunch.

The extreme smallness of these people is truly shocking. In a time when we need big ideas and innovative thought, this is what we get? This is who is at the negotiating table? These people are deeply unserious about the the state we find ourselves in. Where are the William F. Buckleys? Hell I wish more Republicans would listen to Ross Douthat, Andrew Sullivan, or Daniel Larison.

These are not people who I always agree with or even mostly agree with. But they put forth reasoned policy prescriptions and articulate actual big "C" conservative principles. Not the lowbrow bullshit that Malkin, Hannity, and Limbaugh trade in.

I am not a conservative by any stretch of the imagination, but I definitely understand and welcome the inclusion of counter philosophies. If for no other reason then they temper and fortify my own, not every idea one has is a good one, sometimes adherence to orthodoxy is more damaging because of how it cripples the scope of vision. Slavish devotion to any ideology is far to fraught with pitfalls.

So instead of a vibrant conservative movement, we have this crap, and I couldn't be more sad for country.

-Cheers