Has the GOP now officially jumped the shark? [has referring to something as having jumped a shark jumped the shark?] Let's switch metaphors: has the GOP now officially driven itself into the mire of an ideological ditch? Certainly the primary has decidedly turned things in the direction of the ditch, as at various times the three stooges Cain, Gingrich and Santorum took turns behind the wheel and displayed a real affinity for reckless driving - but still the car hadn't quite slipped over the edge yet - and then along comes Limbaugh and his slut and bamm! Tipped over like a turtle in a trough full of muck.
And the bad thing isn't so much that for millions of independent voters [the only electoral demographic that matters] of which at least half of whom are female the idiocy of Limbaugh is now the voice of conservative opinion on what it means to be a young woman today in America looking to prevent an unwanted pregnancy [they're all whores, obviously - c'mon] - that's bad, but what's worse is how conservatives are either defending Limbaugh, desperately trying to rationalise what he said with specious excuses [he's just an entertainer, it's satire, this is really about religious freedom] or simply running from the issue out of fear of the base [Romney's 'no comment']. Watching various shows yesterday it's shocking how many conservatives think this an argument they can actually win - delusional doesn't even begin to capture the near psychotic like detachment from reality that thinking displays - even if you can somehow concoct the perfect defense that magically frames this all in a seemingly reasonable way, YOU STILL LOSE THE ARGUMENT! The demographic you need to win over in November has absolutely no desire or stomach for a culture war on anything, never mind something like contraception, and especially if expressed in terms as moronic and offensive as those employed by Limbaugh. It's as if the GOP is engaged in a real world demonstration of a polisci course on how to lose an election you were virtually guaranteed to win.
Looks very much like a car in a ditch to me - with some fat guy jumping a shark in the background.
[update: Limbaugh apologizes. That surprises me. Could be sincere. Could be he realizes that in order to have a chance of pivoting the debate to freedom of religion and liberal overreach he had no choice but to apologize. Could be conservative power brokers said to him behind closed doors what they're too scared to say in the open, namely you're an idiot, you're killing us, fix this. Don't know how it changes things - still see a car in a ditch - possibly the ditch is a little less muddy - doubt it]
