Monday afternoon silliness

First and foremost is the apparent rift in the Republican party between the adults and Rush Limbaugh and Limbaugh's idiot followers. Seriously, how can you sugar coat that guy or the people who listen to him? Evidently, Michael Steele called Rush's show "ugly" and Limbaugh responded with more of his crap this afternoon. Grownup Republicans watching all of this do so with a shaking head, wondering where the GOP is headed if the guy most admired by the base says that Republicans can't beat the Democrats with ideas, and should just work for them to fail?

And speaking of that base, they are absolutely convinced that Obama is a socialist. According to the base at CPAC:

Minutes later, out in the halls, few would argue that Obama was anything less than the rebirth of Karl Marx. "He is a fascist, socialist, and a Marxist," said Pat, a female attendee from Philadelphia. "He is well beyond European style socialism. I'm not going to sugar coat it.

Only if you know nothing about socialism, of course. But this should not surprise us, I think. After lecturing today on the first Red Scare, I was reminded of how easy it has been for conservatives to go to the fear card, and to use that to accuse the rest of us of being subversive or unAmerican.

It strikes me, however, that the "red scare" card might not work as well today. When we trade with the biggest communist country, and in fact borrow money from them to keep our own economy afloat, how do you raise the specter of Communism? When Olympic athletes from both China and America wear Nike equipment, how do you return to the days of McCarthy?

I am sure they will try, but I am just wondering how much that old trick will work.

And finally, this just makes me sigh:

"Retired barber Joe Godlewski says that when television chefs recommended kosher salt in recipes, he wondered, 'What the heck's the matter with Christian salt?'"

They are coming out with Christian salt. Sigh.