Crack'd

Yesterday I speculated, and Mike concurred, that it seems likely that GOP bigwigs know that they are going to lose this election, and are probably just going through the motions this last few weeks. But things are getting really weird.

Frankly, I'm worried. I remember all too well how happy I was when Clinton won in '92, how foaming-at-the-mouth the wingnuts were at the time, and how I, in my naivete, thought that this was a good thing because, after all, the more they showed themselves, the more normal Americans would surely reject them, right? Uh, no.

Hoo boy, wingnuts sure do hate to lose, don't they? So here we are, facing a pretty solid Democratic sweep in November and the nut base of the GOP, including the two Head Nuts at the top of the ticket, appear to be in full-bore meltdown mode.

Hilzoy noticed it:

This is the kind of thing that really makes me fear for Obama. They are already screaming "terrorist" at Palin's rallies and shouting "kill him." The whole "Obama is a muslim" thing is bizarre, but with his name and childhood spent partly in a Muslim country --- and the fact that he's black, which makes everyone flash on Louis Farrakhan --- the collective right wing lizard brain twitches uncontrollably. They will use this, I have no doubt. There is an entire wingnut industry devoted to stirring up tensions in the middle east and another on devoted to character assassination of Democrats. Obama brings them together in serendipitous loathing and paranoia. It's going to be ugly.

Maha noticed that Hilzoy noticed:

Hilzoy says that the gang at The Corner "seems to have gone well and truly insane." I don't know where she gets the "seems."

It's gotten so bad that even the normally clueless are beginning to take heed:

Oct
8 Shorter Kathleen Parker

Put the Gloves Back On

Has anyone else ever noticed that Republican politicians speak in a sort of code whose subtext communicates certain tribal messages about race, religion and regionalism, which – if taken to their logical extreme – could poison political discourse or even inspire politically motivated acts of violence? Who knew?

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Brad adds: This is remarkable. I can’t remember seeing anyone inside Wingnut Nation ever give up the game like this:

The McCain campaign knows that Obama isn’t a Muslim or a terrorist, but they’re willing to help a certain kind of voter think he is. Just the way certain South Carolinians in 2000 were allowed to think that McCain’s adopted daughter from Bangladesh was his illegitimate black child.

Could Kathleen Parker be having her Terri Schiavo moment? Hey John, do you think you could help us with the deprogramming?

'Course, down here in Texas, we are no strangers to redneck lunacy:

Example One.

Example Two.

And, as this example clearly shows, this trend is nothing new.

So, in sum, McCain and Palin are out on the campaign trail, whipping up the nutter base of their party for no clear discernable reason whatsoever. Maybe just because they can? Maybe becaue this is how they get their sick jollies? What? Is it any wonder that our country is in the sad shape that it's in with these idiots having been in charge for the last 8 years?