сумасшедший

[In my Russian-speaking days, I loved that title word. So literal.]

Not that there was ever much doubt, but now it's official: what's left of the Republican Party is a lost cause. They've looked at the field of presidential contenders, and they like what they see. So the only question is whether there's enough people left in this country who have ability to think, to prevent the whole country from becoming a lost cause, too.

WASHINGTON (AP) — After grousing for months, Republicans are growing more satisfied with their choices for president and, so far, they like what they're hearing from the newest candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
An Associated Press-GfK poll released Friday found that two-thirds of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents are pleased with the party's presidential field, compared with just half in June. And they're paying more attention, with 52 percent expressing a "great deal" of interest in the GOP nomination fight — compared with 39 percent earlier this summer — after a period that saw Perry enter the race and Michele Bachmann win a test vote in Iowa, the lead-off caucus state, threatening Mitt Romney's standing at the top of the pack.

Stay-at-home mom Jennifer Bevington of Toledo, Ohio, is among those Republicans who like what they see, saying: "Out of the top three — Michele Bachmann, Perry and Romney — of who's running, they should be able to come up with a good candidate."

Mary Parish of Troy, Tenn., had doubted for months that any of the candidates in the field were strong enough to run the country or topple Obama. Now, the retired convenience store manager says: "I like Rick Perry. I think he's a Christian, a good Christian person. I like what he stands for, and I think he's strong enough to beat Obama."

And there you have it. Really, I no longer have the heart to spend the time it would take fully to express my thoughts. Guy's a Christian? Nuff said, Good to go. Romney? Who stands for nothing and is the most blatant panderer ever to run for national office, who changes positions as if he's performing kata? Really? (Just today he announced he'd not cap carbon emissions if elected, completing his run, in abject fear, from prior sanity, toward the teabaggers, crying tell me what to say. I'll say it.)

What do you suppose ol' Mary thinks Perry stands for? The death penalty? Covering up evidence he allowed the killing of an innocent? Betting on dead teachers, after laying them off en masse? Payoffs for appointments? Is praying for rain, hating gays, and denying all science good enough for her? Or is running up huge deficits okay if Republicans do it? (Dumb question: of course it is.)

Huntsman excepted -- and, clearly, he hasn't a chance in aw heck -- there's none in the field that gives the slightest nod to knowledge, science, or education. Proudly -- and just like the teabaggers whose packages they've swallowed -- they wave their lack of caring about facts like the flag whose government and future they'd destroy. The more they lie, the more their followers love them. The less connected to reality, the better it is for them in today's Republican Party.

So I guess we'll find out soon enough if the US has finally gone irretrievably to the dark side: the side that figures a little hate here, a little ignorance there, and a lot of praying is all we need to get by. Because the alternatives are just to damn thinky.