POLITICAL RABIES HITS THE GOP?

As we move through the Supreme Court confirmation process of Sonia Sotomayor I would have to say that the best overview of how unhinged the Conservative smear camp has become are the pieces put together by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. Here's a 12 minute clip from tonight's program that puts much of it in perspective. In a few words, like an animal with rabies, the party of Rush-Newt-Cheney attack with little or no thought for what they are doing.

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As Maddow points out, if Conservatives want to disqualify Sonia Sotomayor for her "empathetic" qualities, her "judges make law" comments (making her a "judicial activist"), or because her decisions might be influenced by her ethnicity or upbringing, Conservatives need to also disqualify Supreme Court Justices Alito, Scalia, and Thomas.

For me, however, the real proof that Conservatives have become unhinged and may be afflicted by what can only be called political rabies are comments that refer to Sonia Sotomayor as an "hispanic chick lady" (Glenn Beck) who is both "stupid" (Karl Rove) and "a racist" (Newt Gingrich). For his part, G. Gordon Liddy's threw in the comment that he hopes she's not "menstruating" when she's making big decisions. Rabies, indeed.

I'll be discussing all of this, and more, on Saturday's program.

- Mark