Obama, Pelosi et al. have ceded control of the agenda to the liberal base, which is exactly why we've seen a full withdrawal in Iraq and Afghanistan, single-payer healthcare reform and tough, comprehensive climate legislation.

Oh wait...

Please. The "loons" are no more in control than they've ever been. Obama is a Clinton-esque centrist it seems (unless you listen to Rush of course), and we're heading down much the same path we were when Bush was in office.

See, the reason folks like you in the blogosphere are written off as inconsequential in terms of mainstream political discourse is that, well, your viewpoints are extreme and inherently inconsequential in view of how American politics really funcitons.

I'd just like to note here that I'd take the loony left's agenda over that of the tea partiers any day - but we'll never see either become law.

I'd also be reticent about lumping myself in with Joe the Plumber, JBS and the Birthers - but hey, if spinning some fallacies about the state of both liberalism and conservatism makes you feel relevant, be my guest.

Ah yes, the typical canard that "America is conservative" and "Bush was a RINO, that's why he lost support".

I'd have to ask you whether you really believe that those 40% of Americans who poll as self-identified "conservatives" are really thinking along the lines of some of the tea party movement's main undercurrents - i.e. that Obama is a Communist usurper, that Muslims everywhere are the scum of the earth, that Global Warming is a hoax perpetrated by leftists and climate scientists to secure grant money and cripple America, etc.

I'd ask the question because as much as you, readerx2 and some other conservatives might like to think this tea party thing is about down-home American conservatism, it's increasingly obvious that a hefty portion of these folks are ensconsed in a worldview that will never be palatable to the majority of Americans.

I for one would welcome it if there were a movement of real conservatives ready for legitimate political debate, but that's just not what we're looking at here. The tea partiers on the right equate to tree-sitting Berkeley grads on the left in their appeal to the public at large. And like it or not, they absolutely ARE the face of the "conservative" base right now.

And how about you? Do you think Obama is a Kenyan socialist bent on destroying America and all we hold dear? Do you think we ought to profile Muslims and bomb Iran now? Is it indeed your opinion that Global Warming is a leftist ploy for more taxation? If so, then I guess you fit right in.

If not, I'd suggest you spend a few ticks in the blogosphere and find out what the Palinites really are all about.

Personally, I'm a little bit giddy over what's happening on the American right at the moment.

Not only is the schism between the Palin/Limbaugh wing and the old guard GOP raising the very real possibility of disorganization and infighting during the 2010 primaries, but we're going to see very soon just how appealing the agenda and worldview of "the base" are to your average American.

Liberals and progressives already know the score. Something tells me that the "Obama is a Communist Fascist pig", "Israel can do no wrong", "Radovan Karadzic was right and all Muslims are scum" elements that permeate the tea party movement aren't going to win over too many moderates.

If the Palinites and the GOP at large want to expose the coments section at Free Republic to the polital light of day and show the mainstream just what the "movement" has become, I say bring it on.

These McCarthyite wannabes think they represent the core of America. We'll see.

How strange - Republicans relying on the worst of the base to carry out a massive disinformation campaign targeted mainly at old folks in lieu of persuing constructive legislative changes.

Who would've thought that a party with no new ideas and no apparent desire to tackle the nation's problems would resort to fear and lowest-common-denominator gutter politics? Personally, I'm shocked.

Of course Obama wants to legislate early euthanasia for the elderly, just like he wants to vastly expand the number of government-funded abortions. He also wants faceless beaurocrats to decide what, if any, healthcare we commoners receive. What would one expect from a socialist Alinskyite who is a consummate liar and a usurper of the Office of the Presidency? The guy's not even a citizen, and he certainly doesn't have the interests of any white American at heart.

That Free Republic, the Rush Limbaugh show and Orly Taitz are the authoritative sources of the GOP's platform right now ought to relegate the party to permanent minortiy status in the legislature. Naturally, the opposite is happening.

Fear and stupidity remain every Republican's best friend.

Overthrowing a democratically-elected leader for some oil access and installing and backing a repressive, illegitimate regime?

35 years of angst.

Watching American conservatives cheer on liberal Iranian students who also happen to be Muslim?

Priceless.

One Freeper referred to the protestors as "Patriots". Irony, thy name is conservative.

Spot-on Glenn.

I found myself sputtering with rage on the way home yesterday as this story came over NPR. The stupidity of this national debate - and the embrace of said stupidity by the Democrats in Congress - has been ludicrous.

Of course, leave it to we touchy-feely terrorist sympathizers on the Left to forget how frequent prison breaks are at US max. securit facilities. And the insinuation that Gitmo detainees would be plenty secure at prisons on military bases is clearly the misguided fantasy of delusional liberal bent on appeasing Those Who Would Destroy Us.

Why can't an Obama official shout this idiocy down on national TV?

Bueller?