I have never been able to make it all the way through one of Mr. "Walken's" columns. So many of his premises stem from what seems to me incorrect information, prejudice (not against blacks or whatever; I'm talking ideological prejudice here), mistaken assertions, and a--I'm trying to think of a way to put this politely--somewhat unusual interpretation of events, that I simply give up. Mr. Walken, to me, just continues to prove that Republicans specifically, and conservatives in general, are, quite frankly, living a different reality.

Let's just take a couple of examples here.

Mr. Walken posits that "America remains a center-right country." There is, quite literally, no data to sustain this view. While yes, Ms. Prejean had many people who "rose to [her] defense," there were also a heck of a lot who castigated her for narrow-mindedness. In polls, marriage equality for gays has achieved parity, with some polls even showing a plurality in favor. A majority of Americans favor government intervention in the healthcare mess. Gun control laws. Tighter regulation of the banking industry. More young people are registering Democratic. The number of voters who claim Republican registration is at an historic low. The Hispanics are moving to the left. I'm sorry, Mr. Walken; the center-right country of the Reagan years is, quite simply, gone.

Mr. Walken also furthers the typical Republican talking point about the press, which engaged in "distortions of Bush's presidential record put forward by the Democrats and promulgated by the media." I call B.S., Mr. Walken. The media bent over backwards to be "fair and balanced" to Mr. Bush, to the extent of offering an "opposing view" of every Democratic proposal, no matter how nutty the "opposing view" happened to be. For years, polls have shown that the media is spectacularly out of sync with the American people on how they view the nonsense in Washington, and frankly, sir, it's a right-wing slant. The media slavered all over the salacious Clinton impeachment spectacle, and yet America kept giving him high approval ratings. On the flip side, when Bush's approval ratings were spectacularly low, the media continued to treat him with kid-gloves and deference. So much so that it took a comedian at the White House correspondent's dinner to poke a hole in their insularity. And even then it took a couple more years for the lesson to sink in.

And this is without even mentioning the high profile men like Bill Kristol and Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan have on the TV. Or the fact that Fred Hiatt is the executive editor of the Washington Post. Or that Judy Miller was the main Iraq reporter for the New York Times. Or that Rupert Murdock owns the Wall Street Journal. The right's continual complaints about press bias are, at this stage, simply laughable. Or would be if there wasn't such a tragic disconnect between The Peepul and the reporters who supposedly report for them.

(In passing, let me add that I find it very telling that Mr. Walken doesn't say word one about Iraq or Afghanistan or the "war on terror." Instead, in 2008, "the country was tired after eight years of Bush." To say that I find this reason for the G.O.P.s electoral thumping in 2008 reductionist is a massive understatement.)

I'm not saying any of this to convince Mr. Walken that he's wrong (more's the pity). No; my point is, Mr. Walken and his fellow travelers really seem to believe this stuff, and until these comforting but ultimately dangerous illusions are vanquished, I don't see how the Republicans are going to woo moderates. Or anyone else, for that matter. The toxic combination of exclusionary social conservatism, false patriotism, and cuddling up to big business, has been experientially shown to be unsustainable. It's time for something new. And sadly, based on Mr. Walken's columns, it doesn't look like we're going to get it from the Right any time soon.

Yes, but will you be playing songs from your Husker Du collection?

Well, maybe this will create a minor kerfuffle that will allow us to get rid of Reid and put a Senator with a spine in his place. My vote would go to Feingold or Boxer, but I doubt either one of those would fly with the hidebound Senate caucus.

I'd love to see the video of that exchange, Alex, if you can post a pointer or embed it.

They keep up this way, and they're going to "naturally winnow" themselves down to a party of about 50 people, all of whom work either for National Review or Rupert Murdock.

Shep Smith should jump ship while there's still time.

Which would all be perfectly fine if they hadn't done so much to help enable Bush's cynical manipulation of free TV time during his administration.

As usual, the double-standard in the press between when Republicans hold the White House vs. Democrats, is telling.

I'm sorry; I simply couldn't resist.

But doctor, I keep having these strange dreams about an old black woman, playing a guitar on her porch in Nebraska . . .