Gary Kamiya wrote, "But if Obama succeeds, the only viable path for the GOP if it wants to continue to be a mainstream political force is to reject its extreme economic libertarianism and its extreme social conservatism, lose its harsh, messianic tone, and remake itself as a moderate party that supports effective government but is wary of excessive Democratic social engineering and is slightly more traditional on social issues"

This will never happen. The Republican Party has become, most of all, the party of hate. Hate is the common item that binds the GOP coalition together: Whether it is hatred of government (actually of effective government, since incompetent government appears to be acceptable) and hatred of "others" (which is very broadly defined).

This hate is the GOP's sole emotion. It showed through in the crowd reaction to John McCain's concession speech. It is evident in every broadcast/article from Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, through Sean Hannity and Bill O'Rielly. Sarah Palin's chief asset to the Republican base is that "she hates the same people we do". That is why her speeches about "Real America" cemented her position as the 2012 Presidential nominee for the Party.

This hate will only be in flamed as FoxNews, the Religious Right and the Rightwing bloggers nurse their hatreds and justify the hate among the Republican base. The 2012 Republican convention will make Pat Buchanan's "Culture Wars" speeches of 1992 appear tame.

And, while the Republicans may not win the Presidency in 2012, sooner or later a Democrat will encounter problems and that only alternative will be chosen. By then all the "moderates" of the Bush Administration will have been purged and only the truly hard core will be left to run the country. And yes, the next Republican president will make GWB appear moderate by comparison, just as GWB made Ronald Reagan appear moderate (and competent) by his governing.

It will be VERY ugly.

Not unless Sarah Palin somehow makes it into the White House in 2012.

I have faith (hope?) that Barak Obama, being a Constitutional lawyer, will show a certain respect for the seperation of powers that are defined in the US Constitution and that he will respect the Bill of Rights.

However I have no expectation that any respect shown by President Obama will in any way be due to Congress suddenly developing a vestigal spine that has been totally absent for the past eight years.

The authoer is joking, right?

The GOP will never, repeat NEVER rebuke George W. Bush. As President, GWB embodied everything that Republicans have aspired to in the past twenty years: Unbridled executive power, a feckless Congress, agressive wars and incompetent government.

Rather than repudiate that legacy, I predict that the GOP, championed by Sarah Palin, began the 2012 Presidential contest on November 5, with her as the front runner. FoxNews will give Ms Palin a nationwide audience of the party faithful, and the Religious Right will say weekly prayers for her success. The Palin for President campaign will use the same rhetoric, and even the same people, who propelled GWB into two terms as President. Power is everything to Conservatives and they will not give up on the formula that has worked pretty well since it was initiated by Richard Nixon. That formule being hatred of anyone who is "different from us" andpromises of unlimited government at no cost to the taxpayers.

And be careful, if Barak Obama makes even the slightest mistake, January 2013 could see the inaguration of President Palin.

Mr. O'Rourke is not smiling. He is sneering. There is a difference between being funny and being snide.

But, like Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh, Mr. O'Rourke will have a long, rich future. Because Republicans cannot tell the difference.

Ms Walsh has obviously missed the point of Sarah Palin's post-election actions. The purpose is not to change the mind of one single person in America. The purpose is to cement Sarah Palin as the savior of the GOP for the 2012 Presidential election. And the worse she does, the more the Religious Right will back her because "it's all the Liberal Media's fault".

For Sarah Palin this is not a "heading back to Alaska" round of interviews. It is a "Victory lap": Victory for the forces of God and the "Real America" (which is how it is playing to the Republican base).

What Joan Walsh thinks is totally irrevelant because she is not the intended audience. The 700 Club faithful, FoxNews loyalists, Rush Limbaugh listeners and Ann Coulter readers are the audience. Right now, to Sarah Palin, they are all that matters. And this tour will pay off with a presidential nod in 2012.

And be wary, with the money that is behind the GOP, and George W. Bush faded into oblivion, she just might get elected.

Is does not matter what Ms Couric actually asked. What matters is the mythology that Conservatives will construct around the interview. Just like the Bush Administration, Conservatives "construct their own reality". Facts have nothing to do with it.

Just as Conservatives are completely and morrally convinced that:

Barak Obama is a Muslim, born in Kenya whose faterh was Malcolm X.

Saddam Hussein was part of the September 11 attacks.

Bill Clinton built secret drug smuggling strips in Arkansas

Hillary Clinton personally shot Foster.

That is why Conservatives accept Creationism and Supply Side Economics unconditionally. They believe what they are told, and nothing else.

By this time next year Conservatives will declare that Ms Couric actually said, "I hear that you yokels in Alaska can't read? Can you?" Watch for it.

I, for one, am tired of hearing this excuse from Conservatives every time they screw up. While it is too much to expect Conservatives ever to hold themselves accountable, it is good to hear someone, anyone, tell them the facts.

Which in Conservative-speak means, "it's time to launch another Arkansas Project".

The standard excuse given by Conservatives when called out on their lies.