(so are a lot of center-left ones, but they're not the focus of Wingnut's letter). Even Wingnut's first comment:

But consider "family." Is it conservatives or liberals who are engaged in an effort to expand or even rewrite the definition of what constitutes a family?

-- is obviously referring to gay marriage. Ok, fine, but by all means let's not talk about how center-right or even conservatives actually behave regarding their own family values. Living in flyover country, I have the benefit of seeing conservative Americans up close and personal. Guess what? They talk a very good game, but out here the joke is 'marry early, marry often.' -- only it's not so funny when you have one of the highest divorce rates in the country all the time. There's some weird juxtaposition of evangelical religious beliefs and lack of seriousness or commitment even to the supposed bedrock institution of marriage, but somehow it's the liberals' fault. Or the gays. Or Hollywood. Or CNN. If people have such tremendous values, why are marriages between atheists longer-lasting than marriages between committed Christians? Inquiring minds want to know.

We have it all: high teen pregnancy rates, high child abuse rates, high infant mortality statistics, etc. But we sure talk a good game. I don't know if it's wishful thinking or a belief that if you say it enough it might come true, but don't be visiting us thinking you'll see some special commitment to family or work or whatever.

I know this guy is a necessary antidote to complacency and all that, but...what fauxscot said at the beginning of the letters thread. This guy is no better than a bad joke. I hardly need to be reminded that this is what we're up against.

And, while it's tempting to believe this guy is Frum, and while Frum is a drooling idiot in many ways, he is simply not this stupid...nor quite this contemptuous of his readers. I'll give Frum that much. If it is Frum, I'd be surprised.

Joan, can't you just get rid of this guy? Give Digby a column instead.

Sorry for the knee-jerk but Stevecoh hit one of my buttons.

Many of the things that Richard Nixon, for example, supported, are objectively to the left of anything that Barack Obama dares to support.

Can we please drop this meme? Nixon was a right-wing fascist to the max, he just happened to have a veto-proof Democratic congress to contend with, and a knack for taking credit for those things he opposed, when it was clear that he had no other choice. EPA and OSHA were both programs he was against, before he was for.

This is a man who mass-arrested protesters, used the IRS against his enemies, illegally wiretapped anti-war groups, and god knows what else. Watergate was a petty crime compared to all of the other things he could have been impeached for. I agree that we've shifted right, but rehabilitating Nixon isn't a good way to make your point.

Hey, Wingnut

It may have escaped your attention, but your party lost the election. Calling yourselves 'conservative' yet conserving nothing does not win elections.

Similarly, you spout nonsense about 'moderates' as if they are really crypto-conservatives, when really, their position must surely be more accurately described as 'untrusting' in either right or left.

The sensible majority of people in the USA understand that for all the noise and chatter generated by GOP talking-points, they still have to make ends meet, and regardless of whatever headless & heartless waffle the GOP comes out with, they know that you really don't have any answers except wanting to get elected to line your pockets.

They sensibly suspect the other party of being much the same in its ambitions, but given the choices it seems logical to cut off your time at the trough and let the other side run things, in the hope that they will actually spend some time fixing the things you broke/left broken/ignored, BEFORE they become obessed with what's in the trough.

Please continue to publish Mr. Walken's column. Far from being a waste of space, "Ask a Wingnut" gives readers a true picture of the state of the Republican Party and conservative politics in America.

If you want a reasoned defense of something resembling textbook conservatism, read Andrew Sullivan or talk to a Ron Paul supporter. But if you want a glimpse into the mind of the loyal opposition, you can do no better than to ask the Wingnut. Where else but here is conservative cognitive dissonance more obviously on display? The Wingnut rails against government interference in individual rights, except the individual rights of gays to marry. The Wignut opposes "big government," except when the deficit is expanded to engage in a pretextual war. The Wingnut reveres the text of the Constitution, except the parts forbidding cruel and unusual punishment and the right of a prisoner to face his accusers.

The Wingnut dodges and dissembles, avoids and exaggerates, denies and distorts. I can think of no better way to observe the utter intellectual bankruptcy of the American Right than by asking the Wingnut.

I like the small icon on the comments page where it looks like the nut has his head in a toilet.

It shows where his ideas come from.

And until you get rid of nonsense like this, and Camile, I'll not restart my gold membership and I'll close any popup ad quicker than you think is possible.

TIA!

Self identified conservatives 40%, self identified liberals including the stolen moniker progressive 20%. The rest are moderates. You're confusing Con/Lib with R/D. There have been many good books written explaing how Bush split the R party. No need to rehash them again here.

More evidence we are a center right country. Every major piece of liberal legislation that has a remote chance of passing has to be pushed through using subterfuge and trickery. As long as we are a free country, we will be a center right country.

Dear Wingnut: I take strong issue with your characterization of the recent election results in California, where the measures put on the ballot by the "Governator" and the Legislature were soundly defeated. As a progressive, I voted no on most of the measures, because I believe that the system for setting the annual budgets is broken. California is one of only THREE states that requires a two-thirds majority of the legislature to approve the annual budget, including raising or lowering of taxes. The budget process has been broken for many years, and has reached a crisis, which we will have in the next thirty days, where the state will run out of money to pay its bills. It's time for the state to convene a constitutional convention, where we can lower the requirement for the annual budget to a simple majority, or, perhaps, a 55 percent or even 60 percent requirement. There is a small minority of Republicans in the Legislature who will NEVER vote for any tax increase, only tax cuts. They are part of the "drown the baby in the bathtub" crowd that wants to starve the beast of "big" government. So far, the mainstream media has gotten a free pass on the issue, because there is no "Left Wing Noise Machine" to counter the "Right Wing Noise Machine" that has existed for many years. 8 years of Bushonomics has disproven, conclusively, their desire for "small" government. They desire big government for building more weapons of war and corporate bailouts to the tune of trillions of dollars. Last year's vote was only the beginning. It's time to take our country back!!!