The GOP Freaks Out

Billmon has the goods on the Right's temper tantrum today:

What's happening over in Right Blogostan right now is simply amazing. It's like the political equivalent of Yugoslavia -- and Tito just died.

Suddenly all the repressed anger and resentment at Bush and Rove is boiling over. Hordes of wing nuts are almost literally howling (in ALL CAPS) about the metric tons of shit they've put up with -- the round-the-clock pork festivals, the federal entitlement for drug companies, the congressional leadership so corrupt it would make Boss Tweed blush, the bloody quagmire in Iraq, Mike Brown, the New Deal on the Mississippi, etc. etc.

We've certainly seen this coming. Every rank and file conservative I've had the pleasure of talking to over the past several weeks has voiced their displeasure at this Administration. Whether it's the nomination of Gen Myers' daughter to head the Immingration and Customs Enforcement (a particular cause célebre among the far right), the big-government spending pledges in the Gulf Coast for Katrina, the proposed hoarding of evacuees into trailers as permanent residences, the proposed guest-worker program for illegal immigrants, or this Miers nomination, which smacks of cronyism but certainly not ideological rigidity, the GOP is facing a great schism. And their leaders are too busy dodging indictments and investigations to spend any time keeping the party together.

Bush simply doesn't have the political capital he did at the beginning of the year, and as such, was in no position to ram a hard-core conservative down the Senate's throat. Nobody in the Senate, Democrat or Republican, really wants a fight of that nature, because of its inherent unpredictability for the 2006 elections. So he just went with someone he knows, someone that will be sure to fight for the REAL GOP agenda of crony capitalism, but who is a wildcard on the social issues the hardcore base cares about so deeply. (although I don't think there's any question she'll vote to overturn Roe). That Harry Reid is drooling all over her is certainly notable, but of course he's pro-life himself. Reid even seems to be claiming that he picked the nominee, which isn't exactly an endorsement of everything she believes. It just means Reid got as much as he could want out of it, avoiding the nuclear option and getting someone who could end up in the middle (although how can you expect that from Bush's lawyer, who's been working for him for over a decade?).

This really REALLY pisses off the Right, and they're taking it out on the President with a vengeance. There's no need for hotlinks, just read any conservative site today. As Atrios says, they desperately wanted to say a hearty "Fuck You" to Democrats with this nomination. They wanted to get an iron-clad ideologue and laugh while braying "There's nothing you can do about it." And they clearly didn't. Some are even talking about filibustering Miers. And not just random bloggers, but big-time conservative leaders.

The GOP is cracking at the seams on not just one, but a variety of issues. Republicans are really becoming the new Democrats, wracked with infighting and unable to carry a consistent message. Who would have imagined this 11 months ago?