So indicative of the kind of impact idiotic conservatism is having on Americans.

Look, I can respect principled and informed conservatism. But Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, and Glenn Beck are not principled or informed. They are pseduo-politico-celebrities who have a series of vague opinions about the world, without having a clue about the way it works. That doesn't make them bad people, per se (except in the way we might be concerned for the village idiot screaming about conspiracy theories about the President's alleged non-citizenship). But it certainly doesn't qualify them for office or to shape an entire party's platform and political agenda.

That's the low-down dirty shame of conservative politics today. At least Democrats pretend to be interested in evidence and science -- about knowing the state of things before implementing policy (although they too fall prey to politicized rhetoric). But the brand of conservatism I'm talking about here is actually anti-science: They have no interest in investigating issues carefully and thoroughly. They specialize in uninformed polemics -- the kind of ignorant radicalism that can only be promoted by charismatic leaders. Sarah Palin is their new charismatically idiotic leader.