Feeding The Nutjobs

From July 25th's The New Republic:

The power belongs to the Republicans. But with power comes the inebriation of it, and the misuse of it, and the sanctification of it—and the Republicans under Bush are not displaying any special immunity to these errors.
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The conservative frenzy that followed O’Connor’s resignation is a troubling sign—troubling for liberals, obviously, but troubling also for the many conservatives who have not yet taken leave of their senses.
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The many elements of contemporary conservatism no longer comport so easily with one another, except in their loathing of liberalism. The president’s own philosophy is increasingly inconsistent and situationist: Whatever one thinks about the war in Iraq, it was not the Burkean thing to do; whatever one thinks about the pharaonic deficit, it is not what Ronald Reagan had in mind; whatever one thinks about gay marriage, forbidding it is not the libertarian way; and so on.
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The president enjoys the idea of himself as a radical, and he has himself to blame if he is finding more and more radicalism on the right. The wink at extremism may have been useful electorally, but the election is over. And, with sanctimonious stunts like flying to Washington in the middle of the night to intervene in Terri Schiavo’s destiny, Bush feeds the beast; and the beast is panicked and ravenous.
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For these people, it is not enough that they control two branches of the federal government. They want them all. There remains the problem of the third branch, and its outrageous refusal to conform to their doctrines and their superstitions. Why should Truth have time for the separation of powers? These conservatives, many of them militant Christians, harbor a particular hatred for the judiciary, about which they often speak with rhetorical violence. The stronger they get, the weaker they feel. Spiritually, they are always victims. Never mind that almost every significant judicial victory for liberalism is steadily and skillfully turned into a significant political victory for conservatism. Consider only the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Kelo v. New London, the takings case in Connecticut. From the wild discussion of the case in the press, you would think that the Supreme Court had restored the Courts of Star Chamber and abolished private property in America. In fact, the ruling was a reasonable interpretation of the Fifth Amendment that is supported by a tradition of jurisprudence. But “eminent domain” has now become a potent right-wing curse, like “gun control” and “choice.” Laws are being drafted in various legislatures to put an end to this new affront to liberty. The fever runs higher and higher.

Yup, their thirst is endless. Like the zombies in "Dawn Of The Dead," they just keep coming, mindless and starved, constantly needing more. Power is addictive and what we have here is the right-wing hooked on the stuff. They've become a bunch of nonsensical, clamoring, Machiavellian, lusting creatures -- who are (thankfully) beginning to eat their own.

As TNR states, Bush has only himself (and Rove) to blame.