If Someone Called Matt Lewis a Homophobe to His Face, Would He Notice?

Apparently not. But while the wingnuts at Townhall are easy fodder for lampooning, Lewis's incoherence speaks to the disintegration of the conservative movement. Social conservatives are rapidly finding that as the economy falls off a cliff, no one really cares whether gays are allowed to marry. Not even in Iowa. Far right crazies like Lewis have not made their peace with this reality yet. Meanwhile, foreign policy conservatives are busy claiming Obama's policies amount to a continuation of their own. And economic conservatives - Wall Street conservatives - have been completely discredited. Tax cuts for the rich and financial deregulation haven't been this out of vogue since the Kingfish was advocating his "Share Our Wealth" plan.

What's the future of the GOP? Who knows - but it's probably a Republican Party that acknowledges global warming, doesn't bash gays/use race as a wedge issue, and actually commits itself to running the welfare state responsibly. Something like David Cameron's Tories. It's going to take quite awhile for the GOP to modernize itself that much. Let's just hope they let the grownups govern without obstruction (and that the Democrats stop being so beholden to Wall Street too) while they work out their issues.