A LITTLE-KNOWN SIDELIGHT ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CREDIT UNION CONCEPT IN NORTH AMERICA is the involvement of the Roman Catholic Church in the Canadian province of Québec in promoting Alphonse Desjardins' caisse populaire concept as a means of promoting thrift, self-reliance and rural socioeconomic development--particularly so @ local parish level, and with particular attention towards the rank-and-file working classes.

Such, no doubt, calls to mind what I discussed previously about where payday-loan companies tend to be concentrated in lower-income and lower-working-class communities, with an eye towards their deliberate exploitation. (With the suggestion that some such consider reinventing themselves among mutually-based models if the desire is one of promoting socioeconomic empowerment in the poor, undereducated and easily-influenced based on free-market models and paradigms.)

WEEEEELLLLLL--!!!

The Consumerist (ultimately by way of RawStory) makes note of two rather interesting (and yet revealing) studies which show a potentially deliberate interconnexion between payday lenders and such areas of the country where the Pseudoreligiopolitical Right hath major support, both financial and moral.

One of the co-authors of one of the studies suggests the unholy alliance of Politics and Religion may be to blame thus:

When the Christian Right allied itself with conservative Wall Street business interests in the 1980s and early '90s, consumer protection law was placed to the side as an inconvenient sticking point. The laws allowing an astonishing number of triple-digit-interest-rate lenders throughout most of the Christian South and Mormon West are a legacy of that political alliance.

(You can read the studies here and here, and also study some interactive maps developed by Cal State/Northridge which makes clear what these studies found.)

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SO WHAT EXACTLY PREVENTS THE PSEUDORELIGIOPOLITICAL RIGHT FROM SERIOUSLY LOOKING INTO PROMOTING CREDIT UNIONS--or, for that matter, mutual savings banks--if their articles of faith are so gung-ho about promoting self-reliance, personal responsibility and thrift in the Lower Classes they claim to be supporting and defending?

Is it, perhaps, their flawed equation of wasteful and frivolous consumer spending being one with the "antient and pecuilar soverignty and soverign identity" of the United States--never mind that said spending is expected to place greater emphasis on cost over value for money?

Is it the Unholy and Dangerous Alliance of Church, Wall Street and Wally World?

Or what exactly?

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BESIDES, LET'S NOT FORGET THE ROLE OF WHAT COULD BEST BE CALLED FUNDAMENTALIST RELIGIOUS BELIEF in developing the mutual savings bank concept:

Rev. Henry Duncan, a minister of the Church of Scotland (think Presbyterian) in Ruthwell, Dumfriesshire, set up a modest savings bank in 1810 for his parishoners to promote thrift and self-reliance against times of hardship and need. Its basic concepts were:

• Investing the savings thus deposited in only securities of the highest quality;
• Returning any dividends on these investments to the depositors as dividends on their accounts; and
• Entrusting the management of the savings bank, and its investment policies, to a Board of Trustees acting for and on behalf of the depositor/owners.

The concept quickly took off, so that by 1818, 465 mutual savings banks were in operation between Land's End and John O'Groats--182 of them in Scotland alone. And in 1816, the concept crossed the Atlantic with the founding of the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society (PSFS), recognised as the first savings bank in the United States.

Which, in any case, would become the foundations of the TSB Group in Great Britain, created in 1983 by the consolidation of the 16 remaining regional savings banks created themselves following consolidation of the 73 local savings banks in 1975, soon after the Central Trustee Savings Bank (founded 1973) became a London Clearing House member.

Following demutualisation and subsequent share flotation of TSB Group, they would merge with Lloyds Bank in 1995 to form Lloyds TSB.

As the songwriter put it, "everything old is new again."

But when will the Religiopolitical Right learn?  

YOUR CORRESPONDENT UNDERSTANDS WHERE A MAJOR JAPANESE PIANO MAKER goes by the name of Kawai.

Which should not be confused with the Japanese word kawaii, which translates as "cute"--as in synonymous with the likes of characters such as Sanrio's stable of franchises like Hello Kitty, Badtz-Maru and Pokaccho.

In turn inspiring the related Japanese term kita-kawaii, which translates as "gross, yet cute" (as in the kitschier versions of souvenirs and ephemera featuring Hello Kitty-type characters such as are oft sold in shoobie-trap areas).

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THAT MODEL OF "MORALLY SUPERIOR" AMERICAN CULTURAL WHOLESOMENESS KNOWN AS PAT BOONE can't seem to keep his filthy proboscis out of the shady and disreputable when it comes to product endorsements.

You may recall where, around the Bicentennial Year of 1976, Pat Boone appeared in TV adverts for an acne-control product called Acne-Statin which would subsequently be the subject of complaints contending that the product failed to work as advertised, in some cases worsening the acne vulgaris problem among purchasers. And, IIBC, there were several lawsuits contending that Mr. Boone be held liable in connexion.

Now, it's emerged that Pat Boone's dulcet tones are narrating an "informational" DVD offered by Swiss American, as deals in precious-metals coins for investment purposes (and rumoured to have weird and unwholesome connexions themselves), invoking the clear and present danger of socioeconomic collapse as a reason to invest in gold coin all the more @ this time.

How much longer before Pat Boone sees a fresh round of complaints in connexion with his endorsement role?

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THE MANUFACTURERS OF GPS NAVIGATIONAL SYSTEMS must know a good thing when they hear it--as in hiring the likes of celebrities, celebrity voice impersonators and cartoon voice actors to deliver navigational directions to users.

I could just imagine some Garmin or TomTom units featuring the rather cheeky voice of Stewie (Family Guy) Griffin giving directions in that simulated BBC accent of his, preceded by his infamous warning "Obey me, or I shall put you on diaper detail!" and with some of his cheekier bon mots killing time during long stretches of travel between turns.

Even weirder yet: Scooby-Doo.

Sponge Bob Squarepants.

Angelica "Rugrats" Pickles.

Miss Piggy.

Principal Pixiefrog (as in My Gym Partner's a Monkey).

But then again--if you're looking to buy a GPS system for your car, check out the following:

MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT, BOYS AND GIRLS: RACISTS AND WHITE SUPREMACISTS OF A CERTAIN CLASS--usually poor, undereducated or homeschooled and easily open, or otherwise vulnerable to, suggestion--are more than likely to become one-over-the-eight.

Sauced.

Pickled.

Plastered.

Basted.

Carrying three red lights.

Too long in the sun.

Complaining "his shoe pinches him."

Use whatever adjectives you may for alcoholism, reader, no matter how colloquial they can get.

But in the final analysis, alcoholism and racist thinking seems to go together. After all, studies have repeatedly shown where excessive drink can lead to disorder, violence and anti-social behaviour.

And police arrest records of those thus arrested will quite often note where alcohol is or may be an influencing factor.

The same, no doubt, can be said to apply for racist and white-supremacist bull sessions and acts of the old ultraviolence so ensuing. Not to mention a mentality as expects all involved to play dumb in case the police start asking questions, preferably by way of The Fourteen Words encapsulating white-supremacist belief ("We must secure the Existance of our Race and a Future for White Children"), parroted out in a rather obnoxious manner.

Denial expected to be all the more important, especially out of fear that such could cause loss of job, housing, community standing--even the possibility that the children will be removed from the house and placed in foster care with the parents being considered unfit. Not to mention the prospect of "prominent community leaders" being implicated in support of such racist acts, deeds and exploits, "risking further harm to Our Cause and the Community."

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AS IF RACISM AND ALCOHOL WEREN'T AN AWFUL ENOUGH MIXTURE TO SWALLOW, imagine what would happen if a super-secret Ku Klux Klan cross-burning ceremony turned out being nothing short of a Paul Harvey News item under heading "For What It's Worth," usually towards the end of his midday bulletin.

As in the invocation to G-d to show His Approval over the proceedings just before the actual lighting of the Fiery Cross being disrupted by the inevitable show of thunder-and-lightning suggesting that G-d Himself may not exactly be approving of the whole thing, and wants to teach the Klansmen a lesson they won't forget--as in assuming the guise of a Welsh male voice choir of castrati "responding" in the hope of the Klansmen having second thoughts with awful-sounding choruses of "Hatikvah" (the Israeli National Hymn), "'Ndosi Sikeleki iAfrica" (South Africa's post-apartheid such) and (for piece de resistance) "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" (chosen for its associations with the Civil Rights Movement).

The whole being so grating upon the ears of the Klansmen so gathered for ritualistic purposes, an attempt to restart the ceremony further angers Jehovah to the point where He decides to rain upon the venue Nickelodeon's Patent Green Slime containing super-secret compounds as can quickly eat away @ Klan regalia, masks and all--right down to the underwear, and (for added insult) giving all rather awful cases of dhobie itch.

In short, the Klansmen are revealed in their nakedness, enough to send them screaming back to their van, parked some distance away on a nearby road--only to have the misfortune of encountering a police dragnet looking for some class of an escaped ax murderer on the loose, whereupon the Klansmen are arrested for Indecent Exposure--and, turning bottle, acknowledging where they were attempting a cross-burning ritual some distance back, only to encounter G-d disguising his voice singing songs they didn't quite understand, and eventually making them nakie.

On arrival @ the police station, they respond (all together now) with the Fourteen Words to every question asked of them, and in the usual idiotic manner expected of the cause, prompting a request for pre-trial psychiatric evaluations whose eventual byproducts are best left to your imagination.

But not before becoming the talk of the Kaffe-Klatsche set, complete with all manner of "friend-of-a-friend" embellishments as may or may not be credible.

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AND THERE COULD BE OTHER SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES RACISTS AND WHITE SUPREMACISTS NEED TO THINK ABOUT, especially if they turn out being Prominent and Powerful Citizens or otherwise expected to hold positions of public trust and confidence--as the following (howbeit incredible) "WaiWai" item from the Mainichi Daily News demonstrates:

The dirty old man arrested for routinely feeling up the female staff working for the massive education group he headed also had the equally repulsive habit of being an avid Hitler worshipper, according to Shukan Gendai (12/6).

Yasuhisa Tsuzuki, the 71-year-old head of Tsuzuki Gakuen group that ran 40 educational institutions across Japan from elementary schools to universities, was arrested last month for molesting one of his female employees.

"When Tsuzuki saw a beautiful woman he'd soon feel her up. If he took a liking to a woman, it didn't matter if she was a teacher or in admin, he'd call her before him and demand a kiss or bury his face in her bust," an employee of the education group tells Shukan Gendai.

The case for which Tsuzuki was arrested for indecent assault involved him allegedly dragging a 23-year-old teacher into an elevator and violently squeezing her breasts.

"Inside the elevator, the woman resisted fiercely, screaming out so loud it echoed. When the education group conducted an inquiry into the head's behavior, several women complained that he had groped them when they served him a cup of tea. He used to fondle their breasts while they had both hands full with the tea tray and couldn't resist his ministrations," a police insider tells the men's weekly. "By September, there were so many women frustrated by his roaming hands, they submitted a written protest that stated they refused to serve him tea ever again."

And if the allegations of rampant sexual assault weren't enough, those close to the old man--whose early education came courtesy of Japan's wartime military controllers--say there's an even more sinister side to his character.

"Every year, the Tsuzuki Gakuen group would conduct a campaign to enroll more students, which it called the 'Caravan.' Tsuzuki referred to himself as the 'Commander-in-Chief' and issued an order to all female staff to wear white blouses. Whenever any of the women put a jacket or something over the top of their blouse, he'd scream furiously at them to take it off. If there was a teacher with a nice body, he'd go over to them and comment on what a nice set of boobs they had, or ask them to undo a couple of buttons on the blouse to give him a look inside," a former employee of the group tells Shukan Gendai, noting that teams formed in the "Caravan" were also given the same names as famous regiments in the wartime Imperial Japanese Army. "But Tsuzuki worshipped Hitler. He gave his employees pamphlets where he signed himself off as 'Your Hitler.' He even grew a Hitler moustache for a while. When you went up to greet him, it was expected that you would raise your right arm above your head and say 'Heil Hitler!'"

Let this be a warning....

IF YOU THINK "CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION" IS A "SERIOUS PROBLEM***REQUIRING THE UTMOST ATTENTION" (or so the Pseudoreligiopolitical Right wants us believing from their propaganda), consider what ethnic Indians in Malaysia have to deal with when it comes to finding employment or livelihood.

So much so, in fact, that an Illegal Demonstration was held by Malaysian activist groups representing ethnic Indians in Kuala Lumpur taking issue with official Malaysian Government policies giving what ethnic Indians contend is "unfair precedence" towards the native Malay population.

Twenty protesters were arrested and police resorted to using water cannon to disperse the protesters.

Which, no doubt, must be what the Pseudoreligiopolitical Right is afraid of what may happen to an obviously hubris-laden element contending they have certain "rights, privileges and powers***entitled them as of right" based on "unwritten tradition and precedence" that they contend takes precedence over written law.

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WHICH BEGS YOUR CORRESPONDENT TO ENQUIRE whether the Pseudoreligiopolitical Right's claims of "Christian Persecution" as are @ the heart of "reverse discrimmination" complaints filed with civil-rights agencies are, in fact, sincere and in good faith.

I mention this because civil-rights agencies reserve the right to dismiss or decline complaints suspected of being insincere, frivolous, vexatious, malicious or otherwise likely to create an unnecessary burden of time, resources and paperwork. And in such cases, the organisations connected with such "complaints" can be subject to sanctions or asked to reimburse the agency out of pocket.

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STAYING WITH THE RATHER PATHETIC FARCE OF THE PSEUDORELIGIOPOLITICAL RIGHT FOR THE NONCE, it appears all the more likely that they could wind up voting en bloc for what amounts to an outright bigot running on some third-party longshot Presidential ticket in the belief that such will defend Traditional Moral and Familial Values.

Yet unaware of the likelihood that this rather hard-wired bloc could be their own worst nightmare, Fifth Column stylee.

People For the American Way's Right Wing Watch blog explains:

Ever since James Dobson declared that he would never vote for John McCain, the big question has been whether the Republican Party’s Religious Right base would follow suit or whether they would support McCain simply as the lesser of two evils.  

While there appear to be some efforts underway to threaten to abandon the GOP altogether,  McCain has been making inroads with various Religious Right leaders and slowly securing endorsements from the likes of Gary Bauer and Fidelis.  And while some on the Right, such as Tony Perkins, are perfectly happy to see Mike Huckabee stay in the race in order to remind McCain that the Religious Right is not dead and force him to cater to the “voters who are passionate about the issues that Mike Huckabee addresses,” others conservative leaders predict that, for all the public grumbling and gnashing of teeth, the Right will eventually come around.  

As Haley Barbour put it:

If people like that don't vote for John McCain, it means Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama is going to be President. It's one thing in February or May or even August to say that you're not willing to support John McCain. But life is a series of choices, and inevitably the choice in November is going to be between McCain and either Clinton or Obama. Now, those people will look into their hearts and decide what to do. But for an incredibly high percentage of conservatives and Republicans, they'll vote for John McCain.

Others are making the same point – and even militant McCain-hater Rick Santorum says he’ll suck it up and vote for McCain:

Less than a week after Romney withdrew from the race, Santorum told WORLD he's still rankled by McCain, but won't avoid the ballot box in November if he's the GOP pick: "When you look at the [Democratic] alternatives, it makes the choice of whoever the Republican nominee is that much easier to vote for."

Ultimately, pointing out the alternative may be the key to McCain's hopes of wooing conservatives. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, says McCain could take several steps to reach out to evangelicals, but adds: "In the end, there's not anything that John McCain can do to unite conservatives that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama can't do better."

The prospect of a Democratic presidency looms large in Gary Bauer's support of McCain. The Christian conservative and former presidential candidate formally endorsed McCain in early February and told WORLD he's baffled by evangelicals who say they won't vote for the senator if he's the Republican nominee.

Bauer points out that the next president may nominate as many as three Supreme Court justices. "If those justices are appointed by Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, we will have abortion for another 35 years and we will have same-sex marriage," he says. "We will have lost the two main things on the social agenda, probably forever."

And just in case the wavering right-wing voters needed any more convincing, Mark Creech of the Christian Action League of North Carolina weighs in to say that sitting out the election would be an affront to God:

Most troubling, however, is that many conservative evangelicals are now acting as though God were not sovereign in the political process. Have we become more focused on the process than on the God who controls it? Granted, we must diligently seek to influence the culture for righteousness sake. Nevertheless, evangelicals are not sailing the ship politic and never were. There is but one Captain - the Lord - and He raises to power whomever He wills. Infighting and laying blame is counterproductive to advancing the kingdom.

These experiences test our faith in God’s mysterious ways. And they strain our commitment to Christian liberty - the very foundation of our belief in political freedom. Let us lay aside the attacks on our brethren.

Neither is this a time to withdraw. Only a straining of the facts makes John McCain equal to or worse than the godless direction a Clinton or Obama ticket would take the nation. Such would not only imperil the social agenda of conservative evangelicals, but jeopardize one of the greatest of family values - protection of the American people from the violence of its enemies. If America bails out on the war effort before the job is finished, the United States will not only be dishonored, but the terrorists will follow our troops home.

Moreover, to disengage - worse still, not to vote - I believe is a grievous mistake. Though a person certainly has the right to adhere to his/her conscience in such action, it should be noted that to do so is to walk away from one's place at the table. With what credibility can one possibly speak to those serving in office when one was previously unwilling to even vote? At that point, one's credibility as a part of the discussion - now or later - becomes significantly compromised.

For whatever it's worth, having served as a lobbyist in the North Carolina General Assembly since 1999, there are two great truths constantly before me when seeking to influence the politics of those sacred halls: (1) God is sovereign over everything and ultimately His will cannot be defeated; and (2) no person or group involved in politics ever gets all they want all of the time. But for Christ's sake, one must ever be vigilant in victory and defeat. And one must always find positive ways to stay engaged in the process.

Which begs the question of where Scripture hath it that electoral participation is one with Christian Duty, subject to prevailing Divine Authority on who one must vote pro Deo, patria et familia.

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PERHAPS IT WAS TIME TO START "SWIFT-BOATING" THE JOHN McCAIN "STRAIGHT TALK EXPRESS" as McCain's likelihood for winning the GOP Presidential nomination appears all the more imminent in upcoming primaries and caucuses.

There's plenty of dirt on McCain available, online and otherwise--just do the Google, for starters--for to carry out the same.

Never mind where the McCain and Huckabee camps are perhaps the most ardent of critics taking issue with Democratic Presidential wannabe Barack Obama's gains translating into considerable popularity among intending Democratic voters--in some cases, with incredible assertions equating Obama's agenda and articles of faith with Marxism/Leninism (howbeit without any credible substantiation, e.g., studying the likelihood for parallel passages vis-a-vis Obama's speeches and Marxist/Leninist writings).    

YOUR CORRESPONDENT, AMONG OTHER OBSERVERS OF THE CONSERVATIVE PROPAGANDA MILL "ON THE SIDES," as it were, has been starting to wonder if Indecision 2008 could actually be The Oxycontin Cow's own undoing--and all because of his own big fat mouth translating into a loss of listener trust and confidence.

Or reasonable facsimile thereof, what with Rush Limbaugh's core audience being, by and large, poor, undereducated or homeschooled and easily-influenced. Not to mention residing in culturally-deprived environments where jobs are increasingly becoming limited or otherwise unavailable, Wally World has become the only place to shop (and its prices being higher than necessary) and potential for exploitation by the carpetbagger crowd exists.

Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America explains why such a scenario could be possible:

Rush Limbaugh, the marauding Frankenstein's monster of the Republican Party, is on the loose again, causing all kinds of political damage with his signature off-balance swings. But as has become his custom recently, the pain from Limbaugh's rampage is being felt by his creators--his enablers--inside the GOP.

Limbaugh and the rest of his get-John McCain brain trust--Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Michelle Malkin, and campus instigator Ann Coulter--have been tripping over themselves to get in front of a microphone (preferably a television one) to denounce the Republican Party's presumptive nominee and to suggest that perhaps conservatives should even vote Democratic come November.

After years of watching Limbaugh and his various band of midnight riders within the Republican Noise Machine launch countless, hateful crusades against liberals and Democrats, it's extraordinarily satisfying to watch the Republican Party leadership discover what it feels like when Limbaugh sets his venomous, factually challenged sights on their own front-runner.

For progressives, the sprawling GOP brawl is what blogger TRex would call a schadenfreude sundae. What could be more enjoyable than watching McCain get bogged down in the far-right swamp? Answer: Watching a handful of right-wing pundits come to the belated conclusion that Limbaugh is a dunce. Or, as one Weekly Standard blogger put it last week, the Limbaugh-led response to McCain was "unhinged -- and at times spectacularly disgraceful." And Dinesh D'Souza concluded, that, yes, Limbaugh is an "egomaniac" who "has grown accustomed to conservative bigwigs worshiping at the Shrine of Rush." (Truth is, Limbaugh's not that well liked among Republicans.)

Really? Limbaugh is spreading misinformation? He's wallowing in demagoguery while bordering on megalomania? He and his pals appear to be far more interested in the number of media mentions they rack up than they do in advancing the conservative movement? Ah, what a tangled web the GOP weaves. Wonder how McCain and the Republican Party minions enjoy following behind Limbaugh's broadcast each weekday with a bucket and shovel, cleaning up the mess spread all over the floor. Enjoy!

But this is what Republicans created. They wanted Limbaugh to be an attack dog and to chew up and spit out his/the party's opponents. They wanted him to label Democrats as traitors ("What's good for Al Qaeda is good for the Democratic Party in this country today"), to label them abhorrent and mentally deranged. They wanted Limbaugh to ignore any semblance of decency when demonizing the other side. Indeed, there has been virtually no offensive line that Limbaugh has crossed that Republicans have not dutifully justified or explained away.

Even last year when Limbaugh denigrated members of the U.S. armed forces, calling military men and women who criticized the war in Iraq and advocated withdrawal "phony soldiers," what did the GOP do? It rushed to Limbaugh's defense.

The pats on the back came from presidential contender Fred Thompson and Senate Republican Conference chairman Jon Kyl (AZ), and House Minority Leader John Boehner (OH) as well as his No. 2, Roy Blunt (MO), along with fellow Reps. Mike Pence (IN), Scott Garrett (NJ). Mean Rep. Marsha Blackburn (TN) supported legislation that commended Limbaugh following his "phony soldiers" crack. Rep. Eric Cantor (VA) even unveiled a Stand With Rush e-petition, urging "conservatives around the country" to fight for Limbaugh.

Oh, and let's not forget Mitt Romney's reaction to the "phony soldiers" controversy, which was priceless. (Romney was the candidate Limbaugh championed as the one true conservative in this year's Republican race.) Romney flip-flopped! Here he is momentarily chastising Limbaugh's comments. And here Romney is, just days later, as he "rushes to the defense of Rush Limbaugh." (And Republicans used to claim that candidate Al Gore had no moral compass?)

Meanwhile, it really was rather sad to watch former Sen. Bob Dole last week write a letter to Limbaugh trying to reason with the talk-show host about whether candidate McCain was sufficiently conservative. Or when McCain himself suggested that the talk show hosts simply "calm down." Or when Bud McFarlane, former national security adviser to President Reagan, took to the pages of The Wall Street Journal over the weekend to urge Rush and his angry pack to "be rational."

Rational? Where have these Republicans been for the last decade? The Noise Machine doesn't do rational. Was Limbaugh being "rational" when he toasted photos of the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib as "good old American pornography"? Was Malkin being rational last year when she attempted to Swift Boat a traumatically injured 12-year-old boy? Was Coulter being rational ... well, ever?

Sorry, GOP grown-ups. If there's one thing the Republican Noise Machine is allergic to, it's reason. And decency, and respect, and rational behavior.

And besides, why is it left to retired Republican graybeards like Dole and McFarlane to try to broker peace with the Limbaugh crowd? McCain, the party's presumptive nominee, is being savaged by a corral of radio talk-show hosts every day, and yet the silence among Republican elected officials has been deafening. Why? Because they're too afraid to stick up for their own candidate, too afraid Limbaugh and his wannabes will try burn somebody else at the stake.

I don't think progressives could have choreographed a better media meltdown if we tried.

Fact is, every time Limbaugh causes a controversy these days, the Democratic Party's political fortunes rise just a little bit--like when he's treating McCain like a bum, or degrading phony soldiers, or mocking actor Michael J. Fox for allegedly faking the symptoms of his crippling Parkinson's disease while appearing in a Democratic-sponsored campaign ad.

What's so spectacular for the home team is that Limbaugh's crusade to demolish McCain stems from the radical right's fervent desire to cleanse the Republican Party of those who are deemed to be insufficiently pure in their conservative beliefs. And it's not just the candidates. Limbaugh has been clear that his deep disdain for McCain is driven by the fact that he might attract voters in the fall--the wrong voters--who do not adhere to the radical right's litmus test of right and wrong.

What Limbaugh and company are doing with their diatribes is launching political correctness into the stratosphere, and in the process herding voters toward the Democratic camp.

The best part? The whole crusade has been a colossal flop. On the eve of the Super Tuesday primary, lots of cogs in the Republican Noise Machine demanded that their readers and listeners embrace Mitt Romney.

Instead, McCain and Mike Huckabee--the other GOP candidate deemed totally unworthy by the mighty Limbaugh--pretty much ran the table and shoved the anointed one, Romney, right out of the race. I'd suggest the stunning failure to move the needle even an inch among self-identified Republican voters represented a nice punctuation point on the Republican Noise Machine's collapse, which, naturally, has closely mirrored President Bush's downward spiral. (The same post-Bush tremors are being felt at Fox News; read about their ratings woes here.)

Why did the get-McCain gambit fail so miserably? Maybe Republican voters saw through the transparent attacks. After all, Limbaugh himself wrote a column for The Wall Street Journal during the 2004 presidential campaign in which he commended McCain for being among the "unabashed and unashamed advocates of conservative principles and policies" in his speech at the Republican convention.

And if Limbaugh's uncontrollable disdain for McCain is based on that candidate's allegedly leftward drift on the issues, then why didn't Limbaugh try to run Rudy Giuliani out of the race? (Not that Rudy needed any help.) Giuliani's history of supporting abortion rights, embryonic stem-cell research, and gay rights makes McCain look like Ronald Reagan's long-lost brother.

And I'm sorry, but Romney as the conservative true believer? Baystaters must have spit up their Summer Shack clam chowder when they heard that line. In a manic attempt to veer right for his White House run, Romney flip-flopped on a buffet of supposedly core Republican issues, such as immigration reform, abortion, gun control, tax cuts, and gay rights. (Go here to watch Romney perform one of the purest flip-flops ever captured on tape.)

More likely, Limbaugh is just wildly out of touch with the Republican Party. During President Bush's radical pro-war tenure, the right-wing talkers and bloggers convinced themselves they represented the mainstream--the majority--of the GOP. But they don't. They represent the radical CPAC wing of the GOP. And it's a shrinking minority.

I just hope the McCain Crazies keep it up. Their unhinged efforts perfectly capture the state of today's conservative movement. For instance, at one point when Limbaugh was ranting against the Arizona senator on his radio show, a caller asked whether he thought McCain would pick Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) as his running mate. Limbaugh sniffed that "Lindsey Graham is certainly close enough to [McCain] to die of anal poisoning."

A Limbaugh pal told the New York Daily News that the host was simply "using a time-honored synonym for 'brown-nosing.' " But as the paper reported, "[I]f you Google the term, the only people who seem to be using it are proprietors of porn sites. "

And then there was Laura Ingraham, the oxymoronic thinking person's right-wing radio host, who became so unnerved at the prospect of a McCain nomination that she suggested that some despondent conservatives would turn themselves into "suicide voters" and cast a ballot for a Democrat in November rather than vote for McCain. (Charles Hurt, the D.C. bureau chief for the New York Post, made the same unhinged analogy.)

Suicide voters and anal poisonings, all in the name of destroying the Republican nominee from within. Hey, GOP, that's quite a Noise Machine you've constructed. Now good luck trying to dismantle it.

In other words, the Rush Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies could be digging its own grave by the time the final returns from Indecision 2008 come in as discern a clear winner.

And Another Thing:

What exactly prevents The Oxycontin Cow from disclosing any payments he receives for "winning of hearts and minds" towards the Greater Conservative Agenda on air?

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FORTHCOMING IN THIS WEBLOG, READERS, is something as should be shared with the conservative propaganda machine, in "open letter" form, about their possibly abusing the power and intrusion of the broadcast medium for potentially sinister and dangerous ends.

Stay tuned.