The Repubs: You can't trust 'em

I'm sure the political landscape has been in this much disarray before, but it is enough to make you dizzy just trying to keep the conservative Repubs in some sort of consistent image -- because they sure do keep changing their spots. A few examples:

1. Mr. FlipFlop himself -- Senator McNothing. Makes "maverick" his trademark for decades; then, trying to woo the right wing vote in 2008, he claimed he'd never thought of himself as a maverick.

2. Mr. Ken Doll former MA governor: Mitt Romney. Championed and signed their forward looking health care reform -- which most everybody seems to like and which Obama says was the model for the reforms passed by Congress last year. Now The Mitter is trying to run away from any connection with the MA bill, feebly saying that what's right for one state might not be right for the country as a whole. The real story: progressive health care reform is not the right political meme to win the Repub's nomination for prez.

3. Newt? He gives a whole new definition to flipflop. He doesn't just change his tune over the years; he can do it almost in one news cycle. Most recently about the no-fly zone in Libya. He was for it until Obama did it, then he was against it. Notice that he's been pretty quiet lately; too much negative press and he needed to let it cool down, hoping his dismal support numbers will improve before he's forced to say whether he's running for prez.

4. The Donald? This self-proclaimed success story of the high rise buildings, hard-nosed businessman, gaudy resorts, and, it must be said, strange hair. Would anyone have thought he'd be concerned about Obama's birth certificate? Then he saw what catnip it is for the right wing vote he's toying with, so now he's pandering with the champs -- and making a fool of himself in the process. Even Karl Rove calls him "a joke candidate." But you know what? He's leading in some polls when Repubs are asked about their preference for presidential nominee. I hear that the political cartoonists are campaigning for him too -- think of the field day they'll have with his hair.

5. And then there's Jan Brewer, governor of Arizona. Her conservative credentials are in order: she signed the most aggressive anti-immigrant state law in the nation; she signed the bill allowing concealed weapons in bars; she signed the bill overturning Arizona's domestic partnership law; she signed the bill eliminating child health insurance programs; she called a special session of the legislature to challenge the constitutionality of mandatory health care insurance in Obama's reform plan. Need I go on?

So who would have though Jan Brewer would (1) veto the "birther bill" passed by the Arizona legislature; and (2) veto another bill that would allow concealed weapons to be carried onto college campuses?

Come on, folks. How can we peg you if you keep changing your stripes?

Ralph