So, how bad off ARE the Republicans?

Peggy Noonan has an hilarious column in today's Wall Street Journal detailing with some relish just how much trouble the Republicans are in. It seems that she has resented and feared what this president had been doing to the country, her fellow citizens, and the Grand Ol' Party for at least the last two years.

Which means she is not as dumb as I once thought. I have always wondered why there was not more anger and resentment among conservatives at President Bush. Now I know: like that prize buffoon Rush Limbaugh they were holding it in until the next election was past. Now they are heading for a brick wall and can't afford to hold it in. Of course, the uncharitable among us might point out the Bush no longer has the power to punish and reward, so it is safe to come out of the shadows and be brave.

But Noonan also points out that this is exactly the problem: too many Republican politicos sold their souls for ... well, what men always sell their souls for, money and power.

They are also – Hill leaders, lobbyists, party speakers – successful, well-connected, busy and rich. They never guessed, back in '86, how government would pay off! They didn't know they'd stay! They came to make a difference and wound up with their butts in the butter. But affluence detaches, and in time skews thinking. It gives you the illusion you're safe, and that everyone else is.

And so the Republicans have come to where they are now. The central problem is clearly diagnosed:

... this week a House Republican said publicly what many say privately, that there is another truth. "Members and pundits . . . fail to understand the deep seated antipathy toward the president, the war, gas prices, the economy, foreclosures," said Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia in a 20-page memo to House GOP leaders.

Well, we live in interesting times.