Regarding the Limbaugh-Steele tussle, there is not too much to say that hasn’t already been said. It is fairly disastrous for all involved when the chairman of the RNC and CPAC’s keynote speaker can create a controversy that understandably inspires multiple comparisons to re-education camps. I am guessing that Steele’s faux pas in challenging the Man with the Golden Microphone (comparisons to Blofeld are too easy and obvious) will more or less smother the chances for any reform ideas he may have had, and now that he has been denounced as little better than a RINO his tenure as chairman will continue to be rocky and not very effective. Fundraising must already be difficult because of the recession, and now it is going to get even more so.

Despite his best efforts to toe the line, and usually saying absurd things in the process, Steele is succumbing to the structural pressures that have brought the GOP and movement conservatism to their present states. Incredibly, the man who was floating the idea of withholding RNC funds from moderate Republicans who voted for the stimulus is now regarded as some sort of Obama collaborator! Meanwhile, Obama is not just having a good laugh at the expense of his imploding enemies, but he has to be feeling very pleased with himself. It seems as if all he had to do was say, “Don’t listen to Rush Limbaugh,” and in classic knee-jerk fashion activists and pols have gone running into Limbaugh’s embrace, which is probably exactly what Obama wanted them to do. Now, thanks to the bizarre Limbaugh litmus test that everyone on the right is supposed to pass, conservative blogs are agog with their newfound contempt for the RNC chairman, which helps ensure that cooperation between the national party and online activists will continue to be poor. You might call this a triple bank-shot by Obama, except that all of it is self-inflicted by the Republicans.