Why Doesn't Romney Have to Denounce Far Right?

A graphic from this blog's early days.

This (rather lengthy) clip from The Rachel Maddow Show covers a couple of topics I've long talked about on the blog. One of them is the false equivalence in all stories about the left or right: they all do it, they're all the same, yadda , yadda. The other is the fact that the far fringe right-wing has become so mainstream, you can't separate it from Mitt Romney or any of the Republicans. And there is no equivalent on the left.

Remember the primaries? The clown show that included Michele Bachmann (and the fabulous Marcus), Herman Cain and his lady troubles, Rick (don't Google me) Santorum, and the always nutty Ron Paul (who is currently busy hoovering up delegates behind Romney's back). These were extremists, and yet they each (except Paul) had a time at the top of the litter. They're still around, they're still crazy, and they're on team Mitt now. And they're just the grand marshals in the crazy town parade, which includes birthers, Birchers, survivalists, FOX Fans, hockey moms, right-wing radio hacks and Glenn Beck fans. In the days of Morton Downey, Jr. (and even Rush's earlier days), these folks could be pandered to, and safely ignored. Now they're on stage. There is no left-wing equivalent.

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