Amazingly, it appears that the Republican Party has some sense of shame at long last -

--Editor

Courtesy of the recent Republican Texas Convention. No kidding.

What's your favorite reason?

It's so difficult to choose JUST one.

I don't mean to gloat and upset my conservative republican family, but oh, how sweet this recent quote from former House Majority Leader and Texas Republican Tom "The Hammer" DeLay:

"The conservatives refuse to accept that the left is cleaning their clock, and until you hit some bottom, wherever that is, to where it says, 'Well, maybe we ought to do something different,' little or nothing's going to change," Mr. DeLay told editors and reporters at The Washington Times last week.

"I think it's going to take years to rebuild the party."

You may recall how Mr. DeLay's own federal indictments on campaign finance and money laundering charges contributed to sinking the GOP's "brand."

You may not have caught this given the culmination of democratic primary chatter ... former Republican Congressman (Ga.) Bob Barr is the Libertarian's presidential horse in the race for the White House.

Barr is poised to siphon off enough votes from McCain to possibly tip "red" states "blue" and guarantee a landslide victory for Obama.

My, oh my.

Republican legislators want Gov. Jim Doyle to agree not to use his veto power on the state budget, if they ever agree on one.

Fat chance, for a variety of reasons.

A Capital Times editorial correctly says that the Rs have no credibility on the issue, having never complained for the 16 years that Tommy Thompson and Scott McCallum were using the same veto power Doyle now wields.

Good point. In those days, the GOP liked the idea of three branches of government with checks and balances.

In fact, Thompson, in his ridiculous campaign for president, brags that he used his veto more than 1900 times.

Good for the goose ...

Wanna bet on how soon this gets canceled?

GOP Fundraiser Features Machine Gun Shoot

New Hampshire Republicans "will be packing some serious firepower at their next party fundraiser," the New Hampshire Union Leader reports.

"Tired of the usual chicken dinners, the Manchester Republican Committee is planning to arm supporters next month with Uzis, M-16 rifles and other automatic weapons for a day of target practice at a Pelham firing range."

Said the committee chairman: "The thought just struck me one day: a machine gun shoot. What the heck?"

Hat tip: Political Wire.

This graphic, from a recent Gallup poll, explains a lot:

The majority of Republicans in the United States do not believe the theory of evolution is true and do not believe that humans evolved over millions of years from less advanced forms of life.

Mind-boggling. You'd think even a caveman would get it.

Next survey will ask:

Does the Sun circle the Earth?

Is the really Earth flat, or was Thomas Friedman joking?