Please permit me to blow your mind.

Richard Cohen took time away from shellacking his soft-serve hairdo to write a nice column on the real trouble with Fearless Leader.

Years ago, someone coined the term "neoliberal." I was never sure what it meant, and it has since fallen into disuse, but whatever the case, I'd like to revive (and mangle) the term and apply it -- brace yourself -- to George W. Bush. He's more liberal than you might think.

You recoil, I know. After all, the conventional wisdom is that Bush is the most conservative of all presidents, an advocate of limited government, minimal taxes and, when it comes to the quintessentially liberal concern with civil liberties, the man who gave us the twin black eyes of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. It's an appalling record.

But consider this: An overriding principle of conservatism is to limit the role and influence of the federal government.

But consider this: starting your serious argument by ceding that you have no idea what you're talking about is generally considered a bad thing.

But consider this: Republican obsession with all things Reagan is outright fetishistic, yet he expanded the size of the federal government.

Or consider this: the 25-30% of Americans who still support Fearless Leader and his "appalling record" aren't radicals, liberals, independents or moderates. They're the rank and file of today's Republican party-- people who support their party as zealously as they do the home team. Which is a real shame,

In fact, all the claims that G-Dub isn't really a Republican seem to coincide pretty remarkably with the days when his approval ratings were clearly going to remain in the toilet... and Repubs were getting very, very nervous about election prospects. Before that, he could do no wrong.

But I've really given the piece more time than it's worth. Go ahead and have a look if you want to see just how disingenuous, vapid, and frankly idiotic today's talking heads can be. It's stupefying.