Is Texas Governor Rick Perry Nuts?

One would think so. Yesterday he seemed to countenance talk of Texas seceding from the union because of the Obama administration's plans for more government involvement in the economy and higher taxes.

One can certainly be a critic of the new administration. But it's this kind of talk that will take the GOP straight down the road to oblivion. There is a tendency in American history for parties that have lost a painful election to go way to the fringe next time -- it's what happened in 1936 with Alf Landon against FDR for example. We could see the same thing beginning to happen here. If so, the GOP candidate of the moment will be Sarah Palin -- who appeals to the base and will lose in November 2012 in a huge landslide.

Give Obama credit for this: He has the good fortune to have a loony opposition at the moment.