The Republican party is in shambles and wingnut/washed up rocker Ted Nugent knows just how to fix the party.

Make no mistake, conservative values and ideologies are embraced by Americans. The polls all indicate Americans are fed up with the Pelosi-led, do nothing congress, and do not support more government programs and control. Sounds to me like we have a conservative revolution brewing.

Conservative leaders and thinkers such as Newt Gingrich, Jed Babbin, Governor Jindal of Louisiana, Thomas Sowell, Glenn Beck, Michelle Malkin, Governor Sarah Palin and others need to turn up the heat and bring this less government, more individual freedom and strong national defense revolution to a boil. It is time.

Ted calls his piece: Rino Season Is Now Open He's so delusional he doesn't seem to understand that Americans have voted down Conservatism completely by electing Obama with a huge mandate. And the Democrats are closing in on 60 seats in the Senate. Yes Ted, Americans sure are fired up about conservatives. And how does he feel about Obama?

Nugent: I was in Chicago last week I said---Hey Obama, you might want to suck on one of these you punk? Obama, he's a piece of shit and I told him to suck on one of my machine guns...Let's hear it for them. I was in NY and I said hey Hillary---you might want to ride one of these into the sunset you worthless bitch...Since I'm in California, I'm gonna find-- she might wanna suck on my machine gun! Hey, Dianne Feinstein, ride one of these you worthless whore. Any questions? Freeeeedom!

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Sarah Palin was really good at talking out both sides of her mouth during her interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer today. No sooner had her utterly phony pledge to "aid" the Obama administration going forward come out of her mouth than she said this:

PALIN: Well, I still am concerned about that association with Bill Ayers. And if anybody still wants to talk about it, I will, because this is an unrepentant domestic terrorist who had campaigned to blow up, to destroy our Pentagon and our U.S. Capitol. That's an association that still bothers me.

And I think it's still fair to talk about it. However the campaign is over. That chapter is closed. Now is the time to move on and to, again, make sure that all of us are doing all that we can to progress this nation.

Keep us secure, get the economy back on the right track, and many of us do have some ideas on how to do that and hopefully we'll be able to put all of that wisdom and experience to good use together.

BLITZER: So looking back, you don't regret that tough language during the campaign?

PALIN: No, and I do not think that it is off-base nor mean-spirited, nor negative campaigning to call someone out on their associations and on their record. And that's why I did it.

Funny thing about that: When Max Blumenthal and I dug up her multiple associations with far-right extremists in Alaska -- people who fomented for Alaska's secession, indulged in militia-organizing activities, fawned over Bo Gritz, and whose leader was murdered in an explosives deal gone bad -- and when CNN aired that information, here's what we heard from the McCain campaign:

CNN is furthering a smear with this report, no different than if your network ran a piece questioning Senator Obama's religion. No serious news organization has tried to make this connection, and it is unfortunate that CNN would be the first.

It's kind of hard to tell just exactly how discussing the record of Palin's conduct in public office, enabling and collaborating with far-right extremists, is somehow similar to the bogus claims that Obama is Muslim, or has anything at all to do with Palin's religion.

But Palin clearly has a double standard when it comes to bringing up "associations."

Open Thread below...

Carly Fiorina is appalled:

"I am appalled by the Obama campaigns attempts to belittle Governor Sarah Palins experience," said RNC Victory 2008 Chair and senior McCain adviser Carly Fiorina today in a statement. "The facts are that Sarah Palin has made more executive decisions as a Mayor and Governor than Barack Obama has made in his life. Because of Hillary Clintons historic run for the Presidency and the treatment she received, American women are more highly tuned than ever to recognize and decry sexism in all its forms. They will not tolerate sexist treatment of Governor Palin."

Democrats are even more appalled by the racist McCain campaign's ongoing and clearly racist belittling of Senator Obama's experience and qualifications.  

Ham-handed identity politics.  As American as campaigns to pass anti-flag burning amendments. And just as lame.

Gordon Smith started the trend, and is indeed still at it.

Chris Shays, too, apparently feeling the heat from Orange to Blue challenger Jim Himes campaign.

What's afoot? The need to distance themselves as far as possible from a failed Republican brand, summed up by this recent McClatchy headline: Absence of Bush and Cheney cheers Republican delegates. Unfortunately for McCain, that distancing extends beyond just Bush and Cheney, but to him, too. In fact, Gordon Smith is so desperate to disassociate himself from the top of the ticket, he's skipping the convention, despite the fact that his is one of the marquee Senate races for Republicans this cycle.

But none of it is quite as dishonest and despicable as Dino Rossi, the Realtor turned candidate for governor in Washington state, who also happens to be a wholly owned subsidiary of the Building Industry Association of Washington. Rossi went on TV the night of Obama's acceptance speech, congratulating the Senator (leaving McCain entirely out of the mix) and stressing his own bipartisan ideals. Too bad he doesn't have any.

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The BIAW is a lot more honest about Rossi's "bipartisanship":

"Don't Let Seattle Steal This Election," say 61 billboards plastered across Eastern Washington by the BIAW at a cost of $160,000.

The reference is to Gov. Chris Gregoire's 133-vote margin in the 2004 gubernatorial election. Of course, the election was finally decided in a Wenatchee courtroom by a Chelan County Superior Court judge.

Looking at voter turnout figures after the election, Republicans privately cussed themselves while publicly going after Gregoire. Conservative, pro-Dino Rossi counties fell far short of the voter turnout percentages of Seattle and King County.

The BIAW obviously is trying to rouse inland Washington. In so doing, it is spreading resentment and dividing the state.

Rossi has attempted to "distance" himself from those billboards, but he hasn't demanded that the BIAW take them down. So much for making nice. It also seems he hasn't had much to say about this nice smear of Obama from fellow Republicans in Snohomish County.

The head of the Snohomish County Republican Party apologized Tuesday after the organizations booth at the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe sold "$3 bills" depicting Barack Obama wearing Arab headgear and featuring a camel. [...] Obamas face, in the traditional Arab headgear, is pictured above the words "Da man."

The Arab headgear and the camel on the bill are clearly references to the false rumor spread by some Obama critics that he is a Muslim.

For all these efforts on the part of all these Republicans to pretend like they're for change, too, you'd think they'd start with their own parties at home. But this isn't really about change, it's just about saving their own hides. As northwest political observer Randy Stapilus says,

This doesnt just signify being in a tough political spot; this signifies seeing a massive storm coming, and frantically trying to build some shelter against it.

Nielsen has a politics blog now:

The final night drew the largest audience so far for the Democrats (24.5% of all American homes), eclipsing the audience reach the three previous evenings.

Also, from TV Week, note the Lieberman review:

The second day of the Republican National Convention ended with NBCs prime-time special winning a competition of small audiences.

According to preliminary national data from Nielsen Media Research, the three broadcast networks combined racked up a viewership of less than 11 million viewers, compared with the 14.8 million viewers who watched the networks coverage on the comparable night of the GOP gathering in 2004. That's also down from the 12.48 million who watched Senator Hillary Clintons call for unity among Democrats last week at that party's convention in Denver.

Two factors are worth noting: Hurricane Gustav's assault on Louisiana had essentially set back the Republicans attempts to get momentum by a day. Also, Democrat-turned-Independent Sen. Joe Liebermans speech, which closed the GOP show in St. Paul, Minn. Tuesday night, was not expected to be a stem-winderand it lived up to expectations.

Tonight should be a big night. Tomorrow is a wild card, but likely not ot match tonight in any way.