We've said it here before, but it bears revisiting. Has the political machinery in this country slipped a couple of gears? Has the train of political thought jumped the tracks? Does the punchbowl of politics have a few floaters in it? Am I going to quit with the metaphors and write something of substance?

It seems that being on the losing end of the elections in 2008 has snapped more than a few right-wingers in this country. We've seen the Birthers, Tenthers, and Tea Baggers making lots of noise, and we've previously written about the fringes. However, there are some "legitimate" politicians that seem to have lost it as well.

It's always a little surprising to find out when a fairly prominent politician belongs to a fringe movement. Such is the case with House Rep and GA gubernatorial candidate Nathan Deal (R-GA). Apparently, he is also a birther, having actually sent President Obama a letter asking him to produce his birth certificate. Now, a group in GA is asking Deal to prove he is eligible to be governor. Sauce for the goose... until your goose is cooked.

Another of our favorite floaters is Michelle Bachmann. We've seen her flirt with the tea baggers before, and listened to her numerous crazy ideas. So what's her latest? Taking a page out of Pat Robertson's playbook, she says that the U.S. will be cursed by God "if we reject Israel". It's good to know she's getting this information straight from the Big Guy, but I'm also trying to recall how you refer to people that hear voices in their heads. Oh yeah - schizophrenic.

Another floater meme is that global warming and global climate change are both myths, despite overwhelming scientific proof to the contrary. Another frequent visitor to these pages, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) "tweeted" recently that It's going to keep snowing in DC until Al Gore cries "uncle". HA HA! That's funny, see? Because if it's cold here in my backyard, then there's no global warming, because the rest of the globe in global warming doesn't matter. Joining him in overwhelming expressions of idiocy is another familiar name, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) whose family actually built an igloo on the DC mall and labeled it "Al Gore's New Home". Stupid is as stupid does, Forrest.

In the "without a hint of irony" category, we have RNC Chairman Michael Steele himself. After numerous claims that President Obama and his supporters have been "playing the race card", Steele himself - you guessed it - played the race card:

He "clarified" that by admitting that Obama HAS been targeted because of race:

Perhaps he's just concerned that the Republicans are losing their edge to the teabaggers, when it seems pretty clear that they are just the John Birch Society wing of the Republican party. They claim to be libertarian leaning, which means Ron Paul would seem to be a perfect candidate for them. But they are not, and he's drawn some opposition from them. Perhaps it's his non-interventionist foreign policy, or his opposition to pork (which they claim to be against, yet embrace anyway). Perhaps it's Paul's assertion that the tea party has been infiltrated with neocons. When you look at how that whole "movement" (no pun intended) has morphed, it seems like he might be correct.

Will the political discourse get crazier? Is that even possible? Of course it is, and it likely will. Only time will disclose what form that takes, and which factions will splinter, which will merge, and which will claim the dunce hat of political discourse.