Humorless Guardians of the Banal

Do I really have to explain my jokes in each column?

Obviously, what I was trying to do here was look at the Republican field--with some irony--as a stalwart Republican might: Moderates like McCain, Newt and Rudy living as Pat Robertson would imagine a liberal to live--having serial marriages, cross-dressing (as a joke), appearing on Letterman--and evangelicals like Brownback and Huckabee sounding like Rush Limbaugh's caricature of Hillary Clinton, obsessed with Darfur and hunger.

Somehow this raised the hackles of the Media Matters thought police. Chill out, guys!

And if you don't believe most Republicans think of John McCain as a moderate, check out this in today's New York Times.

Also, a personal aside to Eric Alterman, who has been on my case--in the most futile and pathetic way--for nearly 20 years: This weekly stuff you're doing about Time's columnists... does that mean the Rick Stengel suckup campaign is over?