I once admired Randi Rhodes, the Air America yakker, until her motormouth achieved light speed. About four months ago, she "interviewed" a guest -- someone I very much wanted to hear -- and was so rude that I kept yelling at my car radio: "Shut up, Randi...Shut up, Randi...SHUT UP, RANDI!"

(I've personally known a few women with "talkaholic" issues. All of them were pill-poppers -- except one. That lady came sliding out of the womb yammering; should I outlive her, I fully expect to hear her voice emanating from beneath the sod.)

Now Randi Rhodes has been suspended from Air America for referring to Hillary Clinton and Geraldine Ferraro as "whores."

I have mixed feelings about her suspension. She obviously should be allowed to have strong feelings against Clinton, just as I have strong feelings against Obama.

(Despite what many of you prefer to believe, I do not have strong feelings for Hillary, and wish that John Edwards held her current position. You can defend someone against a smear without being crazy about that person.)

On the other hand, Randi's rhetoric went beyond the bounds of decency. Unlike me, she does not speak only for herself; she represents a larger entity. Radio personalities can exercise decorum without mitigating their views. Decency is, for me, optional; for Rhodes, it is mandatory.

Zoom back for the larger picture.

Kos' incessant smear campaign has alienated many of his writers. The progressive blogs have created a wholly unneeded and self-destructive environment of toxicity and hate. Obama surrogates, such as Jesse Jackson Jr., have endorsed and encouraged smear tactics, while their candidate tries to remain cushioned in Bushian aloofness.

There is a reason why Republicans follow an 11th commandment. A primary race so poisonous cannot and should not end in a general election victory. The very concept of "unity" now repulses me: I would rather have carnal knowledge of a porcupine than support someone supported by Rhodes or Moulitsas. If Moulitsas offered a kidney to save my brother's life, I would let my brother die.

I was once an Obama supporter, until the repellent antics of his cult forced me to look twice at the man himself. The Obamabots view Hillary's Bosnia statement as not a trivial matter comparable to Biden's 1988 "plagiarism," but as the worst lie ever. Yet Obama's many lies -- and plagiarisms (the link goes to but one example) -- remain undiscussed within the confines of blogostan left. One cannot even mention the lie he told at the beginning of his senate career, when he said that he would not run for president in 2008.

Because of people like Randi Rhodes, I will never vote again for Barack Obama. Furthermore, this life-long Democrat now hopes for a Republican victory in November -- even if Hillary gets the nomination. That is how thoroughly the left has alienated me. I may agree with their general ideology, but I can't stand leftists on a personal level.

For me, the most important issue in the world right now -- more important than Iraq, more important than global warming -- is to send a message to arrogant, arrogant, arrogant people like Markos Moulitsas and Randi Rhodes: Never do shit like this again. Never again run a smear campaign in a primary.

Pride will always forbid them from admitting in public that they just plain screwed up. Pride will always forbid them from admitting the degree to which they mimic The Free Republic. Pride will always forbid them from admitting that the Mao-like cult of personality they created around the Savior From Illinois was actually a self-defeating tactic.

But in their secret places, power-crazed fools like Moulitsas, Rhodes, Skinner, Marshall and their compatriots must come to understand the permanent discredit they have brought to the left through their disgraceful actions. Perhaps the truth is already starting to dawn on them. (Marshall seems to be coming around.)

To paraphrase Churchill: Limbaugh-ism may be a good starter, but it's a bad finisher.