The wingnuts flip out in comments.

Dare suggest that producing energy consuming meat such as cattle could be harming the planet? Save the planet, eat less meat apparently is a latte-drinking tree-hugging sandal-wearing Nazicommiesocialistic idea.

Dare attack Palin, the hope of the GOP base?

Palin, Limbaugh, Beck … now it’s Republicans seeing the downside. Some moderate conservatives see danger in the vociferous right, especially among broadcast pot-stirrers. They want to advance the GOP by changing the tone.

Arguing if one would vote for a military man in 2012 or not...

Proving Krugman right in the comments thread of his article: The Politics of Spite.

But more important, the episode illustrated an essential truth about the state of American politics: at this point, the guiding principle of one of our nation’s two great political parties is spite pure and simple. If Republicans think something might be good for the president, they’re against it — whether or not it’s good for America.

To be sure, while celebrating America’s rebuff by the Olympic Committee was puerile, it didn’t do any real harm. But the same principle of spite has determined Republican positions on more serious matters, with potentially serious consequences — in particular, in the debate over health care reform.

I can remember when Democrats and Republicans had very civil discussions over the ways to run the government. We needed both sides to balance each other out, to keep both sides in check, to keep us open to new ideas but also to keep us on an even keel.

Not any longer. To quote Krugman again:

The only difference now is that the G.O.P. is in a weaker position, having lost control not just of Congress but, to a large extent, of the terms of debate. The public no longer buys conservative ideology the way it used to; the old attacks on Big Government and paeans to the magic of the marketplace have lost their resonance. Yet conservatives retain their belief that they, and only they, should govern.

The result has been a cynical, ends-justify-the-means approach. Hastening the day when the rightful governing party returns to power is all that matters, so the G.O.P. will seize any club at hand with which to beat the current administration.

It’s an ugly picture. But it’s the truth. And it’s a truth anyone trying to find solutions to America’s real problems has to understand.

Update: Criticizing Justice Sotomayor ... just because.