Those nice, non-unhinged Republicans:

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt lashed out at fellow Republican state Rep. Tom Brinkman for using a long knife to sever her head on a large white cake that bore her likeness, calling on him to apologize for his "sickening behavior."

"I am told Mr. Brinkman and his followers in attendance, including my opponent Bob McEwen, all laughed as he placed the knife to my throat and cut," Schmidt said in a statement that included a picture of Brinkman cutting the cake. "They had a great time pretending to cut off my head."

Brinkman, founder of the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes, quickly owned up to the deed, explaining that cutting of the cake at the group's fundraiser last week was ... symbolic.

Each year, the group names one lawmaker for its annual Marie Antoinette "Let Them Eat Cake" award, a dubious honor intended to poke fun at the politician who "displays the most blithe ignorance of the plight of innocent taxpayers."...

Brinkman, by the way, said he's not apologizing. McEwen, who is running against Schmidt of Miami Township in the May 2 GOP primary, isn't apologizing either.

Neither is [Republican] Rep. Steve Chabot, who was the featured speaker at the event. Chabot's office said the Westwood Republican left the party before the cutting of the cake.

I don't want to make too much of this -- it's harsh but it's harmless. I'm bringing it up because we'd never hear the end of it if Barbara Boxer's campaign manager's wife's third cousin had done something like this at a fundraiser for the town council candidacy of the niece of someone Nancy Pelosi had campaigned for twice. Apologies would be loudly and relentlessly demanded, night after night after night, on cable news-talk shows, and the calls would only get louder if the apology wasn't immediately forthcoming, perhaps more than once. This, however, is all just Republicans, so everyone can say "Hell no, I won't apologize" and it's fine.

(Yes, of course, it's amusing that the aggrieved party is the vile Ms. Schmidt, who called John Murtha a coward, and who won't, alas, be challenged by Paul Hackett.)