APPARENTLY, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE FOR THEM TO GO TOO FAR

I knew that the Catholic League's Bill Donohue collected another scalp this week when he helped force the Smithsonian to remove a David Wojnarowicz video with a brief shot of an ant-covered crucifix, but I didn't realize how far he was going in his rhetoric until I heard an NPR story about the incident this morning. NPR's Renee Montagne tried to put Donohue's remarks in perspective:

RENEE MONTAGNE, NPR: Though the exhibit wasn't funded by federal dollars, Catholic League president Donohue says he wants Congress to eliminate all money from the Smithsonian. Donohue opposes the museums that house American artifacts ranging from Apollo space capsules to the original "Star-Spangled Banner."

BILL DONOHUE, CATHOLIC LEAGUE: Why should the working class pay for the leisure of the elite, when, in fact, one of the things that the working class likes to do for leisure is to go to professional wrestling, and if I suggested that we should have federal funds for professional wrestling to lower the cost of a ticket, people would think I'm insane. I don't go to museums any more than most Americans do.

Yup -- he wants the entire Smithsonian defunded.

I know, I know -- this is just cynical ante-upping from a guy who doesn't do anything with his life except throw verbal hand grenades and make people hate other people. But, um, really? The Smithsonian? Isn't that the kind of place even regular Americans who don't normally go to museums like to go? Don't most Americans, including a lot of rock-ribbed Republicans, want it to keep going?

But there's simply never a downside when a wingnut wants to declare himself on the side of ordinary Americans and against "elites." It's impossible to go too far. Say something nasty about "elites" and you have immunity no matter what ox you gore.

A good percentage of Heartland America actually does think the Christian right regularly goes too far; a lot of heartlanders hold televangelists in contempt and reject the Bible-thumpers' sexual moralizing. But there's nothing comparable on secular issues.

The one time these guys have ever gone too far was when Gingrich & Co. actually shut down government-funded institutions that ordinary Americans value. I suppose you can't blame Newt and his cohorts for misreading the national mood. As it turned out, there was a limit to what Newt and his buddies could actually do. But there doesn't seem to be a limit to what you can say.

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Oh, and, incidentally, the government may not subsdize pro wrestling directly, but -- as Connecticut residents learned during Linda McMahon's Senate campaign -- governments in more than one state have given World Wrestling Entertainment tax breaks for film productions. And don't get me started on government funding and tax breaks for the kinds of arenas where WWE holds its events....