That is a neat trick. If Limbaugh is the voice of conservatism, conservatism must want Obama and, thus, America to fail. After eight years of seething hatred -- plenty of it deserved -- for George W. Bush, this brand of contrived indignation touches a new level of creative dishonesty.

Of course, there is always some gullible and amateurish Republican spokesman -- which is to Washington what a hooker is to Las Vegas (or, uh, so I'm told) -- who picks a needlessly counterproductive fight with Limbaugh. Inevitably, the Republican offers a feeble apology regarding the "inarticulate" or "inartful" initial statement.

The Democrats call this transaction "kissing the ring."

Democrats don't kiss rings. They don't pick fights with allies. Democrats are about peace, after all. Half the Democratic Party's leaders would show up at a Daily Kos convention, and that Web site peddles some of the hardest far-left ideas in this country. I guess you could make the case that progressive bloggers are the intellectual force and energy behind the Democratic Party.

Democrats don't tell union bosses who bankroll their campaigns to buzz off. They rarely question their president. Congress doesn't even bother reading the trillion-dollar bills they send to Obama to sign.

Republicans, conversely, are fighting over their future -- a future that grass-roots figures, such as Limbaugh, certainly will be a part of. In the meantime, Democrats are hoping Republicans fail to come to a consensus and regroup, even though two vibrant parties are always healthier for the nation than one.

And many of us are hoping that all those in power fail, because those in power have a grating habit of being annoyingly self-righteous, hopelessly corrupt, resolutely incompetent and completely apathetic about the freedoms that they have sworn to protect.

Embrace the failure. It's patriotic.