What’s Nathan’s deal with birther probe?

How kooky is today’s GOP? It’s off the deep end — and swimming for open sea.

What other conclusion are we to draw from U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal’s decision last week to solidify his Republican bona fides by casting his lot with the birthers?

Deal has long been the most level-headed of Georgia’s GOP congressmen. But these days, rational behavior and reasonable positions don’t win Republican primaries — just ask Dierdre Scozzafava of New York’s House District 23. If you want to compete with the likes of John Oxendine — Deal’s opponent for governor — you best be prepared to board the crazy train.

As the Tea Parties prove, this is a national phenomenon, but it’s doubly disturbing in a red state like Georgia, where most of the top elected officials are Republicans who now feel pressure to act like loons. (And then there’s Rep. Paul Broun, who really is a loon.)

In other words the GOP’s “big tent” is being reduced to a padded cell.

Lest you think this is more liberal whining, the purpose of this post is to draw your attention to an interesting blog item on the increasingly conservative Peach Pundit:

The real news here is that Deal has done what no other candidate in this race has been able to do thus far: He has taken a position so “out there” that Ox has been able to take a stance that makes him seem sensible and sane.

However, the comments suggest that not everyone on the right sees sanity the same way.