Laura Ingraham was repeating what's about to become wingnuts' favorite theme: Republicans lost because they weren't wingnutty enough!

Bill Hemmer: Let me flip that argument around here. If the Republicans are swept out of power -- I mean, the Senate, the House, the White House -- how does the Republican Party change, do you believe?

Ingraham: Well, I think -- I heard Mary Matalin say this last night, and really, she hit it out of the park. If McCain loses, if Republicans lose seats across the board, this is a rejection of Republicans who don't follow traditional conservative principles. It's not a rejection of conservatism, or Reagan, or small government.

... I think Republicans are going to have to do some soul-searching, but not on conservative principles -- on how they governed.

Er, mebbe. But how they governed was precisely according to conservative principles!

The Big Shitpile is a direct product of conservative principles enacted in governance -- namely, the Panglossian belief that deregulation of business, and the financial sector, was an unrelievedly good thing.

Well, the people who are paying the price for that foolishness have managed to figure that out.

[H/t to Dave for the video.]