Olympia Snowe's departure is causing a lot of lamenting about the end of moderation in the Republican Party. The problem is that Snowe wasn't a moderate; she's a hard line conservative who probably falls to the right of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Yes, she voted against the Blunt amendment---in fact, it seems like it might have been the Blunt amendment that broke her ability to keep being a Republican anymore---but that vote was more about whether or not you have a grip on reality anymore, going far beyond ideology. That she'd rather quit than change parties or go independent is telling. Outside of her belief that women are people, she's a crazy wingnut; I challenge you to watch some of her speeches in the Senate for an idea of how bad off she is.
