Romney was the last wheezing gasp of the old Republican establishment. The religious right and the tea party are in command now. Sane Republicans who didn’t care to pander and grovel to the nuts jumped ship a long time. Now, belatedly, even the panderers are becoming alarmed at the strength and virulence of the RR/TP axis. The denunciations of Akin represent a final, hopeless effort to push back. It is hopeless, though. If nothing else, the unseemly fight further weakens the Romney/Ryan ticket, with the far right poised to purge the establishment completely after the inevitable defeat this November.