Times are so rough for conservatives, they are tuning out.



According to a release from MSNBC, the network saw year-to-year growth while “FOX News Channel Has Worst M-Su Primetime Performance Since August 2001, Lowest Total Day Since August 2008.”

Newscorpse has more context Fox can still claim the top cable news ratings, however diminished, but that's because Fox is the only thing conservatives watch. The fact that fewer of them are tuning in means, quite specifically, that fewerare tuning in.

And that's certainly the case in the broader media political sphere, from Clear Channel's problems, to Fox's ratings, to the near-disappearance of my Twitter trolls and hate mail. This malaise is rightfully earned—they took what they thought was an easy presidential election, convinced themselves Mitt Romney was a lock, and then watched in horror as President Barack Obama was easily reelected.

Their cause of gay bigotry take a serious hit as marriage equality initiatives passed for the first time, and did so easily in four states. Their golden boys Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock didn't just lose, but cost the GOP easy Senate seats. Dick Morris won't go away. Their own party establishment has declared war on them. And even the conservative party establishment is stuck with Karl Rove on their team, and boy is he ever happy to cash their checks!

Their last presidential nominee was a guy named Mitt Romney, which was really freakin' hilarious.

The nation's demographics really, really suck for them. Their strongest supporters are suffering from mortality, while their strongest opponents are just now entering the voting age population. Brown people hate them. And sure, they hate brown people right back, but that won't buy them electoral victories (outside of the South) anymore. Early polling shows Hillary Clinton beating top Republicans in Texas, Alaska and Kentucky. Kentucky! That might be worse than having the Kenyan Socialist Communist Muslim win not just once, but twice.

House Speaker John Boehner can't pass any significant legislation without Democratic support anymore, while all the filibusters in the world won't endear Mitch McConnell to his party's frothy fringe. Ted Cruz, who gets his "news" from right-wing conspiracy sites, is their supposed rising star despite being dumber than a bag of rocks. Their savior, Marco Rubio, can't read a teleprompter for 10 minutes without gagging over his own bullcrap. Their favorite media personality not named Rush, Fox News' Sean Hannity, is now pro-amnesty. And he's not the only one panicked at their demographic deficit.

Their media lies to them. Conservatives love to believe those lies, except when it bites them in the ass ("skewed"!). And if you want stupid conservative media, there's always someone willing to play that role.

George W. Bush sends naked paintings of himself to his sister.

Conservatives have lost. They know they have lost. And how do you motivate to get yourself out of bed, much less suffer through another hour of Bill O'Reilly, if the future holds nothing but further losses?

Of course it's never that simple—Republicans have rigged the game in a way that allows them unwarranted power, from gerrymandering in the House, to the filibuster in the Senate. But their power wanes by the cycle and there's no tea party on the horizon to save them in 2014. Not even the vaunted conservative bubble can change that reality.