But now we have a more, uh, self-confident right wing, and consequently we have a new and different calculus. Now, Rubio as vice-president is just the security deposit. Now, Romney has to walk much farther down that trail of tears. Look again at Land’s list. I couldn’t possibly begin to tell you which of these three would be the most alarming. Letting Rick Santorum populate the Justice Department solely with lawyers from the law schools of Ave Maria and Regent University and sue—oh golly, who would he sue?—drug-store chains that sell contraceptives is a pretty unsettling thought. Newt Gingrich as ambassador (read back those four words to yourself and savor their surreal quality) to the U.N. is a match made in hell. But Bolton to Foggy Bottom probably takes the cake. It’s the most important of the three jobs, with the most at stake, and the man is a lunatic.

These sound like suggestions Stephen Colbert would make, but I’m pretty sure Land wasn’t joking. And this, in turn, makes me think: Land doesn’t make such suggestions merely because he thinks Romney needs to earn the trust of the far right. He makes such suggestioms because he has a sense that Romney just might do it. That the righties can make this guy do anything they please.