Listening to conservatives play the race card in attacking the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor, I’ve been marveling at just how self-destructive they’ve become,” Arianna Huffington wrote last night.

“Republicans have to know how bad this is for their party — especially given the shifting demographics in America. The Hispanic vote was a deciding factor in Obama’s win, so the last thing the GOP needs is to be alienating Hispanic voters. BUT THEY JUST CAN’T HELP THEMSELVES!

“It reminds me of Robert Downey Jr.‘s quote after his umpteenth drug relapse: ‘It is like I have a shotgun in my mouth, and I’ve got my finger on the trigger, and I like the taste of gun metal.’ The GOP attack dogs have an electoral shotgun in their mouth — and they’re addicted to the taste of it.”