So much for that Republican rebranding effort. As Rachel Maddow reminded us this Thursday evening, the GOP's social conservative problem is "worse than it's ever been." And the Republicans running for state wide office at the top of the ticket in Virginia don't look like they've got any interest in "taking it a little easy on the fire and brimstone hot sauce" any time soon.

And it's not just Virginia and wingnuts like E.W. Jackson and crazy comments about yoga and voodoo. We've got the Wisconsin Republicans and presidential hopeful Scott Walker with another forced ultrasound bill. The U.S. House is about to vote on a nationwide abortion ban. And then there's Rep. Trent Franks, who decided to do his best job channeling Todd Akin this week.

And last but not least we've got these "tea party" GOP senators and just about every Republican presidential hopeful showing up at the Ralph Reed's Faith & Freedom Coalition conference.

The first question that always comes to mind for me whenever I hear Ralph Reed's name is "Why in the hell isn't that guy in jail instead of having Republican politicians sucking up to him to this day?"

Steve Benen has more on the GOP's rebranding problems, which include Reed here: Three months later, GOP rebranding falls off the rails:

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Larry Flynt is sure that there is a Republican who isn't "in his heart a racist," but he's never met one.

In an interview with HuffPost Live's Alyona Minkovsk on Wednesday, the legendary publisher said that people often ask him "why I'm always knocking Republicans."

"I've been around for a long time," he explained. "I've never met a Republican that wasn't mean spirited and in his heart a racist. I never met one that wasn't."

"Now, I'm sure there are probably some that are not, but I'm just telling you what my experience has been and my exposure to conservative Republicans. They're a nightmare."

Flynt pointed out that Republicans were on the wrong side of "every single social issue," from immigration to reproductive rights and equal pay for women.

"I do not see the Republicans ever winning another national campaign in the next three to five decades," he insisted, adding that Democrats were also making a mistake by trying to be "all things to all people."

"What they should do is, they should do the right thing," Flynt said. "Let women have a voice in this country, let women have a voice in their lives. You know, let reason prevail."

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Republican state senators in Wisconsin on Wednesday silenced Democratic lawmakers while passing a bill requiring women to undergo an ultrasound procedure before being able to receive an abortion.

Wednesday's Senate session began with state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout (D) reading letters from several constituents who opposed the bill.

"The idea of -- quote -- small government is in direct conflict with big government Republicans sticking their nose my vagina," one voter named Suzanne wrote. "How can we get the conservatives -- mostly men -- to quit blaming women, many times girls, solely for unwanted pregnancies?"

A second letter pointed out that the bill's provision excluding rape and incest would not be effective because only 16 percent of rapes were reported to police.

Vinehout said that she had been touched by the letters because she had also been a victim of sexual assault at the age of 15.

"And if we truly want to make abortion rare, Mr. President, why are we defunding Planned Parenthood?" the Alma Democrat asked.

Republican state Sen. Mary Lazich, who sponsored the legislation, however, encouraged her fellow lawmakers to ignore "the theatrics surrounding" Vinehout's presentation and then launched into an impassioned speech of her own.

"If you have a loved one that's thinking about terminating their pregnancy, for crying out loud, you want them to have full information, you want them to have an ultrasound, you want them to know what's going on in that womb and what they're doing, and that they're not going to be able to change that for the rest of their life!" she exclaimed. "They make that decision, it's over! It's over in a few minutes. And then later on they can live with the fact that they terminated their pregnancy and it was the best thing for them or they killed their child and they made a horrific decision and they regret it and they wish they never would have done it!"

Following Lazich's remarks, Democrats tried to continue debate but Senate President Mike Ellis (R) called for a vote.

"It's non-debatable! Call the roll!" he shouted. "You're out of order!"

"You're out of order!" someone on the Senate floor shouted back.

"You're interrupting a roll call! Sit down! Right now!" Ellis yelled, repeatedly banging his gavel in anger.

"I understand you're afraid of this debate," Minority Leader Chris Larson (D) reportedly said, but his microphone was cut off, according to The Associated Press.

In the end, the bill passed 17 to 15 along party lines. It was immediately referred to the state Assembly, and Gov. Scott Walker (R) has said that he will sign it into law.

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MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski on Friday ripped a panel of male pundits on the Fox Business network who were upset on Wednesday by a report that said women were the primary source of income in 40 percent of U.S. households.

Fox News contributor Erick Erickson told host Lou Dobbs that the idea of female breadwinners went against nature. Fox News political analyst Juan Williams also lamented the "disintegration of marriage" and contributor Doug Schoen warned that "it could undermine our social order."

"That was like caveman central!" Brzezinski exclaimed on Friday. "What the heck was that?"

"The fact that this day and age, that we could have men talking that way is stunning," panelist Donny Deutsch agreed.

"We're in the middle of a generational divide," co-host Joe Scarborough explained sarcastically. "And, you know, Erick, my good friend -- and he's a good friend of mine -- Erick's 65 years old."

"But, no, we're in a transition here, Mika," Scarborough continued. "And for a lot of guys, it's difficult."

"I would try and counter their arguments and say the problems with our society or our social order or whatever else it was we're so concerned about was them, the cavemen," Brzezinski insisted. "They can't take it. They can't handle it."

"They're struggling through a tumultuous time," Scarborough snarked.

(h/t: Media Matters)

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Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert (R) on Thursday told a woman that she wrong to have an abortion after it was discovered late during her pregnancy that her fetus had no brain function.

At a House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice hearing to push for a 20-week abortion ban, Christy Zink testified that the bill would have required her "to carry to term and give birth to a baby whom the doctors concurred had no chance of a life and would have experienced near-constant pain."

"Being there in a neonatal ICU, I did see that there was one child there that was missing parts including a spine," Gohmert said, recalling the birth of his daughter. "And the parents ended up, when it was clear that there was no brain activity whatsoever, there was decisions that they had to make at that point."

"Ms. Zink, having my great sympathy and empathy both, I still come back wondering, shouldn’t we wait, like that couple did, and see if the child can survive before we decide to rip him apart?" he asked. "So, these are ethical issues, they’re moral issues, they’re difficult issues, and the parents should certainly be consulted."

"But it just seems like, it’s a more educated decision if the child is in front of you to make those decisions."

Earlier this month, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a similar 20-week abortion ban in Arizona was unconstitutional.

(h/t: Think Progress)

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A female former staffer for the Iowa state Senate Republicans says she was fired only hours after she reported sexual harassment by male lawmakers.

In an interview on Sunday, Kirsten Anderson told WHO-TV that she had worked as the communications director for the state Senate Republican Caucus until Friday when she was fired after providing documentation about the sexual harassment.

"When you go to the workplace, you should have a safe environment," she explained to WHO-TV's Dave Price. "Women especially should not have their body parts scrutinized, objectified. People should not be ridiculed or mocked for simply the color of their pants that they are wearing, and those sorts of things were taking place at the Capitol."

"Things that would make you blush," she recalled. "Things that you don't want your daughter, your mother, your sister having to put up with. And that sort of attitude about women -- objectifying women -- it has to change."

Anderson said she was told that the senators "had the authority to terminate me at this time."

Pressed by Price, the former staffer said that she was not prepared to name names because her complaint "was more about changing the work environment."

Ed Failor Jr., a top assistant to state Senate Republican Leader Bill Dix, on Sunday insisted that Anderson had been fired for failing to improve her work performance.

"I can assure you that under Senator Dix’s leadership, sexual harassment is not and will not be tolerated," Failor told the Des Moines Register. "She was given an opportunity to improve her work performance and it did not improve."

(h/t: Talking Points Memo)

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Former Republican Missouri Senate nominee Todd Akin said on Thursday that he wished he could take back his comments about women not being able to get pregnant from "legitimate rape" because he's "relived them too many times."

In an interview on Thursday, KSDK's Leisa Zigman asked the former candidate if he regretted telling KTVI last year that "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down" if the rape was "legitimate."

"Would you take those six second back if you could?" Zigman wondered.

"Oh, of course I would!" Akin exclaimed. "I've relived them too many times. But that's not reality."

He added: "All of us are fallible, we make mistakes, we say things the wrong way. I've relived that moment many, many times."

"Do you believe there is such a thing as legitimate rape?" Zigman pressed.

"No, no," Akin stuttered. "And I apologize for that. Of course you regret it. Well, what would it have been like if I hadn't done that?"

The former candidate also said that he had refused to drop out of the race because his supporters told not to give in to the will of "party bosses."

"Karl Rove has made himself an expert -- I lost one race, I think he managed to lose about 12 of them in one night," Akin quipped.

"I believe the party will either stand on principled positions or it's going to be replaced by some other party," he concluded, adding that he was not ruling out a possible run for office because he had a "bright new future."

(h/t: The Huffington Post)

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The invitation of Ann Coulter to CPAC this year along with the rest of their guest list, continues to prove that they learned absolutely nothing from the last election. After making a weight joke about Gov. Chris Christie, who was shunned from the event, Coultergeist went on to explain that the reason Republicans lost the Senate is that some of their candidates, like Todd Akin, just failed to keep their mouths shut, and Democrats are supposedly the ones waging a war on women.

Ann Coulter CPAC: Pundit Tells Chris Christie Weight Joke, Calls Bill Clinton 'Forcible Rapist' :

Ann Coulter spoke at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday, firing off an insult about New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's snub from the annual conference.

"Even CPAC had to cut back on its speakers this year about 300 pounds," Coulter said.

Christie wasn't he only target of Coulter's insults. She also criticized President Barack Obama and made eyebrow-raising remarks about Sandra Fluke's haircut while addressing birth control and the war on women.

"That haircut is birth control enough," Coulter said of Fluke.

Perhaps her most extreme criticism was directed at President Bill Clinton.

"The keynote speaker at the Democrat National Convention this year was forcible rapist, Bill Clinton," Coulter said.

Keep keeing it klassy Annie. Here's more of some of her "greatest hits" from her speech this Saturday.

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Laura Bush says that the Republican Party has room for all candidates -- even the ones who "frightened" women with unconventional remarks about rape.

During an interview that aired on Monday, CNN host Erin Burnett asked the former first lady if the Republican Party "has made a mistake in doubling down" and making issues like same sex marriage and abortion central to its platform, which may have contributed to President Barack Obama's re-election in 2012.

"Well, no, I wouldn't say that necessarily," Bush replied. "And every candidate was different, each one of them. There were obviously some examples of candidates that were -- that I think frightened some women, but they were the exception rather than the norm in the party."

"And, you know, all of those social issues are very, very heartfelt by people," she added. "And I understand that. There are differences, and people -- you know, there just will be. And I'm glad that in our party, we have room for all of them."

Bush was most likely referring to remarks made by former Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin, who said women could not get pregnant from "legitimate rape," and former Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, who suggested that pregnancies from rape were a gift from God. Both Akin and Mourdock lost their elections in 2012.

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Conservative columnist George Will on Sunday suggested that women shouldn't complain about the difficulties of juggling a family and a career because "no one can have it all."

During a panel discussion on ABC News, host George Stephanopolous noted that Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg had started a national conversation with her new book, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, which argues that more women need to pursue their ambition to be leaders.

"Just look at one the reaction to Sheryl Sandberg's book has done," Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) observed. "It is so hard for women to wear our ambition on our sleeve, to pursue our dreams, to believe that we can reach the top on any profession and that we should always shoot for the stars."

The Florida Democrat added: "And what Sheryl Sandberg has done for little girls -- my two daughters and little girls across America -- is written a book, a manifesto, that says it is okay to ambitious to, it's okay to want to have it all, that balance is important, but there is nothing wrong with trying have a full professional life and be a leader and succeed as a woman and also having a full family life. You don't have to choose. It can be both."

Will, however, used to an column in The Atlantic by Ann Marie Slaughter to push back against the notion that women should expect to be successful in their careers while raising a family.

"And when Ann Marie Slaughter causes a huge national uproar with an article in, I guess, The Atlantic that says women can't have it all after all, I've got news for her, no one can have it all," he quipped.