‘NOT WHERE THE FUTURE OF ANY PARTY IS’…. A surprisingly compelling exchange on ABC’s “This Week” earlier today, on the mainstream reaction to right-wing rhetoric.

I’m not generally impressed with Cokie Roberts’ analysis, but when actor/activist Jon Voight — Republicans do love their connections to the Hollywood elite — trashed the president this week, arguing Obama may have had “subconscious programming by Rev. Wright to damn America,” it is, as she put it, “cringemaking.”

The significance of a discussion like this is that a “This Week” panel like this one is about as milquetoast as one can find. And if two of the higher-profile panelists show genuine disgust for the right-wing extremism dominating Republican Party politics, it may point to a more general sense that the GOP is simply going too far for the American mainstream.

Update: The video comes by way of FDL’s hard-working Blue Texan, who added, “You know you’ve really screwed the pooch when you get put in your place by … Cokie Roberts.”

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Follow Steve on Twitter @stevebenen. Steve Benen is a producer at MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show. He was the principal contributor to the Washington Monthly's Political Animal blog from August 2008 until January 2012.