Well it only took ten hours, but NRO editor Kathryn Kathryn Jean Lopez finally decided somebody at the high-profile conservative site should at least mention Wednesday's most talked-about media story of the day, the wildly offensive NY Post cartoon. (Memeorandum posted at least 60 separate links to the raging debate yesterday.)

And what was Lopez's take? Here it was, in its entirety:

What's most ridiculous about this Sharpton-New York Post-cartoon story is that anyone takes Al Sharpton seriously.

That's it. Eighteen words. Was the New York Post wrong to print the cartoon which seemed, to many, to associate Obama with a crazed, dead chimp; a dead chimp shown dying on a city sidewalk? Was that a smart, funny, prudent, courageous thing to do? Or was it idiotic, insensitive and hurtful? Apparently nobody at The Corner has an opinion. The crew posted more than four dozen items about a wide range of issues on Wednesday. And in the last 24 hours has posted nearly 80 opinion nuggets. But when it came to addressing the simmering controversy at the conservative media anchor, Rupert Murdoch's New York Post, nobody at the NRO had much of anything to say.

It's quite extraordinary when you think about it. The writers pontificate, at the drop of the hat, on virtually every current events topic. But they are essentially mum about the Post story, except to take a shot at Al Sharpton. Why the silence? Why the refusal to even spell out the facts of the controversy to Corner readers, and why the refusal to reprint the cartoon for everyone to see? If NRO writers thought the story surrounding the cartoon was trumped-up nonsense, and that the Post showed great editorial judgment printing the cartoon, why aren't NRO's writers out front, adamantly defending Murdoch?

Conversely, if some NRO writers thought the stunt was idiotic, why won't they say so? And are they afraid they won't get published in the Post if they step out and criticize the paper?

The reason I'm focusing on NRO and its deafening silence over the Post story, is that, as I mentioned here, it's becoming increasingly clear that the Republican Noise Machine now lacks any adult supervision and has, in response to the Obama presidency, become unhinged in record time. (i.e. Malkin poses with swastika guy, the Post prints jaw-dropping monkey cartoons.)

If NRO writers think the trend is great, than they ought to support the Post. Loudly and without reservation. If they think there's something amiss, this might be a good time to raise a voice.