You can’t call it unexpected. While many conservatives have already called out Karl Rove for his foolishness in floating the theory of Hillary Clinton having a brain injury, that isn’t stopping the mainstream media from doing everything it can to defend the poor, helpless former Secretary of State. On one level, interviews like this are the very essence of why Republicans shouldn’t hedge their bets on superficial politicking when it comes to taking down The Clintons. Whether it’s “Brainghazi” (as Jon Stewart called it) or defending Hillary against all things Lewinsky, these are uphill battles that the GOP is going to have a very hard time winning, especially when Rodham’s grinning husband is hanging around to laugh it off and make fools out his wifey’s critics. And that’s why we just shouldn’t go there.

“Is the mission to persuade her not to run?” posits David Gregory. Would he ever ask a similar question of a Democrat trying to take down a Republican candidate? Of course not. But this is the way it is, folks. The Democrats have a built-in defense mechanism called the mainstream media. They’ve always had it, and they always will. That’s why 2016 truly needs to be about issues and records. When conservatives play games–or anything that resembles games, they lose. When Sarah Palin suggests that Obama is “palling around with terrorists,” she loses. Heck, not even Joe the Plumber exposing Obama’s redistribution plans could take the guy down, and that actually WAS about substance. This is why focus is key. Hillary Clinton can be taken out, but only in a very methodical, laser-like way. The more we see the Karl Roves of the world floating conspiracy theories, or even truthful ones that happen to be off-topic, the more we’ll see Bill Clinton laughing back at us…and the more we’ll see the David Gregorys of the world lending them a hand.

So let’s not waste our time giving freebies to The Clintons, eh? Anything that allows Hillary to play the victim spells bad news for the GOP.