Mitt Romney campaign: Support from birther moron Donald Trump okay because Bill Maher, that's why

Pop quiz:

One of your most vocal supporters and fundraisers is a "bloviating ignoramus" who says lots of crazy shit that makes you and your entire party look like morons. Do you:

a) Refuse to distance yourself from said ignoramus, as everyone in your party with an IQ above dirt has advised;

b) Blame the media for covering your campaign event with said ignoramus;

c) Say it doesn't matter because Bill Maher, that's why.

If you're Mitt Romney, the answer is yes!

On Monday, Mitt Romney insisted that despite Donald Trump's devotion to birtherism, he's still "good people." Good enough, anyway, to help Mitt "to get 50.1 percent or more."

But then Trump went on yet another birther tirade, claiming that he simply cannot let go of his obsession with the president's birth certificate because "I walk down the street and people are screaming, 'Please don't give that up.'"

So now Team Romney has a new defense for Mitt's refusal to stop palling around with The Donald. As Romney's press secretary Andrea Saul explained on MSNBC:

"They don't agree on every subject, and if you look, the Obama campaign refuses to denounce Bill Maher when he said extremely hateful things. So you're going to see some things on both sides of the aisle."

Why won't Mitt Romney distance himself from this toxic, unpopular, idiotic conspiracy theorist? Because Bill Maher, that's why!

That explanation isn't really any better than "Hey, I need every vote I can get, for Pete's sake!" And it's not even original. Republicans invoked the "Because Bill Maher, that's why!" defense earlier this year when they refused to condemn Rush Limbaugh's multi-day attack on Georgetown University student Sandra Fluke. It wasn't wrong of Limbaugh to call her a slut because Bill Maher once told a naughty joke so shut up. But apparently it's still the best Team Romney can come up with, so they're just going to run with that some more. Because somehow Mitt Romney sucking up to Donald Trump and using him as a surrogate for his campaign is exactly like Bill Maher donating money to a Super PAC that supports the president. Exactly the same thing.

And in case that excuse doesn't work for you, here's yet another, courtesy of former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu who is, yes, a surrogate for the Romney campaign:

"It's CNN that wants to bring this up. I don't want to bring it up. Mitt Romney has made it clear that he believes President Obama was born in the U.S. You had Donald Trump on last night, and now you are asking the question this morning. It's CNN's fixation."

See? It's the stupid media that invented the birther conspiracy and refuses to make Donald Trump stop talking about it. So there! Also, Bill Maher so shut up and God Bless America Amercia!