GOP's Roxie and Velma

Just as the two merry murderers were fated to team up for the finale of the musical "Chicago," Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann are together now for a doubles act to machine-gun any remaining sense in American politics.

Ticket prices are higher, $10,000 a plate for a Bachmann reelection fundraiser, but the performances are pure Zellweger and Zeta-Jones parody.

Palin does her signature number about real people "clinging to guns and religion like the rest of us," and adds a new chorus about the Obama nuclear initiative being like a kid in the playground who says, "Punch me in the face--I'm not going to retaliate."

Never to be outdone in nonsense, Bachmann comes on to chirp that two years ago "I said I had very serious concerns that Barack Obama had anti-American views, and now I look like Nostradamus."

All this is Tea Party crowd-pleasing in the "Chicago" tradition: "Give 'em the old razzle dazzle. Razzle razzle 'em. Give 'em an act with lots of flash in it and the reaction will be passionate."

Some fans are even talking about a Palin-Bachmann ticket for 2012. "What's wrong with being the party of no," belts out the Alaska governor who gave up politics for show biz, "when you consider what Obama, Pelosi and Reid are trying to do to our country? So be it. Not when it violates our Constitution!"

Catchy, although some critics may turn out to be as cranky as Obama himself who, when asked about her new tune, says, "The last I checked, Sarah Palin is not much of an expert on nuclear issues."

But for the moment, that doesn't seem to matter as much as the "Chicago" rule: "Give 'em a show that's so splendiferous, row after row will grow vociferous" as Palin takes her act to New Orleans for another Republican wingding to compete with the party's up-and-coming showstopper, Liz Cheney.