Republican self-marginalization through denial rather than apologism

Paul Krugman talks about the 'Republican Rump' and how the remnants of the GOP are stuck with the intolerant core.

Palin: 'tinkle-down intellectuallism'

Jason Whitlock talks about giving Palin the benefit of the doubt, and what she went and did with that.

The Good Guys

Ironic that I just mistyped 'the good goys...'

In the debate tonight, someone queried 'what will you do if Iran attacks Israel?'
Which then lead to a discussion of nuclear proliferation.

My questions are these:
1) Why do we get to mandate who the 'good guys' are, and not a multinational group such as the U.N? I'm talking specifically here of our impending nuclear sponsorship of India; yet if Russia so sponsored a nation of their choice, as the kids say, shit would go down. Yes, I understand that India is viewed as stable, allaying fears of the misuse of a future government or dictator, but that we can condone such double standards when it would seem that's an important mediation the UN provides is nothing but hubris.

2) I wish they would ask the candidates, "What would you do if Israel nukes Iran?"

STAY INFORMED:
Snapshot of upcoming Supreme Court Cases.

An interesting look at the Public Records Requests made of Sarah Palin's office since her VP pick. Especially the top meta-request, for a list of such requests made and their completion status.

Last, a followup to the above, on Palin's staff's delay of releasing her emails.

In the tank...

The New Yorker's thoughtful and expressive editorial endorsement of Obama.

Also from the New Yorker, an 8-page exploration of middle America's fears surrounding zeitgeist and this election.

And yes, the cartoons are included.

Duck Hunt

When asked what the worst thing Cheney did in her career as VP, Palin comes up with 'that time he shot a dude.'

Sarah Palin and Foreign Policy

An analysis of Palin's interview with Couric, and the fundamentally frightening weaknesses revealed even beyond her stammering clutching at talking points.

John McCain and the Lying Game

Here, Time Magazine (online) discusses the unprecedented nature of McCain's smear campaign.

Sarah Palin and Russia

In which Sarah Palin, nominee for Vice President of the United States, yet again wavers between inarticulate and criminally ignorant.

Section 8

Read this, regarding the proposed bailout (and a groundbreaking betrayal of the concept of checks and balances.)

I can't say it better than the writer of this article

First post?

One of my friends posted a rant on Facebook, and responding to a part of it that touched on frustrations I've had come growling to life in this election season inspired the below short post.

--If this is a federal crime about Palin's privacy, why is it the media simply yawned when it got leaked that every household in the states is wire tapped?--

Because it was 'perfectly legal.'
The problem is that the (mass market) media today is a business, serving the lowest common denominator in the interest of readership numbers, and not a vehicle of protest.

It's not the media's perceived place to call attention to a problem within the system (and I hate to use such college-reactionary jargon.)

As it stands, it's illegal for a private citizen to invade the privacy of another, but the downside of the representational democratic process is that unless we protest, we've essentially signed an agreement to abide by the decisions of our politicians; in this case, who's allowed to invade our privacy and what they can do with the extracted data. It's an infinitely huger thing but the same as the little waiver you sign when you get Facebook: anything you do here can be analyzed and sold, basically.

The only thing we can do to check the actions of our representatives is to educate ourselves and encourage others to do so. It's an extremely classist thing to say, but the last eight years can be laid at the feet of the understandable self-interest of the few, and the criminal ignorance of the many.

Who can we blame for perpetuating that?