Anybody with a conscience would take that as a teaching moment, but I'm pretty sure McCain's conscience has been on vacation in Tahiti for the last 8 years.

John McCain will retire from the Senate as a political exile early next year, after being tarred by his own party as a loser and the cause of the conservative Armageddon at the ballot box. He will die before the year is out, as his melanoma returns.

Sarah Palin will be ousted as Governor of Alaska early next year, having brought shame to her state. She will re-emerge as a Fox News host by next summer.

Now this is Rovian politics 101. Notice the lack of subject in the key phrase -- an angry barrage of insults from whom? Very carefully phrased so that any angry insults on anyone's part anywhere can be attributed to Obama by implication. This excerpt also features one of my favorite Rove tactics, where you sucker-punch your opponent and then criticize them for seeming angry.

See also: "Class Warfare."

Yeah, that McCain and Palin could hear these things and not take a second to go, "ok, that's not actually what we're suggesting" is just gross.

Janene Garafolo was on Real Time recently, and made the completely accurate and oft-overlooked point that REPUBLICANS AREN'T GOOD PEOPLE. On balance, they are less decent human beings than liberals. I hate to say that (because I'm a liberal), but it sure looks to be true (because I have a functioning cerebral cortex).

There may be some truth to that statement.

Palin's acceptance of the nomination has brought a good deal of on going examination of Alaska, its society and politics. It isn't pretty, and Alaskans are increasingly unhappy that their state is being "invaded" and its politics are now being dictated by Outsiders (a somewhat derisive term), i.e. the McCain/Republican campaign. Palin's ambition has come at the expense of Alaskans and they are increasingly less and less happy about that exposure, and it is rapidly spreading beyond the scope of political affiliation.

Bob, if you believed half of what you say about this Slog, you'd never read it.

Hey, did you ever answer any of my questions about being a gay basher? I know it's kind of a rude question for me to ask, but I just want to know. Are you?

So. Are you?

Though, I do see that they are potentially less empathetic than more liberal folks I know. I don't know, something about being more focused on their own good than the good of the country (i.e., taxes and more government are bad for me).

The exception would be my fundie aunt and uncle who would vote for Tickle Me Elmo if he accepted Jesus into his heart and said that abortion is murder.

But he'll never see the Promised Land - he's too old to finish the journey.

I like to use a simple analogy to describe the conservative/liberal/progressive differences:
Imagine we have found a genie in a bottle (I like to picture this as Barbara Eden, but you can picture Brad Pitt if you'd like). We get x number of wishes. The Liberal approach is: "Let's ask for the mostest, craziest thing we can think of right now." The Progressive says: "Let's think about this for a while to make sure we make a wish that will benefit the most people." The Conservative says: "Let's put the genie back in the bottle and forget we ever had a choice."

Conservatives want to roll the clock back to some time, either real or imagined, when life was grand. For many, that is prior to Roe v. Wade, or even prior to the Civil Rights movement. They want their schools to only have kids from families that look & think like they do. They want government to promote their particular religion, and discourage that of others. They simply cannot see that these desires, if realized, will eventually weaken the very nation they love.

This is why liberals & progressives think that conservatives are "bad people". It is an inherently selfish & repressive mindset, that perpetuates a childlike view of the world.

growing up surrounded by conservatives i hated -- and rebelled against -- the moral and political bullying i was subjected to. it's sad to see some of the same sentiments and tactics used even when i agree with the bully.

African-Americans in my generation (mid-twenties) don't seem to get that the in-your-face racism is still real. I hope and pray that no matter what happens Americans,both black and white, take good hard look at just how much more work we have to do. When a black man puts himself through college, works as a community organizer and doesn't have seven homes is called an elitist, there is something very very wrong.