Winds

When I'm wrong, I'm wrong. Until now I'd thought the US had a corner on the self-destructive make-ourselves-stupid market. But darned if our neighbors to the north, whom I've always considered pretty civilized and practical, don't also have their share. In Alberta, anyway, where the weather's said to be good in the fall. Don't like science contradicting your religious beliefs in your public schools? Opt out. No sense having to think, or having your prejudices challenged. Extrapolate that!

Meanwhile, in an interesting temporal juxtaposition, a poll is released correlating attitudes toward torture with religious belief. Among the categories, evangelicals of the regular church-going variety were the most in favor of its use. Posted without comment.
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Love America, Hate Its People

Since the Karl Rove era, we've seen a pretty clear pattern: Democrats like to register voters,* Republicans like to freeze them out. For the party of "country first," the ones that like to call liberals "America haters," it's sort of a dipstick into the crankcase, coming up scorched and gritty.

Here's but one of many examples. The ubiquity suggests it's not just an Abu rogue or two: in Ohio, 2004, there's reason to believe it was rampant, and successful. This tells us a lot, not the least of which is that the party which claims to love America more than Democrats, seems to hate democracy even more. Stopping people from thinking takes at least a generation. In the meantime, until we get the minds all washed up and ready for bending (sort of a slower version of what's happening to Sarah Palin behind closed doors, away from the press), it's best to keep them from voting. If the bankruptcy (literally, nowadays) of Republican ideas isn't clear by now to everyone (and it obviously isn't, according to polls), doesn't this difference really say it all?

*I'd not go so far as to claim Democrats are of pure hands. They tried, in Florida in 2000, to eliminate military overseas ballots that were not dated properly. That was stupid. But it was legal; and it wasn't carried out. In the past, of course, they were more famous for adding votes, than subtracting them. Nevertheless, I think it's fair to say the numbers are in no way close to those potentially (and actually) disenfranchised by the party of God and Country.