Political articles of note

Surfing the web this morning....

Republican Infighting - How Fun!

This is an interesting article which is a collection and summary of coverage by a number of writers regarding the infighting within the Republican campaign.

Yes, you read that right. The Republican monolith appears to be cracking, and occasional peeks of internal squabbling are evidently visible. Obviously, this would seem to be good for the Dems who, almost miraculously, seem to have refrained from shooting themselves in the foot as is their typical practice. Perhaps I should be quiet. There is still a week left. In the meantime it could be fun to watch the Republican campaign implode.

Very interesting endorsement of Obama

This is a long article on Obama from a long-time colleague at the University of Chicago. Here's a bio of the author (the guy's got cred, for sure). Interesting. I particularly like the idea that Obama likes to explore various sides of any argument before making up his mind. There are always multiple facets. In America we too often look at things as "either-or" when they are more often "could-be-this, or that, or that, or even that."

Al Qaeda for McCain - This is alarming in several respects

I did not believe this when I read the first article the other day, but it appears to be true. Evidently Al Qaeda is supporting McCain because having a hawk in the White House is better for recruiting than having someone in the White House whose name is, oh, I don't know, maybe something like "Barack Hussein Obama." [Aside: It seems to me that for all the Republican Right Wing-Nuts' efforts to make an issue of Obama's middle name as a negative within America, it seems that it might play very differently in the rest of the world.]

It is pretty scary to think that there could be an attack between now and election day. The theory is that an attack by Al Qaeda would swing voters in McCain's favor because Americans believe the tough guy would be better protection. It is sort of the kind of reverse psychology one uses on children, because they think Americans are stupid. [I am terrified they could be right.]

I also wonder if the people in the present administration would make any real effort to stop an attack they knew would benefit the Republicans. I have to say that I am totally aghast that the thought even occurred to me. What is worse, after thinking about it, I realized that I believe the present administration is so utterly morally bankrupt, they might be capable of exactly that kind of Machiavellian behavior. Lord, have mercy on us all.