Regarding the CAFE question: CAFE is a false god. Simply requiring auto makers to sell cars with a certain gas mileage does not require consumers to buy them. For people to choose efficient cars, there needs to be an incentive, like taxes on horsepower, GVW, or emissions. See Warren Brown's columns in the Washington Post for much more on the CAFE issue.

And as for the Prius...Toyota competes in the same market as Ford or GM. What was stopping them from building their very own Prius? Absolutely nothing. They simply chose not to develop that technology as aggressively as Toyota, which also happens to have a squeaky-clean environmental image despite building as many big trucks and SUVs as they can sell. Feel free to argue that the management of Ford or GM or Chrysler has been myopic and foolish, but to suggest that they were unable to build efficient cars because of lack of fuel economy standards is just silly.

In Europe, Ford sells a whole range of small, stylish, efficient gas and diesel cars and trucks. I think they should bring more of those over here, but until the cost of driving is close to what it is over there, Americans will continue to buy big, powerful cars. With gas prices increasing, we're already seeing a shift, but if we stop subsidizing SUVs and big trucks and tax them based on their size and physical presence, sales will plummet. But of course we won't do that, so we'll have to wait for oil to reach $200 and do it for us.

I think we'd probably get better vote outcomes with a bunch of untrained button-pushing monkeys than with the trained ones we have now. They get invited to fancy dinners and vote yes. It's probably a little too easy for them to understand.

Are you seriously trotting out "this is what most Americans really think"? You sound like a cross between Maureed Dowd's pyschobabble and David Brooks' condescension for "real Americans". How the hell do you know that most people think the way you do?

I have my own thoughts on this, but have you been reading Greenwald? He breaks down all the stupid cliches you're spouting piece by piece. The "let's avoid looking weak by doing whatever the Republicans want so they won't call us mean names later" philosophy has worked oh-so-well up to now, so gosh, I can't see a reason to stop.

Please pay just a little bit of attention to what you're saying.

King,

I know taekwondo doesn't get as much press (though maybe the Lopez siblings will change that), but the scoring is just as ridiculous. You'll see a flurry of kicks, and at the end of it, maybe one point scored. I've trained, competed, and "judged" in taekwondo tournaments, and the scoring can be just as arbitrary. At least there you get extra points for a head shot or a knockdown though. They are also moving towards electronic scoring, which I suppose would also make things fairer. But in all honesty, as much as I like the sport, it really isn't that interesting for non-taekwondoists to watch. Probably much like amateur boxing.

I bank at Suntrust (another stupid, generic corporate name), which bought out Crestar a few years back. But I only banked with Crestar because that's where my mom banked and where I opened an account as a teenager. I almost switched last year after Suntrust tried to charge me some BS fees, but like you, I was too lazy to bother once they sorted it out. I almost went to PNC, which opened a branch that was very convenient to me, but that is now something else entirely.

I'm actually struggling to think of ANY company I use regularly whose demise would bother me in any real way, other than the inconvenience. Nope...nothing.

I think you're reading this turnabout wrong. The McCain that liberals were willing to vote for 8 years ago seemed by all appearances to be a fundamentally decent guy. The McCain of the last few weeks was a nasty, mean, spiteful version. But I think that was a character he was playing because his advisers thought it was his last chance. Now he sees that the final hail Mary has failed, and that he is just fanning the flames of the crazies. The video I saw today was of a man defeated, who is now trying to salvage his legacy. Who is the real McCain? I guess we don't really know, but I'm inclined to think it's the decent version. He had his Darth Vader moment. He's realized that he can't defeat his enemy without destroying himself.

Apropos of nothing in particular, I went to summer camp with our buddy Goldfarb about 15 years ago. And gosh, he doesn't seem to have changed much at all. I've been trying to figure out which would reflect more poorly on Goldfarb, Kristol, and their ilk: that they actually believe the nonsense they spew, or they simply view it as a tool to remain in power.

Clearly these people have some functioning brain synapses, even after working on such a vile and fact-free campaign, so I'm tempted to think it's the latter. And I suspect that that IS worse. When you have Joe the Plumber on TV suggesting that Obama will bring about the end of Israel, that can be laughed off as simple (though dangerous) ignorance. But the Kristols and Goldfarbs of the world need to be put out to pasture for a good long while.