I think McCain and his gang are terrified over the pending revelations about Palin. McCain really is an idiot, behaving on impulse. He's not the kind of guy to really think things out, and chose Palin before bothering to find anything out about her.

You play you pay. McCain has been dreaming of becoming president for decades, and the challenge is too great for him. He's like a quarterback who throws long when he's desperate. Now he's trying to stop the information about Palin from coming out. Too bad. The horse is out of the barn.

And, as I've said before in a Salon comment, he's no hero. He was shot down on his 23d bombing run over Hanoi, a mission intended to massacre civilians. If he's a hero for being tortured, then the torturees at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, Camp Cropper, Bagram, and various secret places around the planet are also heroes. Maybe some of them can get cabinet appointments.

Good work. The more information about the Palins that is out there, the more likely the country will come to its senses. The criminals who run this country depend on the stupidity and gullibility of the "American" people in order to continue in their lives of crime.

This "election" is a huge test for "America." Are we going to continue on the idiot path, or are we going to work for civilization? Of course, the "Republicans" have every intention of stealing the "election." Here in Wisconsin, the Attorney General, who is also the state chair for the McCain campaign, is working a scam to deny people the right to vote. You can read about it at uppitywis(dot)org.

One thing that will be amusing to watch is this: as the evidence mounts that Palin is not only incompetent but criminal, how the idiot class becomes more entrenched, more fanatical. These are strange times indeed.

When I'm watching something like this I pay more attention to body English, mannerisms, facial expressions, tone of voice, self-control, and the look in the eyes.

Biden looks mature and dignified, sure of himself. He may be less than his impression, but he is convincing.

Palen smiles inappropriately, her eyes look vacant, and she can't help being snide. She even winks at the camera. Her answers seem rehearsed, surprise, surprise. She's just mouthing words.

This debate probably won't make much difference, but it would be a great cosmic joke if we were to have a President Palin, yuk, yuk. Let's keep our senses of humor. We may need them badly.

This is a pretty good analysis, except for two things. One is that the ideological spectrum of "left" and "right" is a figment of the imagination. It is a model of reality that is mathematically inconsistent, directionally meaningless, and inappropriate in its application. It is also inconsistent in the association of "ideology" with group identity.

The other problem with the analysis is it falls for the conventional wisdom that media pundits and hate-mongerers like Matt Drudge and Michael Savage, to name a couple, are legitimate, true-believers, genuine "right-wingers." I see them all as fakers, grandstanders, and charlatans. Money-makers, tapping into people's fears, prejudices, and vulnerabilities.

The great insight in this post is the exposure of the real nature of "the right." It is not so much ideology as psychological condition. The real "right," such as it is, consists of ignorant, troubled, resentful people desperate for self-esteem. If big, they tend to be bullies. If not so big, they act tough, but depend on others for group strength.

I have known a number of these people. The one thing that gives them away is the sameness of what they have to say. They recite, regurgitate, and parrot propaganda inanities they hear on hate radio and TV.

Alcoholism is another common characteristic. It would take a good social scientist to fully study the correlation, but I suspect it is very high.

It is worth mentioning that extreme "left-wingers" are not so different from their "right-wing" counterparts. Grandstanding, paranoia, binary thought processes (us-them, absolute good and evil, intolerance of ambiguity, lack of nuance), fundamentalism, and group identity are all common characteristics of "leftists" I have known over the years, decades really.

Identification with either "wing" of the "spectrum" is of the ego, a complex of the mind that organizes one's sense of who one is and one's relationship to one's environment. People do not become members of one "wing" or the other because of some intellectual epiphany or burst of insight. It has more to do with one's life circumstances and mental/emotional condition than anything else.

Maybe, if we intend to save our civilization, we could start looking at the "wing" phenomenon more dispassionately and analytically. We can start by recognizing the "spectrum" for what it is: an inappropriate model of social and intellectual identity.

Joan Walsh gets a lot of nasty criticism in letters, but I find her insights valuable and sometimes inspiring.

I had to contend with my dislike for Palin in order to see things objectively. I studied her body English, mannerisms, tone of voice, and the look in her eyes. See seemed like a clown to me, winking at the camera, smirking, looking vacant, and unable to resist being snide.

The reaction to this debate will be a test of the nation's stupidity. I think Biden's sobriety, dignity, and ability to express himself statesmanlike will resonate with people more than the foppishness of Palin. We're on the brink of economic collapse. A doddering political hack posing as a "maverick" and an ethically challenged (actually both of them) gimmick candidate are not what the country needs or wants at this point. We'll see.