Personally, I believe Sarah Palin is the greatest buffoon we have seen in national politics in a very long time, and certainly since I've been old enough to pay attention. However, we all do have a right to privacy regarding our votes. I was certainly raised to believe that it was rather impolite to ask people who they are voting for. It seems customs have changed a bit over the last few elections.

Though I am exuberant on this eve of a probable Obama victory, I am already more than a little concerned about the potential for the digression of the political dialogue into soccer hooligan, ad hominem attacks on the part of Obama supporters. Please, let's not recreate the same mess the Republicans have left us with just to satisfy momentary cravings for revenge or retribution! A little bloodlust is understandable considering the overall tone of the McCain campaign, but let's not turn into the thugs we are trying to replace!

And so, the little goat named W was driven away into the desert all by his lonesome...

Geez. What excellent questions Sour Loser raises. Where has liberty been? Where has the conservative movement been? Oh yes, marching in absolute lockstep with every single dictate of the Bush administration... NOW Republicans remember their principles and platform! Unbelievable.

how Republicans have marched in lockstep with W, at least up until they realized that McCain didn't have a snowball's chance in Hell if he didn't distance himself from Bush. Even Bush seemed to recognize it as he seemed be holed up somewhere (Crawford or wherever) during the days running up to, and including, Election Day.

And NOW, there seems to be a growing drumbeat over on Fox and the National Review that "conservatives need to make things every bit as difficult for Obama as liberals did for Bush." Talk about cutting your nose off to spite your face. Seemingly these people would rather see our government not functional at all, see it exist in a constant state of deadlock, than actually address any of the great, and growing, number of pressing problems we have in this country. Talk about "Country First"!

How about:

"Palin/Cthulhu 2012. Why vote for a lesser evil?"

Man, Halloween was last week. Please stop trying to scare the living bejesus out of us!

I keep telling myself, naw, it couldn't happen. Not as disgusted as people are with W. Remember how people were so disgusted with him back in 2004?....Oh, geez, it really could happen...

Yeah, I know you are right. Wasn't Jeb the one that everyone thought would be prez, rather than W? Even his own family?

I hear you about the wife. Didn't he convert to Roman Catholicism when he married her? I wonder how that will play among Catholic and Hispanic voters (that the Democrats desperately need to keep in their base). Of course, not that every Catholic and Hispanic is so hypnotically entranced by these superficialities. I know plenty that ain't. But still...

I currently live in Austin, and though most of the city voted for Obama (as did other parts of Texas, surprisingly), I have numerous coworkers that actually believe that she is the new face of the GOP. They overlook her genuine lack of intellectual curiosity because of her sass, they overlook her extreme beliefs (dinosaurs and humans...at the same time?!) because of her down-homey-ness, and they overlook her complete lack of knowledge on just about any issue (political, historical, economical, or otherwise) because of her charm.

The "We want somebody dumb like us" crowd is much greater than many may think. If you think this woman doesn't have a real chance at winning in 2012, no matter how well Obama does, you are crazy. Ditto to those who mentioned that the same thing was said about W. Who would have thought he could become president...for EIGHT YEARS?!

Please do not encourage this woman. Do not vote in Republican primaries to get her on the ticket. She just might surprise all of us, and if you thought the last eight years was bad...

"He won't have the staff to set up free speech zones. He won't be able to just walk down a street without risking someone raging at him. He'll have to hide. He'll be able to hide in pretty places, but it'll still be a cage. A gilded cage."

As much as I would love to believe this, I just don't think it is true. From what I've heard, he will be moving into a home in a very swanky Dallas neighborhood that is also deeply Republican. The rest of the time, I suppose, he'll be out at the rancho in Crawford (even more Republican).

Sure, there will be the occasional protestor. But, I just don't believe he's going to face that much public scrutiny in his day to day life. He's going to do what he's always done, completely surround himself with people that agree with him 100%. If the guy were dumb enough to move to California (definitely not Republican country), then I can see your scenario coming true.

The one bright spot that relates to your point is that I've heard, here in Austin, that the folks in the swanky Dallas neighborhood where W will supposedly be buying a home are VERY much against him moving there. Not because they haven't supported him 100%, but simply because all of the Secret Service hubbub is going to drive down the property values of their own homes. Ain't that a kick in the teeth!

Maybe I'm oversimplifying here, but it sounds like two people that are just perfect for one another...

I mean, really? What can you say to this?

Orwell's "1984" was taught to me as science fiction in school. Now, I am not so sure.

I can't think of any other example of the non-use of language to influence public opinion that comes even close to this.

I mean Clinton had his "depends on the meaning of what the word 'is' is" moment, but sheeesh.