Here we see presented research-based data that proves that democracy is NOT the be-all and end-all of governmental processes. People do not make voting decisions based on criteria that reflect on a candidate's ability to perform well in the position they are attempting to occupy.

Yes, I remember Winston Churchill's quote: Democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.

Yes, I have studied European history enough to understand that the kings who have been the greatest leaders have often also been the worst parents, and therefore their successors are often the worst kings.

I mostly prefer democracy to any other form of government that I am aware of. I just want us to be aware that it is far from an ideal institution. I want us to be aware that democracy is only as good as the choices we make when we vote.

I want us to stop acting as if it is some sacred and holy and infallible system that we are beholden to force down the throats of other nations.

It is my personal experience that decisions made in the vast majority of elections have been bad decisions. Whether it is mayor or governor of the several cities and states I have lived in, or the President of the United States, I think almost all leaders I have experienced have been poor choices. The ones who have been the best are the ones who recognize their own fallibility, and therefore tend to make the fewest mistakes. I cannot think of a single person who has been a "good leader."

OK, so what do we do now? Well, I guess we continue to stumble along with the system we have. A highly flawed system that re-elected one of the worst presidents in the nation's history.

But we need to be a lot more cynical about it.

Women donated about $60 million to her presidential campaign, about half of the New York senator's total donations of more than $200 [million].

60 million dollars is less than a third of 200 million dollars.

Yes, I know that earlier it says something about donations of $200 or more. But the sentence above doesn't say that at all. Is that what it is supposed to mean? Was it written by an amateur writer?

So the Caribou Barbie is both clueless and dishonest. What does that have to do with the presidential race?

She is on the ticket for three reasons:

To be a woman on the ticket

To placate the Christianist Zealot wing of the Republican party (which was quite indifferent to McCain)

To become a distraction, to take Democrats away from the actual issues of this crucial election

She is performing extremely well in those three areas, especially the third. Note the abundance of Salon articles about her, as if she mattered at all.

She is most definitely NOT there because she has any sincere policy qualifications. Pointing out that lack is going to sway maybe 10,000 voters. Total. Across the entire country. Changing roughly zero Electoral College votes.

Because the people who are raving about her only care about the reasons I listed. Fact checking about policy qualification has no merit for them.

So, what are you trying to accomplish here?

Or are a bunch of posters having a conversation about Obama and economics and shareholders on a letters thread about Palin and her utter lack of veracity?

Is this your way of reclaiming the narrative?

The McCain campaign is creating low expectations for Palin. And doing it quite effectively, I might add.

By the time her debate with Biden actually happens, expectations for Palin will be so low that she will only need to avoid falling off the stage to "win" the debate.

And any time that Biden does anything that makes Palin look like the clueless, mendacious, Caribou Barbie that she actually is, it will be held against him.

Nothing Biden does will benefit him or the Obama campaign.

Nothing Palin does will be detrimental to the McCain campaign.

Again: No one who is supporting Palin (or by extension, McCain) will be swayed by any of this. No one.

Lowering expectations about her only helps the Republicans. All media, Far Left, Far Right, Mainstream, Salon, all of them are dancing to the tune being called by the Republican campaign strategists. And it is currently proving to be a big advantage for the Republicans. Yet McCain opponents continue to do his work for him.

I have almost given up hope for this election. I have almost resigned myself to the demise of the American Republic, and to the tyranny that is sure to follow.

We might as well get started on it. The sooner it starts, the sooner it will be over. And maybe that will slightly ameliorate it's harmful effects.

Sarah Palin wants to teach her personal creation mythology in schools, as if it were science.

Sarah Palin wants to limit sex education to abstinence-only, despite the fact that her own daughter is living proof that the end result of such a policy is teen pregnancy.

Sarah Palin has a degree in broadcasting, yet she is still incapable of pronouncing words correctly.

Sarah Palin is so weak on the issues that even after weeks of intense training and coaching, she cannot handle the slow-pitch-softball interviews of American television.

But this irrelevant nonsense from almost a quarter of a century ago is stealing our focus away from what matters.

As I have said before, the "distract the enemy" portion of the Sarah Palin choice for VP is working like a charm.