that a very large number of Americans, perhaps a plurality, are evil, irresponsible people.

Not that Obama is particularly great, but by comparison with the (one million dead!) Republicans you'd have to be a psychopath to vote against him.

Psychopathy is the Spirit of the American Age, shock and awe, rendition, death camps and torture. Many or most Americans love this, they've been schooled and trained through television and video games so that mass killing is their mass orgasm.

It's hard for me to believe that even a mediocre(*) decent candidate like Obama will be allowed to win. Surely he'll be assassinated, or there'll be a state of emergency, or simply a few million people's votes won't be counted (just like the last election, where between 2 and 4 million votes, almost certainly overwhelmingly Democrat, were not counted, according to the government's own records!)

(* - charisma, excellent; strategy and tactics, good; moral and ethical value, missing. A man who can threaten to drop an atom bomb on another country, a country that's never threatened the US, for strategic reasons is not a man I could vote or support.)

Of course I don't want John McCain to win! Are you mad?!

Obama is fairly bright, if ethically challenged. We could work with that. McCain is stupid, hostile and has mental health issues, but worse, is a member of the genocidal Republican party.

No, I'm claiming that Obama, lame though he is, won't be allowed to win.

What, you think it's a good thing that Obama is threatening Iran with the atomic bomb (which is what my footnote referred to)?

I personally do not. Indeed, threatening crimes against humanity would completely eliminate Obama from consideration, except all(*) the other candidates are even more willing to murder millions of innocents (13 million people in the Tehran metropolitan area...)

Obama is very charismatic. He has great speechwriters. However, he's displayed little if any moral character.

That said, I'd again infinitely prefer the morally questionable but practical Obama to the obviously stupid and evil McCain - and to get back to my original point, the reason McCain will continue to have support is that a fairly large number of Americans are also stupid and evil.

(* - Oh, sorry, I forget that there are only two candidates. But don't blame me, I voted for Kodos.)

Thank you, I am deeply flattered. I believe that there are in fact a lot more good people out there than you'd think - unfortunately, I think we're in a time when psychopathy is all the rage, where a hyper-Randian national philosophy has destroying enemies and reaping windfall profits considered as the public peak of ethicality and the idea of "the greatest good for the greatest number" considered the very definition of evil.

I hope and pray that the pendulum will swing the other way but I fear it will be too late for the United States of America.

Most of the arguments against this idea are from fear or ignorance.

We've gotten nothing from the Democrats in the last eight years, nothing. As long as we continue to unconditionally support them doing the same bad things as the Repigs, we are lost.

"All of this drivel is about style over substance, Obama has soaring rhetoric while McCain is "disoriented.""

I dunno. I get pretty worked up on the "style vs. substance" issue (I'm very much on the substance side - ever noted how "ugly" European politicians are compared to US ones?) BUT McCain really seems barely functional: he can't deliver a speech, can't answer questions, seems in a state of confusion about key points.

If he were working with me on some project, I'd be deeply worried. Were he President, I'd be terrified.

[As taught by Robert Anton Wilson.]

Imagine you are explaining your problem to "someone else". If you're religious, think an angel; or think of a Martian or any otherworldly figure.

The being is extremely smart but completely ignorant about the world. It takes nothing for granted. You have to explain the simplest things to it.

So explain your problem to the Martian or Angel and then listen to their answer. It's shocking how accurate it will be.

Please note that I'm a "materialist" - I don't believe in Gods or spirits - but this works perfectly well if you have no religious or superstitious beliefs whatsoever, if you throw yourself into it.

(Great response, though, Cary!)

Reads like Russian show trials.

Thanks for your work, Julia - needed now more than ever.

I really enjoyed your stay, come again soon!

They deleted a bunch of comments, including at least one of mine, but they seem to have relented since.

I really tried.

But there are hundreds of thousands of Iraqis dead and most of them didn't make it to anywhere near Novak's age.

Don't get burned out. Keep your sense of perspective. If true, this isn't just an outrage, this is something that might yet land Mr. Bush in jail for a long period. Forgery is a felony.