That's why he is winning the online debates. I knew Ron Paul when I was involved with the Libertarians. I am no longer associated with this group, and am currently a registered Democrat. However, I've sent Ron Paul money and have watched his performance in debates and voted for him in online polls. Regardless of what I think of his other views, he is strong on foreign policy and on civil liberties. He's doing a great service to the country by running as a Republican and injecting these issues into the campaign. I know that Ron Paul would end the war and repeal the police state apparatus of the Patriot Act. Would Hillary, Obama, Edwards, etc. do the same? Not a chance. The Democrats have failed to act like a genuine opposition party. Paul won't win. However, I like what he is saying. No botnet is directing my support for Ron Paul.

Re: "but times have changed -- McCain/Palin can't win just with a base of hardcore Republicans and religious fanatics". Unfortunately, you are wrong. Hardcore Republicans and religious fanatics constitute an electoral majority in this country. Issues? Who cares about issues anyway? Most Americans are too stupid, indifferent, and/or ill informed to notice. What Americans want is a dictator - and a pretty one at that. They want war - especially a no-lose war against some pathetic country that is no match for us. Americans are not much bothered by issues like habeas corpus, torture, First Amendment rights and the like. The America that used to care about such things no longer exists. We have become a sick, half dead, pathetic caricature of what we used to be. I will continue to do everything in my power to stop McCain/Palin. However, if the (Ned) Lamont campaign has taught me anything, evil usually triumphs over good, so I am not terribly optimistic that sanity and morality will prevail this year.

I think people are missing the point about Palin. She is actually the perfect President for a pathetic ex-superpower. America, with its gutted industrial and manufacturing base, bankrupt treasury, rotting infrastructure, overextended military, and increasingly ignorant and incompetent population deserves to be led by a blowhard like Palin. She offers like-minded Americans the soothing cliches they need to maintain their delusions about America's God-given superiority. She is of course a laughingstock; however, as America becomes increasingly irrelevant, who cares? I'm still supporting Obama (I haven't given up completely yet). However, I suspect that racism will prevail over reason, and we will continue our slide into the abyss with 4-8 years of more Republican misrule.

Democracy has a fatal flaw: you can't tell people the truth and expect to get elected. Americans claim we want politicians who will tell us the truth; however, the opposite is true. What we want are candidates who recite soothing platitudes like "America, the shining city on the hill", or "America's workers are the greatest in the world". We want politicians who are expert at pandering to our delusions of grandeur, righteousness, technological wizardry, courage, moral superiority, etc. No politician dare reveal the truth, namely that we are bankrupt, both morally and economically. A bankrupt nation can't play world emperor anymore. It can't rebuild its gutted energy and industrial infrastructure. It can't provide a social safety net. And soon (like Iceland) it won't be able to import oil or food from other nations. We are on the verge of becoming a failed state. Who will tell us this truth, and who among us has the courage to listen and act?

Paglia does not deserve a forum in Salon. World Net Daily might be more appropriate. Palin is a pathetic clown; must we continue discussing this human joke?