The Republicans are not dumbing down American culture (at least, they are not the ones who are primarily responsible); they are simply appealing to the lowest common denominator in our culture in order to win. They don't believe in truth or virtue or excellence. All they care about is power. Their "best" candidate is the one who they believe can win elections. A smart, sensible, consistent Republican candidate would not win a general election. Instead, they believe they need someone like Sarah Palin (or Dan Quayle or George W. Bush) who can sway the masses through charm and fear. In that sense, Palin IS the best candidate they could have chosen to lead their party. The Republicans are also in the habit of supporting their leaders with unwavering loyalty. That's how they hold together and stay in power. So they're standing behind their candidate, and as far as they're concerned, she can never be wrong. That's how they operate. There's nothing mysterious about it.

We need to split into several countries:

Alaska, Texas, California, The Confederacy, The Great Lakes, New England, The Southwest, The Mountains, The Plains, Hawaii. (Did I leave anybody out?) Maybe NYC as our Singapore.

Eleven countries. That, I believe, would be closer to our founding fathers' original concept. The fathers never imagined we would have so many (50!) small states. They did not imagine we in Michigan would have to be ruled by foreigners such as G.W. Bush and Sarah Palin.

These new American countries might not have obvious borders. For example, Indiana might go with The Confederacy, and what do you do with Pennsylvania?

I'm tired of apologizing for our Texan and our Alaskan and other leaders I have no connection with.

Are you kidding? The GOP has had eight years of practice defending the ignorant and unqualified. Sixteen when you count the Reagan years.

I forgot the sovereign state of Oregash. Twelve countries total, then, to make us more like Europe.

Why?

Because brainwashing through relentless and total propaganda actually works.

That's why.

Sheeple aren't smart. They say "Hail Sarah" while they're led to the slaughter. Frankly, I think assholes deserve to be miserable, and judging from the way they vote, they seem to think so too. So we're in agreement here.

Does that answer your question?

I know plenty of Republicans. In fact, I am surrounded by them in my life. Some of them are as dumb as rocks, but on the whole, I would say that most of them have high standards in one sense or another. They believe in personal success. They believe in getting a good education. They believe in leading a morally righteous life. They don't like to watch trashy television shows. They want people to use proper English. The list goes on. In some ways, it was actually kind of nice to grow up in a Republican household, because it gave me the feeling that I was living a good life, and I feel like I've had high standards all of my life.

The problem is, Republicans only want Republicans to be in power, so they will support any Republican who can win. They don't mind supporting a candidate who is supported by "other" people who do not share their values. Votes are votes, right? And that's all that counts. In other words, their high standards are not reflected in their choice of leaders. Instead of demanding leaders who truly epitomize their values, they hold up their leaders as icons no matter how pathetic or despicable they might be. They blindly believe that their leaders have the qualities they expect in their leaders, because that's what they want everyone, including themselves, to believe. They assume their leaders must be good, noble, and virtuous simply because they're Republicans. "Good people never do bad things." Republicans are "good people". So Republicans, in their own minds, are never wrong.

...So that the dipsticks could emmigrate to Texas, and let the rest of us progress.

is that Joe Conason is just jealous because Sarah! went to more colleges than he did!

In 1992, it was the "it's the economy, stupid" mantra that carried the day. That may be still true given this week's events, but the Dems and Repubs split more often than not along cultural values. Palin was a culturally safe choice so that McCain could put that piece of his coalition together instantly and he could then be free to chase independent voters. The fact that she was devoid of any specific qualifications for VP was something the voters would decide, not Salon readership.

Palin's assignment was to glue together cultural conservatives and keep them in the fold and maybe pick up a few lost HRC stragglers along the way. For that matter, she has succeeded. Now that the "base" is appeased, McCain was supposed to do his thing and close the gap with Obama with the few independents that remain. McCain has failed to keep his end of the bargain and that is where we are today. All of this venting against Palin by Salon liberals is misdirected because her job is to simply to keep Kansas red, period.

Re: "She is the female Abe Lincoln, in certain ways. That is her appeal. Very simple."

Really quick, from Wikipedia:

Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865), the sixteenth President of the United States, successfully led his country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, only to be assassinated as the war was coming to an end.[1] Before becoming the first Republican elected to the Presidency, Lincoln was a lawyer, an Illinois state legislator, a member of the United States House of Representatives, and an unsuccessful candidate for election to the Senate.

As an outspoken opponent of the expansion of slavery in the United States,[2][3] Lincoln won the Republican Party nomination in 1860 and was elected president later that year. During his time in office, he contributed to the effort to preserve the United States by leading the defeat of the secessionist Confederate States of America in the American Civil War. He introduced measures that resulted in the abolition of slavery, issuing his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and promoting the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which passed Congress before Lincoln's death and was ratified by the states later in 1865.

Lincoln closely supervised the victorious war effort, especially the selection of top generals, including Ulysses S. Grant. Historians have concluded that he handled the factions of the Republican Party well, bringing leaders of each faction into his cabinet and forcing them to cooperate. Lincoln successfully defused a war scare with the United Kingdom in 1861. Under his leadership, the Union took control of the border slave states at the start of the war. Additionally, he managed his own reelection in the 1864 presidential election.

Opponents of the war (also known as "Copperheads") criticized Lincoln for refusing to compromise on the slavery issue. Conversely, the Radical Republicans, an abolitionist faction of the Republican Party, criticized him for moving too slowly in abolishing slavery. Even with these road blocks, Lincoln successfully rallied public opinion through his rhetoric and speeches; his Gettysburg Address is but one example of this. At the close of the war, Lincoln held a moderate view of Reconstruction, seeking to speedily reunite the nation through a policy of generous reconciliation. His assassination in 1865 was the first presidential assassination in U.S. history and made him a martyr for the ideal of national unity.