Burn down the disco . . . hang the blessed DJ

Loyal Donk Netrootsia is panicking. Three months out and tied in the national polls is a fine place to be, but heaven descend and forbid, they seem to believe that unless Barry O. goes nasty, they're gonna get shit-kicked out of Ohio and PA, thus consigning America to four more years of death-penalty-loving, war-starting, corporate-purchased executive dictatorship. Unlike the death-penalty-loving, war-starting, corporate-purchased executive dictatorship of the Community Organizer, who, like John Kerry before him, had some actual, palatable beliefs (Kerry was a serious anti-war activist) prior to discovering Ambition. (As my buddy tggp pointed out recently in comments, Obama's time in the community served principally to convince him that he'd be better off going to Harvard Law.) Although the prospect of a McCain presidency appeals to the part of me that wants civilization to burn to the ground so that we can all return to the pre-agrarian human norm--hunting, gathering, and occasionally trippin' balls--I must admit that a.) I think McCain is considerably less insane than he's obliged to appear for the actually insane voting base of his party, and b.) I still don't think he's going to win. A textbook case of Follow the Money, one need only observe where the hedged bets of Wall Street et al. are higher. This season the big money's backing Obama, and with Republican rule having pushed the mortgage sector of the finance economy toward what will surely become receivership, i.e. nationalization, not to mention all the other lousy economic news of late, the big dawgs of State Capitalism need some calmer heads to preserve the veneer of the free and independent market, someone graceful, less prone to constantly stumbling through the 4th wall.

Honestly, though, I, like friend Dennis P., usually find myself slyly rooting for a Donk victory just to watch the crummy bastards eat shit while Barack & Joe threaten Iran, send the Marines into Pakistan, ramp up the Drug War (uh, "reestablish relationships with fiends in allies in our own backyard"), advocate for the death penalty, jack around with Social Security, increase the size of the military and the scope of its responsibilities, expand the police state fix the mess that is Homeland Security, dither and prevaricate on social matters relating to The Homosexuals, pass a patchwork of mostly unfunded mandates in order to appear to be doing something about health care, and so on and so forth. Of course, Obama could yet ascend to the throne and prove to really be some kind of Muslim Communist, in which case I will be thrilled to be proven wrong.