Pretzel Logic

Wow, you talk about a flip-flop. Mr. Strait Talk has been adamantly against waterboarding, but that didn't stop McCain from voting against its ban this past week. I guess he chose politics over principle, throwing another bone to the far right folks he's desperately trying to win over. Raise your hand if you want someone in the White House who will spend four more years trying to appease this crazed faction of the GOP....

I had to laugh, Newsweek had a story on how much McCain will have to twist and squirm to win over the right and yet not completely alienate the moderates and independents. We're talking a pretzel dance. Representing the right were captions of notable figures: James Dobson, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Michelle Malkin, and Glenn Beck. What an illustrious crew! If you're on the right, are you proud to have these characters representing your side, your views? If so, you need your head examined.

It used to be the right was known for Barry Goldwater, William F. Buckley Jr., and Ronald Reagan. It's gone from the semi-reasonable to cartoonish crackpots -- what progress! As the world becomes more global and complicated, the right becomes more simple-minded and intolerant, appealing to ever fewer people (thankfully). With any luck they'll eventually be inconsequential, just a bunch of nattering malcontents screaming into an empty void.