Quote of the Day

"Conservative activist circles are abuzz with a new conspiracy theory: Polls showing President Obama with a growing lead over Mitt Romney are deliberately being skewed by the Liberal Mainstream Media so Republicans will be disheartened and stay home on Election Day. This is denial and self-delusion but not of the harmless kind. It’s a false narrative that encourages the Republican Party to take the wrong lessons from this election, no matter the outcome." -- Eugene Robinson, writing in the Kaplan Daily today.

Self-delusion has been a problem for the right wing for decades, but it's on display even more during this election season. After all the myths and lies they told each other in their own bubble, they can't explain the President's lead without injecting some loony conspiracy theory.

Birtherism, socialist takeover, ACORN voter fraud, death panels, Muslim President, apologizing for America, etc. etc. etc. False narratives are what that Party and movement have become, and an election won't change it.

The Rethugs' Immigration Dilemma

One need look no farther than the op/ed page of today's Kaplan Daily to see why Democrats salivate over the idea of a full debate on immigration reform before the November elections. Dems believe it would lay bare a fundamental schism in the Rethug ranks, between two factions. One faction believes the Rethugs can co-opt a portion of the Hispanic vote by appealing to moral and social values; they also tend to be Roman Catholic Rethugs who identify with their Hispanic co-religionists. This side is represented in today's joust by Michael "Mushroom Cloud" Gerson. On the other you have the faction that firmly believes in "law and order," and strict interpretation of the Constitution (except, as Eugene Robinson noted below, when it applies to brown-skinned people who speak Spanish). Tory George "Quill" Will takes this side today. The topic is Arizona's anti-immigrant law. No wonder the Rethugs are desperate to put immigration reform on the back burner until after November! We say, let the bloodletting begin!