The RNC: another reason to stay out of St. Paul

Sarah Palin stood up in St. Paul tonight and made a lot of unsurprising blah-blah-blah noises to the tune of "Yankee Doodle." Meanwhile, people in Minneapolis are getting tickets for jaywalking downtown (I'm not kidding) because, well, the Republicans are in town and everybody knows terrorists hate Republicans worst of all (and really, can you blame them?) Police on cops and bicycles are roaming downtown Minneapolis picking on random citizens, no doubt thankful to be Minneapolis cops; St. Paul cops are just glad the weather has cooled off enough that riot gear is an asset. Good ol' Robyne Robinson did her best to look solemn and concerned two nights ago, while her FOX co-anchor reported that a whopping 85 people were arrested during protests in St. Paul. And then, omigosh, Rage Against the Machine had to give an impromptu acoustic performance (complete with megaphone) to calm the savage crowds of youthful anarchists who were massing somewhere near the Xcel Center. Lock your doors!

The Economist has a great cover this week: "Bring Back the Real McCain. Hawkish foreign policy, irresponsible tax cuts, more talk about religion and abortion: all this sounds too much like Bush Three, the label the Democrats are trying to hang around the Republican's neck. We preferred McCain One." And truly there have been times when McCain sounded to me like a more attractive human than Hillary ever has, though that perception has faded as McCain's campaign has advanced. Honestly, he could have chosen the theme from The Dukes of Hazzard instead of the John Rich number and sent the same message -- I are a money-grubbin' gun-totin' redneck. What happened to the guy with the genuinely informed opinions on immigration and climate change? According to Economist he has chosen to shore up the conservative vote while alienating the Independents. So what is he -- a guy who would genuinely abandon his ideals to get elected, or a guy who will lie to as many of his own constituents as he must to get elected, or just a guy with a malfunctioning moral compass and a weak sense of self?