Why Shouldn't I Gloat?

So, I'm gone ten days and what happens? Conservatism collapses as a viable ideology. A new Quinnipiac poll shows Obama trouncing McCain in Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania and he leads in every national poll, often by numbers that can't be explained away as a "statistical tie." Sarah Palin wilts under the relentless questioning of Katie Couric. (Tina Fey dined on Palin's carcass with exquisite gusto.)  In fact, the only remotely sour note for me personally was actually finding myself on the same side as ultra-right Republicans in opposing the bailout...

One columnist tut-tutted his fellow liberals for gloating over the Wall Street collapse and the disarray among Republicans. This is serious business that should be treated seriously; it's no time for schadenfreude. Well, I beg to differ. I'm quite capable of feeling concern for the middle- and l0wer-class people hammered by financial deregulation while at the same time enjoying the implosion of the malignant ideology that visited this mess on my country. For over thirty years, conservatives have ridiculed liberals, impugned our patriotism, and attacked us savagely at every turn in a effort to polarize the country to their political benefit.

Now, a month before the election, their economic philosophy has been exposed as a fraud, their foreign policy based on military might lays in tatters, and they are in grave danger of losing the presidential election to a black liberal. Why shouldn't I enjoy the moment? I'm not made of stone, you know...

The Audacity of Hype: I'm published! And by a publication I respect and that I've been reading for twenty years! The new issue of Rock and Rap Confidential, an e-zine edited by Dave Marsh and Lee Ballinger, includes a version of my blog entry "Tom Joad Lives". For a free copy of RRC -- available only via email -- write to rockrap@aol.com. Thanks to Stupid & Contagious for his support. And to Premium T. for getting me to write again...

"Dukes" Fan Cries Foul: Dave Archer writes to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

I am so incensed by Bill Maher's recent incendiary comments about Sarah Palin that I can barely hold my hands steady enough to type this letter. To say that the only type of people dumb enough to vote for Palin are the people who would wait in line to watch a "Dukes of Hazzard" movie is totally offensive and untrue. You are free to call me a dumb hillbilly who was weaned on the hilarious adventures of those good old Hazzard boys -- just don't insinuate that someone like me is dumb enough to vote for Sarah Palin.

We Report, You Decide Dept: A typical example of the "fair and balanced" reporting exclusive to Fox News:

We had a great trip to New York. I'll list the restaurants, the menus and review the highlights tomorrow, In the meantime, we're going to hit the ground running tonight when we see Alison Krause and Robert Plant: