Ghost in the Machine

Grace Under Pressure.

“It’s like these guys take pride in being ignorant! They think it’s funny that they’re making fun of something that’s true.” I’ll be honest: If it seems like political news has taken something of a backseat around here of late, it’s mainly because the recent developments on the campaign trail — tire gauges, Paris Hilton, and the like — just seem so inordinately stupid to me, not to mention so woefully desperate by the McCain campaign, that I’ve had trouble mustering up the level of outrage to even post about them. That being said, Sen. Obama’s still on his game, and — in a few arch sentences — he’s made the mythical maverick and his bewildered GOP shock-troops look as ridiculous as they should.

Really, this election shouldn’t even be close. McCain’s shrill, doddering, and nonsensical campaign notwithstanding, I just can’t believe that the good people of this country will turn to the GOP again, after barely scraping through the Dubya years. And, summer polls aside, I’m still feeling very confident that November will witness an Obama-headed Dem deluge. (By way of colleagues at Peasants Under Glass and The Late Adopter.)

Wind in Them Thar Hills.

“Wind turbines were once a marginal form of electrical generation. But amid rising concern about greenhouse gases from coal-burning power plants, wind power is booming. Installed wind capacity in the United States grew 45 percent last year, albeit from a small base, and a comparable increase is expected this year.” Forget the black gold. According to the NYT, Texas is the new capital of wind power. It drinks YOUR milkshake.

30 Years of Night.

“On another tape, Pete Kott, the former Republican speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives, crowed as he described beating back a tax bill opposed by oil companies. ‘I had to cheat, steal, beg, borrow and lie,’ Kott said. ‘Exxon’s happy. BP’s happy. I’ll sell my soul to the devil.’” The WP surveys the sinkhole of corruption engulfing Alaska state politics, and the federal probe that threatens to swallow the state’s long-serving Senator, Ted Stevens. “‘It was common knowledge that everything was corrupt,’ said Ray Metcalfe, a former Republican legislator…’It was common knowledge, but nobody wanted to talk about it.‘”