Sunday's Quick Hits

My Minnesota Golden Gophers are 3-0 after beating the mighty Montana State Bobcats yesterday. Can you say, "Rose Bowl?" (Irony alert.) Rose Bowl, baby!

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It was quite amusing this week to hear Sarah Palin tout her foreign-policy credentials to ABC's Charlie Gibson: Gee whiz, you can actually see Russia from some places in Alaska! By that "logic," my coworker, Keith, who travels up to within a couple miles of the Canadian border on his weekly route, is eminently qualified to be Secretary of State.

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Also amusing was the reaction of the right-wing punditry to Palin's incoherence concerning The Bush Doctrine: "Why, 90% of Americans don't know what that doctrine is!" True enough. But what ever happened to the idea that we're supposed to be electing people who are actually more capable and better-informed than the average Joe? (And, since an ignorant truck driver like me knows what The Bush Doctrine is, I think it's fair to expect, at the very least, the same level of knowledge from a vice presidential nominee.)

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Does the McCain campaign believe that, if you repeat a lie (Palin "stopping the bridge to nowhere") endlessly, then it becomes true? Are they counting on the Liberty Valance Effect?

More importantly, is the American electorate stupid enough to believe it? I keep saying it, but only because it's true: If you continue to vote for this shit, then you get exactly what you deserve. (I just wish you wouldn't keep inflicting it upon those of us who are actually paying attention.)