Bob Barr: come for the candidacy, stay for the commentary

Some of you may be familiar with Libertarian Party Presidential Candidate Bob Barr's faux-debate hosted by Reason magazine, broadcast simultaneously with the real one. More than anything else it struck me as sad- like getting turned down for a date and spending an hour applying false eyelashes and standing outside the museum waiting for a face you know you won't see coming down the street. But he did have a few things worth saying:

10:30- Bob Barr: [Responding to McCain's devotion to blood & treasure] McCain oughta withdraw and have Gen. Petreus run. He should just step aside and let the man who he thinks is the very best person run for president instead.

10:32- Bob Barr: [Responding to Obama] It never enters his mind that if we stop spending that money in Iraq, we should return it the American people. The only thing he's interested in is spending that money.

I've read a lot of coverage of this debate, and most of it's annoyed the hell outta me, but this ain't too bad.

Mostly, though, he failed to be interesting, witty, or even particularly intelligent. I've got no sense whatever of this man's personality, and his pedo-stache helps little. Anyone know anything about this Constitution Party candidate, so recently endorsed by the good doctor himself? I'm voting in this election, goddamnit, but I just don't know for whom. Gut says LP, but I'm open to argument.

The Left

Have I mentioned that I adore Dinosaur Comics?

In other news, Ariana Huffington will be in New Haven next week to address the Yale Political Union for Resolved: Blogs are good for democracy.

Brace yourselves.

I'll lay out my initial thoughts here, and hopefully my fellow mafiosi will pick it up and run (just because I'd rather have meta-blogging than discussions in the dining hall about blogging; it's more a propos).

The Internet as a free market of ideas is the intuitive place to go, but it's not a fitting analogy, because our economy is much more subtle than "site hits/track-backs == income", for the simple reason that you can write a post that gets a helluva lot of attention, and be the worse off for it- the blogosphere, in certain parts of town, has a long memory, and intellectual capital is hard won and easily lost. Some sites don't care- a hit is a hit, a comment a comment- but I'd really like the Union to address the lower tier blogosphere, composed of strong personalities, first name relationships, and spontaneous meet-ups in DC and NY, where no one would dare disrespect and abuse the medium- or themselves- by writing an intentionally disingenuous, nonsensically offensive post. Social/intellectual capital, people- that's the blogosphere I'm talking about.

More later on.

In Which I Finally Get Over Sam Harris

Like every good gut libertarian in high school, I was an atheist-agnostic at some point, and so asked for Sam Harris' End of Faith for Christmas sophomore year. I enjoyed it (though didn't finish it)- and have had some modicum of respect for the man ever since.

Good job, Sam, on ending that today. Yes, I'm on board with "average isn't good enough", yes, I'm on board with that "narcissism [can become] indistinguishable from masochism"- but despite these two excerpts from the piece, despite my disgust with the GOP and violent, unrelenting refusal to vote McCain and confusion about why everyone is so impressed with Palin, I don't understand this editorial.

Don't look now, but our cousin Sarah just became leader of the free world! Tune in next week and watch her get sassy with Pakistan!

Now I'm as good a misogynist as the next girl, but this is a bit much, particularly from a devout (!) rationalist like Mr. Harris.

Harris critiques the American predisposition towards elevating the average Joe to whom we (?) can relate to heroic, leadership status- but he doesn't go all the way. "Palin is unqualified!", says he, but he won't say that what we need is an educated, worldly, great man.

Throwing peas from the little league stand at the screwball pitcher from Honduras is also average, Mr. Harris. What now?