I thought I was the only one...

When I first drafted my post about Bob Dole, it wasn't nearly as calm and measured as it is now. I posted it and then realized it was so full of rage and venom that I might be embarrassed to read it months from now, so I toned it down.

I'm glad to see, now, that I'm not the only one who's feeling this way about the current stage of the campaign -- the normally quite rational Matt Yglesias had this to say this weekend:

"I'm really so furious about this whole situation that I don't know what to say. I'm taking out my credit card and making some donations and I would strongly advise any readers who don't feel like continuing to see a lying, cowardly, idiot who's willing to go to any lengths whatsoever to maintain his grasp on political power (and that's all there is to it, this isn't deception in pursuit of some higher goal, the man has no ideological principles whatsoever other than his own self-aggrandizement) so that the gang of criminals he's employed at the highest levels of government can avoid prosecution serve in the White House I would suggest that you do the same. The purpose of negative ads is to demobilize your opponent's supporters. Don't let it work. Give the DNC some money. Or your favorite 527. Whatever you can. It's increasingly clear that the bad actors have, quite literally, no shame whatsoever and will stop at nothing to maintain their grip on the government. "

In the comments to that post, I found a link to this, as well, from a blog called "Three Guys:"

"the Swift Boat Veterans are just the very annoying tip of a very, very big iceberg. Phony voting machines, illegal purges, voter intimidation, off-year redistricting, convenient terror alerts, the outing of CIA agents, selective declassification, manipulation of national security for partisan purposes, lying to New Yorkers about the quality of the air they breathe, completely false allegations about anyone and anything, covering up the torture our own soldiers have enacted in all our names...where will it end? Is nothing off limits? Is nothing sacred?"