The GOP declares intellectual bankruptcy

So it comes to an end. Much of me still believes wealthy Republican John McCain III will win — and if that happens, all of me believes it will be national suicide. Never forget the powerful interests that believe they have too much to lose from an Obama presidency.

It's notable that the McCain campaign has been all attacks, all the time, against Barack Obama. McCain has no real platform, no serious position on anything. He would indeed continue not only the Bush policies, but the conservative policies that have brought us into this vale of tears. That the Republicans are left sputtering "communist" and "terrorist" shows the complete bankruptcy, exhaustion and corruption of conservatism. John McCain, who preens about his honor, has run a historically dishonorable campaign. It reached farcical proportions when the McCain campaign attacked a respected Palestinian scholar (and Christian) as a terrorist bud of Barack's — when in fact McCain had helped the man get funding for democracy efforts in Palestine.

Republicans also left warning about one-party government. Understandably, that didn't bother them through most of the Bush years, when even the federal judiciary had been turned into another branch of the Republican hack political machine.

What we actually least need is divided government. Let the winner have the ability with Congress to actually enact his policies. The electorate finally rejected single-party Republican rule, just as the system envisioned. Far from being the end of America, a Democratic majority would begin to regain the balance that made the country great. It's long past time to start addressing the big issues facing the nation, and taking power away from the oligarchy.

The other problem with the "divided-government-is-good" argument is that the Democratic Party is the last mass party — America used to have two. Democrats have liberals, conservatives, centrists, pragmatists. This diversity alone with moderate any extremism — although we are going to need some extreme measures to fix the damage from years of radical right-wing "governance."

Speaking of diversity, isn't it amazing how white the McCain rallies are — the Palin rallies more so. The Republicans may yet scare the American people into voting against Obama, but the party of Lincoln and TR has become a white, regional party of radical views, snake-handling escapes from reality and narrow appeal. Who would vote for anything they offer?

It's unfortunate that the campaign has come down to bidding for tax cuts, like a wanna-be Roman emperor making promises to the Praetorian Guard. There's no free lunch, and Americans need to pay more taxes to address our issues and pay for the profligacy of the Republicans. They also must restore an economy that will allow the prosperity to do this. That both parties instead cater to ignorance and appetites is a sign of our (perhaps unstoppable?) descent into decadence.

The day after Election Day, we will face global warming, peak oil, a hollowed-out economy, an educational and competitive crisis, a military at the breaking point, deeply corrupt institutions and, yes, the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. All the attack ads in the world won't fix any of these.