Akkam’s Razor

• Rahmbo Chief Of Staff? You Can Kiss Bipartisanship Goodbye - I don't share Rahm's political objectives — he's the architect of NAFTA, a "free trade" hound and the godfather of the Heath Schuler immigration bill, which seeks to privatize the border and give illegal immigrants no path to citizenship. But Rahm doesn't do "bipartisan" — which I've always sort of liked about him. Not that I think the Republicans have any interest in working with a Democratic administration — particularly not the ones who are left after Tuesday. As Paul Krugmann notes this morning, the moderates will likely be purged from the party, leaving it in the hands of the extremists. They're very good at operating as an opposition party and will be only too happy to do so once again.

• Talking Points Memo | Pundit Patrol - So, what do the pundits say?
• Daily Kos: State of the Nation: Three Times is Enemy Action - This is not the first time McCain and the GOP have crashed an economy…
• Reading Between the Extremes of Obama Campaign v. Michigan GOP - ProPublica - Outrage over a news story that reported a seemingly heartless plan by Michigan Republicans to use home-foreclosure lists to challenge the residency status of voters escalated last week into the first hot-button lawsuit of the election. Accusations got ugly. American Lawyer suggested it could be this election's Florida 2000 or Ohio 2004.

No, not the war, not the 655,000 Iraqi non-combatant deaths, not the torture, record energy prices, domestic spying, the child predators, Katrina, or any one of other innumerable failures will lead to the monumental failure of modern conservatism (and conversely NOT some success of the liberal alternative). It's the moral prejorative that the elitist few attempt to mandate on the masses, with the greater story being how this is actually an emblamatic problem of American culture, ideology, and politics, and not a thin, isolated example.

Placing bets over the Internet was effectively criminalized by the federal government yesterday, as lawmakers work to eliminate an activity enjoyed by as many as 23 million Americans who wagered an estimated $6 billion last year.

How does this happen? Who has pushed for this ban? Who loses, who wins, and why?

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