links for 2008-09-17

Wow! Never thought I'd see Richard Cohen write this column: "McCain has turned ugly. His dishonesty would be unacceptable in any politician, but McCain has always set his own bar higher than most. He has contempt for most of his colleagues for that very reason: They lie. He tells the truth…. He serves his country differently, that's all — but just as honorably. No more, though. I am one of the journalists accused over the years of being in the tank for McCain. Guilty…. McCain has soiled all that. His opportunistic and irresponsible choice of Sarah Palin as his political heir — the person in whose hands he would leave the country — is a form of personal treason, a betrayal of all he once stood for. Palin, no matter what her other attributes, is shockingly unprepared to become president. McCain knows that. He means to win, which is all right; he means to win at all costs, which is not."