• NOT IMPRESSED WITH PALIN’S SPEECH: “Let’s be honest about what we saw: a woman who was thrust into the presidential race in a farce worthy of Preston Sturges, reciting a speech written by Matthew Scully, faking as hard as she could fake, and lying as fast as she could lie.” Question: Why is Dave Weigel such a terrible sexist? [Reason]

“Neoconservatism’s problem, and electoral advantage, is one and the same: By escalating international problems into monumental crises and impending threats, interventionists such as John McCain have been able to appear knowledgeable, ’serious,’ and presidentially tough, all at once. Any competitor preaching policy restraint and rhetorical prudence looks like a wuss in comparison.” This is why John McCain will win the presidency and we will be plunged into another decade of war and bankruptcy, concurrent with a precipitous decline into global irrelevance, loss of empire, roving zombie hordes, etc. [Reason]

Our Wonkette operative in Los Angeles writes: “Front page, scroll down to the quote area right above the video player, http://www.latimes.com.” Ha, dumb! [Opinion LA]