DEARBORN, Michigan — Here we are in the place that best sums up America in 2007: A sad, rotten symbol of crippled U.S. industry and the vanishing middle class and the whole beat frozen rust belt dying in the American night. Also: Dearborn has many Scary Muslims! So the Republican candidates can at least always change the subject to how well foreign immigrants in Dearborn have done compared to their under-employed debt-ridden white neighbors … okay, well maybe not that exact point. Oh who are we kidding. Rudy will just chant “9/11″ until Ford magically starts selling cars again. America is back! MORE »

Having a crappy day? It’s about to get worse. There’s another GOP debate this afternoon, at the absurd hour of 4 p.m. Washington time, and 3 p.m. Detroit time — the debate is happening in Dearborn, tragic graveyard of the American Dream. So, at least all the unemployed people in Michigan are free to watch it. But they won’t because they’re all Democrat/labor union people, or maybe they’re “Reagan Democrats” or “Ted Nugent” or whatever. Anyway, we will live-blog it, dutifully and angrily, starting right here at 4 p.m. Eastern.

Supposedly this sixth GOP debate is an MSNBC/CNBC co-production starring “Mrs. Money Honey” and “Chris Matthews,” but the respective websites for those teevee channels have no mention of the debate. This is how ashamed they are, about everything. Oh, and this is Mumbly Joe Thompson’s first debate, so expect him to say a lot of dull bullshit in a folksy grumble, about how he will save us from the Soviets and the Japs and the Krauts and Sputnik, probably. How will “Fredneck” perform? Find out soon!

GOP debate is today (nice headline, guys) [Detroit Free Press]