Why isn't it appropriate to ask about the formative relationships (Obama) has had? The types of relationships that may have influenced Barack Obama’s views on public policy and on government decision making? Why is the media more intent on learning the type of plumbing license Joe the Plumber has than on exploring the obvious questions about Barack Obama's formative relationships with people such as the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers — people with views far outside the mainstream, where most voters find themselves?

Clearly a good deal of desperation is being felt in the ranks of the Republican congressional caucus.

Meanwhile, evangelical Christians in Colorado Springs are awaiting the election with a sense of dread, according  to an article in the U.K.'s Guardian. One church-goer, unaccustomed to seeing himself in the minority, moaned "Has Obama through mass hypnosis figured out a way to bypass the critical faculties of all Americans?"

Yes, mass hypnosis! That must be the only way to explain it.