The conservatives have rightly complained about the fiasco that was the CNN/YouTube debate, to say nothing of Chris Matthews' execrable moderating. Now the shoe is on the other foot, and it doesn't fit any better on that side.

The recent, less-than-informed coverage of the death of Benazir Bhutto reminds us of Neville Chamberlain's infamous comment about Czechsolovakia as " a faraway country about which we know nothing."

With fifty states in the union, we have fifty different laboratories in which to test different approaches to a problem.

Don't regulate campaign finance; just require disclosure.

Can we have a little dignity please?

By taking this preposterous action, the CIA has provided a signal service.

Having been put on the scent, the blogosphere discovered that this was only the tip of the iceberg.

Not only don't we need one, we're better off without one.

Unlimited money, unlimited visibility, unlimited clout - what could possibly go wrong?

Somehow, we have reached the point where we view democracy and elections as ends in themselves. But they aren't.