First, Giuliani:

Exhibit A

Exhibit B.

Read away. Both are quick reads and informative in their own way. While Peggy Noonan struggles with the concept of reasonableness, I’ll set the bar at basic honesty. None of these Republicans can even meet that.

Then, we have the ridiculousness that’s the Romney campaign, best summarized by this quote:

But I do not think I have ever seen a candidate who has moved so far, so quickly, so shamelessly and so cynically across the political spectrum as Mitt Romney. I say “cynically” because that’s what it is; it should be painfully obvious to anyone with clear political vision that Romney’s political conversion was borne out of nothing so much as pure calculation. He thought he could win as a conservative, so he became one. If he thought he could win as a pirate, he would have become a pirate.

Sure, that last sentence is the funniest and most accurate description of the Mitt Romney, the candidate. But, the best observation in that post has to be the final line:

But if Mitt Romney does wind up as the GOP candidate, it will be an immensely revealing election for those who had the gall to deride John Kerry as a flip-flopper.

Well, duh… but you’ll NEVER see that on the evening news or the Sunday talk shows or the political press. After all, IOKIYAR. After all, it’s not just Romney. McCain and Giuliani have some pretty egregious flips, too.

(the quote found via Atrios)

Hilzoy has an excerpt of Paul Krugman’s latest column and it’s a can’t miss. The crux of the column is that debate reporting is still terrible, pointing to a statement by professional panderer Mitt Romney who made a preposterous statement:

Mr. Romney said that war could only have been avoided if Saddam “had opened up his country to I.A.E.A. inspectors, and they’d come in and they’d found that there were no weapons of mass destruction.” He dismissed this as an “unreasonable hypothetical.”

Except that Saddam did, in fact, allow inspectors in. Remember Hans Blix? When those inspectors failed to find nonexistent W.M.D., Mr. Bush ordered them out so that he could invade. Mr. Romney’s remark should have been the central story in news reports about Tuesday’s debate. But it wasn’t.

He’s right. A gaffe of that magnitude should be grounds for ridicule and instant disqualification from running for President. It’s basic history and if a candidate can’t understand the basic timeline of the war, they shouldn’t be running. Period.

Krugman’s ultimate point, which Atrios has built an entire blog around, is that the media is still reporting on stupid surface stories rather than actual substantive issues. They should be criticizing both Republicans and Democrats when they make collosal errors like this. Instead, they revel in pointing out the trivial and the theatrical. Demand better.

Unusually partisan title, perhaps, but this is an unusual election. In 2004, America went to the polls before the pure incompetence of this administration was laid bare for everyone to see. After Katrina, the surging violence in Iraq, and numerous debacles big and small, even the least politically savvy America realizes that this administration and this Congress are a complete and utter disaster.

Oversight is one of the fundamental requirements for our government to work. This Congress has failed in that duty, and so it’s up to us to put people into office that will challenge the Administration and force them to hear other voices, to provide a forum for military commanders to legally offer public comment, and to force the administration to make changes that will serve the country better.

In 2 years, you will have an option to consider again whether you want to vote for a Democrat, but this year, this time, there’s really only one viable choice. I usually don’t try to engage in this sort of partisan demagoguery, but as long as Republican candidates need the machine built by the current Republican party leadership to raise funds, they will not and can not be an effective oversight branch.

Whatever you do, and whoever you vote for:

GO VOTE!!

Update: I was disappointed that they didn’t have any stickers to give out at my polling place, so here’s a virtual one “borrowed” from Atrios.

Just a reminder, today is primary day in CT. Whoever you vote for, get out there and vote!

If you’re a Democrat, consider voting for Ned Lamont. We need a better Senator than have-it-both-ways Joe Lieberman.