Josh Marshall explains why Mark Halperin would be more useful to society as a cosmetics testing subject than a reporter:
Talking to the Void: Mark Halperin has a highly unusual and painfully quaint column today imploring the GOP not to demagogue the Mosque issue for votes in the mid-term election. The reason simply being that it's not right. This is "your moment", he writes and commends Republicans for having "restricted yourself as much as possible to an economic message, eschewing social issues and foreign policy as you try to establish contrasts for the electorate between your brand and the Obama-Pelosi-Reid record."
What stands out most is not only Halperin's general aping of Republican language but his seemingly genuine belief that there's anyone there to appeal to. As Eric Cantor might say, C'mon. The institutional Republican party has fully (though with some notable and honorable exceptions) hoisted its sale to xenophobia and religious hatred. And as Halperin notes, at least for motivating their own voters, it's simply good politics. This is not something anybody happened into.
I've given a lot of thought to how we're going to cover this... some of what's required is simply to provide witness.... We're in a midst of a spasm of nativist panic and raw and raucous appeals to race and religious hatred. What effects this will have on the November election strikes me as not particularly relevant. What's important is compiling some record of what's afoot, some catalog for understanding in the future who was responsible and who was so willing to disgrace their country and their principles for cheap advantage.
