Short attention span opinion page, with comments

For those who don't have the time or the interest in reading the American-Statesman's Opinion page (current page available here), here are the highlights and lowlights from today's interesting array of informed (and not-so-well-informed, probably including mine) opinions:

Oh, look! Ben Sargent attacks Republicans. To be fair, the voter ID bill seems unnecessary (most of the time, I can't even find my voter registration card), but Mr. Sargent seems to think the evils of the world are all the fault of the GOP.

George McGovern weighs in on Dick Cheney and absurdly claims that he would have balanced the budget. Yeah, that's what the Democratic Party was known for doing in those days. Whatever. Mr. McGovern also believes the president and vice-president will be forced from office before the end of 2008 for "repeated violations of the Constitution and federal statutes, as well as their repudiation of international law." First of all, let's see some concrete examples of what he has in mind. Second, maybe I missed this, but since when was the U.S. governed by international law?

Maureen Dowd berates Michelle Obama for "emasculating" her (Ms. Obama's) husband. Doesn't she realize that 1) only Republicans are to be emasculated; and 2) only Ms. Dowd is licensed to perform such emasculation? The nerve! (No link available at statesman.com, probably because Ms. Dowd is employed by the New York Times.)

Jonah Goldberg marvels at the over-reliance on polls in politics. Apparently the compass of public opinion has turned once again toward getting rid of the Electoral College. Great idea, if you want presidential candidates never to visit any place with less than a million people again. (For some, with this incredibly long election season, that might not be so bad...)

And, of course, from the Letters section, there has to be someone discounting the tragedy of Virginia Tech because Iraq is "worse". Way to politicize someone's death.