If You're Still Thinking It's Too Much Trouble to Vote. . .

I don't think I've ever seen a more terrifying Harper's Weekly Review. There are a couple of bright spots, but I won't quote them; you'll need them to recover from the shock of the rest of the news.

Russian president Vladimir Putin gave a speech about the Chechen hostage debacle and declared that Russia will attack terrorists wherever they may be ("I stress, wherever they may be located"), suggesting that the Bush Doctrine, which disregards traditional principles of national sovereignty, has become the new international norm. . . . Russia's press ministry was already applying the Bush Doctrine domestically in a new assault on the media (websites were shut down, newspapers were raided), and a bill passed the lower house of parliament giving the government even more authority to ban any reporting deemed a hindrance to the war on terrorism. The United States Department of Justice defended its use of secret evidence in a case against a Muslim charity accused of giving money to terrorists but acknowledged that the use of secret evidence should be avoided in a free society whenever possible. A federal appeals court heard arguments about the detention of Yasser Esam Hamdi, an American citizen who as an "enemy combatant" has been denied counsel, a hearing, or any outside contact; Hamdi's lawyer argued that the detention is unconstitutional.

Damn it, we used to be a good example to the world. Didn't we?

Also, check out John Scalzi on voting and party affiliation.