Daniel Larison states what we all know: That newly-announced Republican candidates Santorum, Graham, Perry and Pataki have zero chance of getting their party's nomination.
He discusses, as many do, these folks' reasons for entering a contest which they can't possibly win…but I never see anyone discussing one reason that always occurs to me. It's the same reason Max Bialystock wanted to produce Springtime for Hitler. Has anyone ever really followed the money on all these going-nowhere presidential campaigns? Has anyone investigated how often the candidates profit in financial ways? I mean, above and beyond getting Fox News contracts, book deals and higher speaking fees.
I remember one article back when Pat Buchanan was mounting his unsuccessful presidential bids that claimed he had found perfectly-legal ways to pocket a lot of the money that citizens were donating for his candidacy…like having his advertising handled by a company that his sister owned and which claimed a large percentage of the money for its services. Was that true? I dunno. I think it would be interesting to find out if any of the cash that people donate to support Rick Santorum's efforts winds up buying groceries and goodies for Rick Santorum's family.
Larison's piece is over on that well-known left-wing commie website, The American Conservative. While you're over there, you might want to read Kelley Vlahos on how John McCain and Lindsey Graham are trying to rewrite history to blame the Iraq war and ISIS on Obama.
And Rob Dreher has a piece on how some on the Fox News comment board have been enjoying the death of Joe Biden's son and the breaking of John Kerry's leg. I point this out for the benefit of my friend Roger who thinks this kind of assholishness is only on display on Liberal message boards. No, I'm afraid, all sides have some really, really swinish members.