Matt Taibbi on the 2012 election

The Rolling Stone writer asks (and explains) why there is so little excitement around this year's race

Published January 3, 2012 6:47PM (EST)

Writing -- or, more accurately, typing -- is difficult for me today as a result of a disagreement two of my dogs had with each other earlier this morning, one they shamefully attempted to resolve through the use of their teeth (rather than through diplomacy, as they've been taught). When, being the natural peacemaker that I am, I attempted to separate them, one of the combatants mistook my hand for the face of the dog at whom she was angry, and sunk her quite large teeth into that hand, rendering it more or less useless for the day. We have many dogs and they virtually never fight, so this was a very unusual canine drama.

Fortunately, Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi has written one of the most succinct and accurate summaries of the 2012 presidential election and the state of American politics generally that has been written in awhile. If you follow my recommendation to read it, you will be in very good hands while my hand convalesces.

Also worth reading: The Onion on Obama's signing of the indefinite detention bill (here's Rupert Murdoch -- yes, that Rupert Murdoch -- opining on the same topic); this ABC News story examining the killing of a 16-year-old boy and his 12-year-old cousin by an American drone attack in October (it notes that documentation of drone victims is very difficult "since drones often target people who show up at the scene of an attack": think about that); and finally, this vitally relevant answer from NYU Journalism Professor Jay Rosen from a 2009 interview I conducted regarding perceptions about what is and is not politically possible and how citizens often unwittingly exclude their own beliefs from the political mainstream.


By Glenn Greenwald

Follow Glenn Greenwald on Twitter: @ggreenwald.

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