Politics and other nightmares

There he goes again:

So, I've had two weeks of glorious vacation in which I mostly ignored the news. And one of the first stories I see on my return is this, a perfect example of why I ignore the news while on vacation these days:

North Carolina is my new favorite state:

RALEIGH, N.C. — At the moment, seven states across the country don’t levy a tax on income, and North Carolina Republicans want to make it eight, according to a powerful member of the state legislature.

Say, isn't John McCain supposed to be the one who doesn't even know how to use a computer, let alone a smartphone app?

Not-so-surprising headline: "Many in Middle East struggling to understand Obama's Syria policy"

Obama's abrupt decision on Saturday to delay the strikes that seemed just hours away is seen in the region as the latest confirmation of an incoherent U.S. approach of mixed messages and unfulfilled threats that have driven America's standing to a new low.

Our continuing conflicted feelings about Iraq inform our thinking about Syria:

John Kerry recalls his 1971 appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee:

Dennis Rodman is back in North Korea visiting his friend, and John "our soldiers were monsters in Vietnam" Kerry is now the hawk. And to complete the trifecta of strangeness:

Nancy Pelosi told reporters today she consulted her five-year-old grandson over the weekend about whether or not to support intervention in Syria.

OK, everybody switch sides, and let all the hypocrisies cancel each other out:

When Joe Weiler was editor here, he and I used to have a recurring debate about whether a constitutional convention should be called. The strongest arugment for one is that the federal government is clearly out of control and needs to be reined in. The strongest one against is the possibility of a runaway convention that could stick us with all sorts of mischief.