I have no faith that this country won't elect Sarah Palin...but Palin/Glenn Beck? Are we THAT meshuggeh?

With even the most optimistic estimates having the employment picture not even BEGIN to improve until 2011, and Tim Geithner's buddies giving themselves huge bonuses instead of doing things like lending money in the aftermath of their huge taxpayer bailout, and Barack Obama's continued tossing under the bus of everyone who could otherwise be relied on to go to the mat for him, it's hard to imagine that the 2012 race won't be a real dogfight. The question is, just how angry (or racist) are people going to be, and are they willing to destroy the country in a stupid attempt to save it?

The signs are already there that the men who sit in the executive suites behind the so-called liberal media long for a Republican restoration, and if they can get a president about whom they can fantasize in a French maid costume, or dressed in dom/sub gear, or if they are like David Vitter, diapering them, well, so much the better. That every time she opens her mouth, incoherent babble comes out is immaterial. After all, we had a babbling idiot in the White House for eight years and survived, though whether we have survived or are just enduring the death rattle of a once-great nation remains to be seen.

Does anyone actually believe that if Sarah Palin looked like Barbara Mikulski, there would be this kind of fascination with her? Sure, her palpable self-delusion and ability to baldface lie without even flinching has a perverse kind of fascination. But I don't think it's her narcissistic, delusional megalomania or her willful ignorance that people find so attractive. Sure, projecting confidence can make people think you know something even when you're a blithering moron. But it's clear that Sarah Palin is all about the looks. The question is just how far those looks will carry her, and whether anger at what threatens to appear to be the utter failure of Barack Obama to clean up an economic mess that has taken nearly thirty years to make in a few short years is enough to generate a protest vote of that magnitude.

What OUGHT to make people sit up in their chairs, look at their children, and see if this is the future they want for them, is the idea that Palin hasn't ruled out choosing Glenn Beck as a running mate:

It's no secret that former GOP vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin and Fox News host Glenn Beck share great respect and admiration — so their fans can be forgiven for wondering: Is a "dream ticket" of Palin-Beck ticket completely out of the question?

Perhaps not.

Palin initially chuckled when Newsmax broached the idea. But then she had some serious words of praise for the popular Fox personality.

"I can envision a couple of different combinations, if ever I were to be in a position to really even seriously consider running for anything in the future, and I'm not there yet," Palin tells Newsmax. "But Glenn Beck I have great respect for. He's a hoot. He gets his message across in such a clever way. And he's so bold — I have to respect that. He calls it like he sees it, and he's very, very, very effective."

Now right now this isn't worth sitting bolt upright in a cold sweat in the middle of the night. And hopefully the mediapalooza that surrounds Palin's book tour (that just happens to be focused on swing states) subsides by the time the 2012 race starts to kick into gear. But when you look at how we've seen mass mob mentality take hold when a population gets angry enough, and you look at the Bob Forehead quality of the other 2012 Republican hopefuls -- the parade of dull gray men (Tim Pawlenty) and poufy hair (John Thune) whose names are mentioned, the idea becomes not so ridiculous.

But Glenn Beck? Seriously? Are we THAT crazy? I know that intellectual acumen is a devalued commodity in these days of the fall of the American Empire, but have we embraced stupidity and ignorance to that extent?

Stay tuned.