IN CONTRAST & WITH GRATITUDE. The wonderful comments received on the previous post about floating libertarian nations reminds me, for reasons I'll explain presently, of the comments to this Ann Althouse post, in which she tells her readers about an ad soliciting sexy intel on Rick Perry. Samples:

If it is going to be an issue for the left to use, then payback is fine for the left...

...Unless there's some sort of reason to believe that there's an issue (I'd accept it for Bill Clinton), what could they possibly prove that would be relevant?...

I have also wondered about Obama's former girlfriends. Obama met Michelle when he was 27. Really, not one former girlfriend to wax nostalgically about how dreamy Obama was in college or law school? Not one?...

Eventually someone informs the brethren that the ad was run by a Ron Paul supporter. It doesn't sink in for a long time ("Maybe Obama didn't have girlfriends. Don't ask, don't tell"). Eventually:

Libertarian types will be a much greater threat to any Republican frontrunner than any Liberal...

Every Ron Paul supporter I know personally is a flaming Leftist who loves him for being anti-war. Dummies, all...

...The douchenozzles try to dig up dirt on Perry and end up looking foolish, but being lefties, they never learn... Paultards in Texas tend to be liberals. Every one that I personally know (and I know quite a few) vote Democrat on every other slot on the ticket, knowing that Paul will never do anything that actually damages any Democrat...

Yes, Garage, Ron Paul supporters are liberals. As am I. Liberal in the real sense of the word meaning a lover of liberty (both come from the latin "liber") Or as too many call us today, "libertarians"...

Obama is scary skinny. He looks anorexic. Did you see his legs a few months back when someone snapped him in shorts. Might he have HIV or even AIDS?...

Ad nauseum. The Althouse comments provide several ripe examples of the sort of feebs, cranks, and mouthbreathers that colonize even the most popular blogs. Their domains are to the alicublog comboxes the Gathering of the Juggalos to the Algonquin Round Table.

Except at the fleeting apices of my mood-swings, I don't brag on myself much, but I will say that if there's anything about this blog that makes me proud, it's the company it keeps. Thanks, guys.