PRACTICALLY THE ONLY THING REPUBLICANS KNOW HOW TO DO, BUT THEY DO IT EXCEEDINGLY WELL

I've said many times that Republicans couldn't govern their way out of a paper bag, but they know how to do two things well: line their contributors' pockets and practice character assassination on their enemies.

One reason they're much, much better than Democrats at besmirching character is that they spend inordinate amounts of time perfecting the ability to walk right up to the line separating "acceptable" and "unacceptable" discourse and getting as close as possible to "unacceptable" without (because they've also mastered deniability) going over that line. Democrats still don't have any idea how that works, and when they try to return fire, as often as not they are perceived as having crossed the line.

And here we go again:

Only 22% Say McCain Ad Racist, But Over Half (53%) See Obama Dollar-bill Comment That Way

Sixty-nine percent (69%) of the nation's voters say they've seen news coverage of the McCain campaign commercial that includes images of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton and suggests that Barack Obama is a celebrity just like them. Of those, just 22% say the ad was racist while 63% say it was not.

However, Obama's comment that his Republican opponent will try to scare people because Obama does not look like all the other presidents on dollar bills was seen as racist by 53%. Thirty-eight percent (38%) disagree....

Character assassination is the modern Republican Party's Manhattan Project, its race to the moon, its construction of the Pyramids. Just imagining what could be accomplished if this much brainpower were actually devoted to an endeavor that benefits the human race is enough to make a grown man weep.