Der Spiegel speaks for me:

“Africa is a country. The Taliban rule in Libya. Muslims are terrorists. Immigrants are mostly criminals, Occupy Wall Street protesters are always dirty. And women who claim to have been sexually molested should kindly keep quiet.” Welcome to the wonderful world of the Republican Party. Or rather: to the distorted world of its presidential campaign.

For months it has coiled through the country like a traveling circus, from debate to debate, from scandal to scandal, contesting the mightiest office in the world — and nothing is ever too unfathomable for them… These eight presidential wannabes are happy enough not only to demolish their own reputations but also that of their party, the once worthy party of Abraham Lincoln. They are also ruining the reputation of the United States. They lie, deceive, scuffle and speak every manner of idiocy. And they expose a political, economic, geographic and historical ignorance compared to which George W. Bush sounds like a scholar. Even the party’s boosters are horrified by the spectacle…

Platitudes in lieu of programs: in serious times that demand the smartest, these clowns offer blather that is an insult to the intelligence of all Americans. But as with all freak shows, it would be impossible without a stage, the U.S. media, which has been neutered by the demands of political correctness, and a welcoming audience, a party base that seems to have been lobotomized overnight. Notwithstanding the subterranean depths of the primary process, the press and broadcasters proclaim one clown after the next to be the new frontrunner, in predictable news cycles of forty-five days.

The article I linked to is in its original German, and I couldn’t find an English translation on the site, but it would seem that Harper’s either did or translated it themselves, and hence the above paragraphs. Here is what Harpers takes away from the German perspective:

The most important observation Spiegel offers is this: At a time of mounting crisis, when much of the world is looking to the United States for leadership and initiative, the celebration of sleaze and ignorance that has marked the Republican primary is damaging the reputation of the nation as a whole. Even those who despise the G.O.P. should be concerned about the depths to which the party has sunk.

I don’t have it within me to be “concerned” about the depths to which the party has sunk, because they have dragged down to the depths with them. The only thing I can really do is never, ever, ever, vote for a Republican for any office at any level of government for as long as I live. And suggest to others that they do the same. As punishment for where the Republican Party has taken us as a nation. Because to do otherwise (i.e. voting for a Republican for any office anywhere at any time) would be a full fledged endorsement of everything that has gone on in that party.

It occurs to me that Mitt Romney has been and is pursuing the very same “Inevitability” strategy that Hillary Clinton tried in 2008. It didn’t work for Clinton, no doubt in part to the quality of her opponents in the Democratic primary. But I thought up until a few weeks ago that it was going to work for Romney, because his opposition was splintered among several weak, crazy and flawed candidates.

I thought, eventually, conservatives and Republicans would settle on him just because that is what Republicans do. As a party, they nominate, almost always, the next Republican in line for the Presidency. They voted for Ford in 76 against Reagan because Ford was the President. They voted for Reagan in 1980 because it was Reagan’s turn after having failed in 68 and 76. They voted for Bush in 1988 because he was the Vice President and it was his turn. They voted for Dole in 96 because he was the next in line. In 2000, a Bush restoration was desired by the rank and file of the Republican Party as a repudiation of Bill Clinton. And that is what they got. In 2008, it was John McCain’s turn, as he tried and failed to gain the nomination in 2000. In 2012, it was Mitt Romney’s turn, as he tried and failed to gain the nomination in 2008.

But he’s an asshole. A phony. He has a Master’s Degree in Flip Floppery. He has no character, no core, no principles. He just wants to be President.

I am also shocked it was Fox News that challenged him. Usually their questions to GOP candidates involves such queries as “Isn’t this puppy cute?” and “Was Reagan the bestest Presznit ever?” and “How much does Obama suck?” That must mean he has lost the Fox News primary.

Michele Bachmann told an Iowa crowd today that, were she President right now, she would close down the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, I guess in retaliation to the storming of the British Embassy yesterday. Now, no doubt, the thought of Bachmann being President right now has caused you to start screaming, or laughing, or both, uncontrollably. I will wait for you to stop.

Still going, are you?

Well, let’s move on, shall we. The problem with Bachmann’s declaration is that the United States has not had an embassy open in Iran since our own embassy was stormed back in 1979. Iran and the United States have not had official diplomatic relations since then. A lack of knowledge of this basic fact is rather stunning, especially from a member of a party that has constantly criticized President Obama on Iran. And Michele, you recently claimed you “haven’t had a gaffe.” My dear stupid wingnut, this is a gaffe.

Thankfully, you will never be President.

A new Insider Advantage poll in Florida shows Newt Gingrich way ahead with 41%, followed by Mitt Romney at 17%, Herman Cain at 13%, Rick Perry at 7%, Ron Paul at 4%, Michele Bachmann at 3% and Rick Santorum at 1%.

Gingrich is the primary beneficiary of Cain’s possible withdrawal, according to the PPP:

Our last national survey found that Gingrich’s favorability with Cain voters was 73/21. Meanwhile Romney’s was 33/55. That’s the same basic trend we’ve seen in every Republican primary poll we’ve done in the month of November. On average in 7 polls we’ve done this month Gingrich’s favorability with Cain voters is 69/22. Romney’s average is 31/57. In other words Gingrich’s net favorability is 73 points better with Cain supporters than Romney’s.

[…] On average across six polls we’ve asked a second choice question on this month 37% of Cain voters pick Gingrich to only 13% for Romney. In fact Romney isn’t any more likely to be the second choice of Cain supporters than Michele Bachmann (14%) or Rick Perry (12%).

A new Pew Research poll finds that since the 2010 midterm elections, the Tea Party “has not only lost support nationwide, but also in the congressional districts represented by members of the House Tea Party Caucus.”

“More Americans say they disagree (27%) than agree (20%) with the Tea Party movement. A year ago, in the wake of the sweeping GOP gains in the midterm elections, the balance of opinion was just the opposite: 27% agreed and 22% disagreed with the Tea Party.”

“Throughout the 2010 election cycle, agreement with the Tea Party far outweighed disagreement in the 60 House districts represented by members of the Congressional Tea Party Caucus. But as is the case nationwide, support has decreased significantly over the past year; now about as many people living in Tea Party districts disagree (23%) as agree (25%) with the Tea Party.”

Tom Jensen on Romney:

“You want to know the biggest reason Mitt Romney hasn’t surged at any point in the Republican Presidential race this year? It’s because the more GOP primary voters across the country have been exposed to him, the less they’ve liked him. There are 13 places PPP has polled the Republican race in October or November where it also did a poll sometime between January and March. In those places Romney’s net favorability has dropped by an average of 15 points over the course of the year.”

Shoving piles of free money at rich people is how we fix things these days, so while I’m not sure what this means – if “the markets” like it, it must be good.

The U.S. Federal Reserve, acting with five other central banks, took steps Wednesday to boost the troubled global financial system by making it cheaper for banks to trade in U.S. dollars.

The Fed — along with central banks of the eurozone, England, Japan, Switzerland and Canada — announced a coordinated plan to lower prices on dollar liquidity swaps beginning on December 5, and extending these swap arrangements to February 1, 2013. The effort is meant to “ease strains in financial markets,” the Federal Reserve said in a press release. Meanwhile, the People’s Bank of China also announced a plan to increase liquidity Wednesday by lowering its reserve requirement ratio for financial institutions by half a percentage point.

U.S. stock futures surged after the announcement and European markets rose sharply.