Big news coverage of the Icelandic volcano eruption and the resulting cancellation of passenger air service in much of northern Europe. No passenger planes??? How will all those people ever get where they need to go? Cue the tape of crowded airport terminals, the folks staring bleakly at schedule boards full of "FLIGHT CANCELLED" notices. And yet, and yet, I hear on public radio's "Marketplace" program that the economic impact of this massive disruption will be minimal. 
How can this be, I wonder? Then I remember: Oh yes, Europe actually has a well-developed, comprehensive system of train travel! So all those hapless passengers, who -- if they had the misfortune to be stranded at an American airport -- might be left to fend for themselves in the terminal until food supplies run low and isolated incidents of cannibalism start to break out, will instead simply get on a bus, or cab, or subway, to the nearest rail station, and board the next train. 
So why is it, again, that we don't want America becoming more like Europe? 

So Tax Day has come and gone, and as has customarily been the case throughout its storied history, the Tea Party celebrated with underwhelming crowds. Seriously: Less than 10,000 in Washington? 5K in Atlanta? Less than a thousand in NYC, far below what the police had prepared for? 
And yet the teabaggers continue to get wall-to-wall coverage in the media. While, over the years, much larger rallies and protests by left-leaning groups have been routinely ignored. To cite two recent examples:the 100,000 who gathered in Washington on March 21 in support of health care reform, and the 200,000 who marched recently for immigration reform? 
Maybe it's a "man bites dog" thing -- it's not news when leftists protest because that's what they always do, while a right-wing rally has novelty value. That's the charitable explanation, anyway. 

Just for giggles, I visited Michael Steele's blog at GOP.com. As I suspected, there have been no new posts since the first -- the one that began with the legendary sentence "The Internet has been around a while now." Which was posted on October 13. 
So for those keeping score on "What Up/Change the Game," it's Titles 2, Posts 1. Yet another embarrassing performance by Chairman Michael. 

I've been reading Trail Fever, Michael Lewis' account of the 1996 campaign. In it, there's a remarkable passage about John McCain -- a McCain who seems completely at odds with the red-meat scandalmonger who heads the GOP ticket this year. 

In her interview with Katie Couric, Sarah Palin reminded me of an unprepared high-schooler taking an essay test: desperately trying to fill the spaces in the blue book, spouting stuff almost at random to reach the desired word count. Palin explaining why Alaska's proximity to Russia gives her foreign-policy experience: 

It's very important when you consider even national-security issues with Russia. As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right next to, they are right next to our state. 

Sheesh. Her answers on the economy, the bailout, and Rick Davis are equally bad. She's got her pre-programmed talking points; otherwise, she's got nothin'. It is painful to watch, really. 
The interview does lend credence to the seemingly farfetched notion that the real goal of McCain's postpone-the-debate gambit is to scotch the vice presidential debate. His campaign has got to realize that Palin is completely unready -- especially to face someone with Biden's knowledge and experience.