slade:

I find whiskey’s alpha-male analysis a bit tiresome. Sure, if you look at fundamentalist Mormons, older men excommunicate younger men so they can keep most of the women to themselves. The younger men are irate, their outrage is a justifiable reason why fundamentalist Mormons get so much bad press. While polygamy may make sense in rare circumstances, polygamy can only become the principal building block of a society if murder and warfare are regarded as a normal part of manhood. Hence the Ottoman Law of Fratricide.

Still, I think there’s more to politics than the male sex drive. Although Muslim society has polygamy, polygamy’s role in fostering war and conflict is often vastly overstated, particularly when there are other reasons in Arab and Arabophile cultures for militancy.

Even when whiskey does have a point, he often overstates the case. Earlier this year, he counseled complacency, claiming there was no possibility of Obama winning because white working class voters wouldn’t stand for it. He presently counsels complacency because he thinks there is no possibility of Obama losing. His fatalism can even lead one to wonder if actually wants Barack Obama to win!

Earlier this year, I pointed out that Barack Obama probably doesn’t need any white working class voters who don’t comply with the demands of their labor union. Now, I also point that John McCain has a serious chance of winning. I think the election could go in any direction. It could be an Obama landslide. It could be a McCain landslide. It could be a close election with a razor thin margin on either side, with twenty states holding recounts and a frenzy of lawsuits throughout the United States. The election controversies could so convoluted that state legislators choose the Electors simply to ensure that their state gets represented in the Electoral College at all.

Much is up in the air. It is still possible for Barack Obama to lose this election, or for John McCain to win it.