A strain of madness

The latest New York Times/CBS News poll shows a plurality of Republican voters, 47 percent, believed Mr. Obama was born in another country. (He was born in Hawaii.) Steve Benen: "I might be able to spin this into a less-depressing result ... But frankly, the effort not to believe the worst about the GOP base is a tough sell. When 47% of Republicans [are deluded] it reinforces the notion that there's a deeply ugly strain of madness that runs through Republican politics." And, it has to be said, a deeply racist one as well.