Hoping for 'Yo-leven'

Watching Mitt Romney flip-flop and outright lie on the campaign trail is a wonder to behold. But his political performance art differs little from past presidential candidates. You may wonder: how do they get away with it? As New York magazine's Jon Chait explains, the answer is painfully simple: "As it happens, most persuadable voters lack much information about politics or policy, and tend to vote like that. It's a true but regrettable fact of democracy. I don't blame Romney for taking advantage of it, the way candidates in all parties everywhere do." It sorta underscores the truism that history is mostly a crapshoot made by people who don't know the rules of craps.