Since when do candidates for the Senate walk around with their own praetorian guard that puts members of the press corp in handcuffs?
In every election there are certain moments that clarify what a political party is about. There have been several such during 2010. A few weeks ago the phony West Virginia ad used hired actors dressed up as hicks to mock the Democratic party's alleged elitist impulses showed how much of the GOP's complaints about President Obama literally amount to theater. Now Alaska Senate hopeful Joe Miller has actually handcuffed a member of the press -- an action that many conservatives, who constantly bash the so-called liberal media, would doubtless love to do en masse.
Take a look at Sarah Palin's speech this past weekend in Anaheim, CA, where she constantly threw in little sneering jabs at the press. Miller, her intellectual soulmate who also happens to hail from Alaska (what are they breeding down their besides salmon?), just took it one step further by having his goons forcibly seize Alaska Dispatch editor Tony Hopfinger, who simply had some questions about Miller's employment history, which Miller happens to find somewhat inconvenient and has vowed not to answer.
If Alaskans have any sense on Nov. 2, they'll recognize that it's not Miller time.