In which I chronicle my conversion to binary thinking, maximal indignation, and zero-tolerance for "nuance," civility," or the pretensions of "fact checking."

The other day I said I thought Paul Ryan's convention speech was politics as usual--evasions and misdirections rather than outright lies. Once, I'd have said the same thing about Romney's speech too. I've changed my mind. I'm convinced that Republicans have crossed a line and are trashing the reputation politicians previously had for honesty and plain speaking. People are angry about this and I see now they're right to be. From here on it's zero tolerance for dishonesty wherever I see it. And I promise to amp up the indignation.

So I've got just one thing to say about Glenn Kessler. Fire his ass.

Of course I could criticize Kessler without calling him the filthy liar that he is. You know, exercise a little "restraint". On the one hand, on the other hand, all that crap. But leading scholars have taught us that in politics things aren't complicated, and when somebody builds a career on a lie, we need to say so. I try to be fair, God knows I try. Like Ezra Klein (what would we do without that impartial authority?) I strive to do justice to both sides. But here's the thing. At some point, you can be fair, or you can seem to be fair, but not both.