I recently called this one of the most brutal (early) takedowns I've ever seen.

But this is brutal, too. As some of you will be aware, today, Gordon Brown spoke to the Labour Party faithful in Brighton, and did an appallingly bad job by just about every account going-- of which this, written by my friend Alex Massie, is probably the most scathing I've read yet today. Hard to excerpt, because the whole thing is so bloody good:

Gordon Brown's speech to the Labour party conference this afternoon was, in its way, breathtaking. Breathtakingly shameless, mendacious, confused, contradictory, delusional, dishonest and irresponsible that is. It was also the speech of a Prime Minister resigned to defeat.

[...]

The Prime Minister takes the electorate for fools. But voters appreciate the appalling fiscal position the next government is going to inherit. They know that urgent action is required. But Brown pretended - as politicians are wont to do - that he could promise cakes for all and that everyone would still lose weight. Despite dozens of spending commitments - rhetorical commitments anyway - the deficit will be halvd in four years. The only thing missing was the promise of a free pony to every seven year old girl in Britain.

[...]

And, like all desperate politicians, he tried to wrap himself in the flag: Labour is the only properly patriotic party. Shameless and, in this instance, a leaf pilfered from the GOP playbook....

Mark Sanford:

"I think if anything is off the table, it's that I'm not running for president. It's 100 percent believable now."

I love Mark Sanford, but yes, this seems to be the case. [intro]

This comes courtesy of Phil Klein at the American Spectator (I'm leaving out my usual italics so you can read it more easily): [intro]

There he goes again. Newsmax has published an interview with Mitt Romney in which he once again touts his big government Massachusetts health care plan as a monumental success:

"What we were able to accomplish was to get almost all of our citizens insured without breaking the bank and without having a so-called public option," Romney says. "I think the program is a real success and that it can teach lessons to other states, and to the nation."...

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