Starting to Panic a Little?

As we see an increasing chorus of demands, even from the right, that Mitt do something to stop the avalanche of suspicions now swirling around his refusal to let people know how he has handled his hundreds of millions, the Romney campaign today seems to be slipping into hysteria.  Two major spokesmen for Romney ramped up the viciousness and desperation of the attacks on Obama.  One, playing the red card, claimed that Obama's backing of green energy technology was turning the United States into the Soviet Union.  And a second stated openly in the national media that Obama "doesn't know how to be an American."

We all knew that it would come down to this sort of thing in the end, but mid-July seems rather early for it.  Unfortunately, I suspect this presages a quick descent into the lower reaches of the gutter, where Mitt's campaign will ensconce itself for the next few months.

At this point, just about everyone, right and left, suspects that there is something really ugly to be learned from Mitt's tax returns; it's hard to imagine why, otherwise, he would be willingly making himself look so shady over this issue.  If he reveals the information, his surrogates are going to have to be even more vicious to turn the press away from the truth, and if he hangs tough, he evidently intends to take the same road.   Either way, it looks like we are in for a campaign of lies and race hatred the likes of which this country has never seen.

Can our democracy stand up to this assault?  I guess we will all find out soon.