The Dish

It’s easy to ridicule him, laugh at him, and mock him. But the North Korean dictator remains one of the most heinous mass murderers in history and the state he runs one of the vilest on the planet. It’s no surprise he is also a eugenicist:

The North Korean regime’s obsession with racial purity has led to the killing of disabled infants and forced abortions for women suspected of conceiving their babies by Chinese fathers, according to a growing body of testimony from defectors.

The latest description of Kim Jong-il’s policy of state eugenics came from a North Korean doctor, Ri Kwang-chol, who escaped last year and told a forum in Seoul that babies with deformities were killed soon after birth.

"There are no people with physical defects in North Korea," Ri said. Such babies were put to death by medical staff and buried quickly, he claimed. He denied ever committing the act himself.

Murdering the weak and starving the poor: the tools of dictators everywhere.

(Photo: KCNA/EPA.)

Here’s part of how it was mortgaged for power:

Alongside a 38 percent increase in government spending in five years came the inevitable corruption. When vast increases in spending are at stake, they act like a homing signal for every sleazeball and lobbyist in the country. The number of registered lobbyists in Washington doubled under five years of Bush Republicanism, according to reporter Jeffrey Birnbaum. His explanation? "In the 1990s, lobbying was largely reactive. Corporations had to fend off proposals that would have restricted them or cost them money. But with pro-business officials running the executive and legislative branches, companies are also hiring well-placed lobbyists to go on the offensive and find ways to profit from the many tax breaks, loosened regulations and other government goodies that increasingly are available."

It has been a free-for-all at the trough of your tax-payer dollars. And we’re supposed to believe that this is conservatism? The quote is taken from the fourth chapter of "The Conservative Soul." If you want a thorough take on how the GOP has hijacked conservatism in the pursuit of its own power and wealth, read it.

The military wants the soldiers complaining about continuing abuse at Gitmo to be barred from speaking to the press. Count me unsurprised.

A reader writes:

I grew up in a small town, raised conservative Christian by conservative and amazing parents, turned out gay and caught between two worlds. I always knew my politics were more left of my parents, but not nearly as left as some of my friends. I was branded "conservative" and "Republican" – like they were dirty words – and never really knew what I was.

I’m happy now, though, to embrace my conservatism for what it is: a unwavering belief in peoples’ rights to make decisions for the betterment of their own lives, and those they love, while not infringing upon the rights of others.  Although i don’t always agree with you, I always find your opinions insightful.  And i thank you for helping me to come to an understanding of what I myself believe, and what being a "conservative" actually is.

There are more of that kind of conservative out there than the GOP establishment would have you believe. I hope my book contributes to a deeper understanding of the conservatism that believes in freedom and tolerance, rather than big government and bigotry.

The appeal of hotness in political campaigns seems on the rise. Check out Scott Kleeb, a candidate from Nebraska:

I’m not sure if he’s a Democrat or a Republican. And I’m not sure I care.

Keith Olbermann tells it like it is:

It’s a statistical tie right now in the polls. It could go either way. But one obvious result is that, whoever loses, Allen is no longer a serious presidential candidate. The Christianist right needs another candidate. Which is good news for Mitt Romney.

My take on what the phenom means – and its impact on global politics and culture.

Altoona, Pennsylvania, 11 am.

Here’s the latest inflammatory ad in the current campaign. Inflammatory, but highly effective – on the issue of stem cell research.

I’m going to try to post as many revealing ads – good and bad, on both sides – as I can in this campaign season. If you find some on YouTube, please email them to me.