Regardless of what Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama tell you, it looks like the race for the White House is turning out to be quite the familiar affair. Of course, the fact that the Democratic nominee will either be a woman or an African American is ‘history-making,’ as is the possibility of a seventy-one year…

Driving through the backwater mountain towns of West Virginia can be a taxing experience for anyone—especially if you’re a pudgy pseudo-intellectual from New Mexico whose only point of Appalachian cultural reference consists of the oft-spotted McDonalds-Texaco-Pizza Hut triple-threat rest stop. Adding to an ever-growing feeling of bemusement was the smorgasbord of conservative talk-radio filling the…