I suppose timing has a lot to do with it.  With the Thanksgiving holiday closing in, and recognizing that they were not in a supermarket freezer or otherwise dinner-table bound, a bunch of gobblers (in suspiciously human form) decided this week was an excellent moment to show off what turkeys they are.

First, Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign on Monday released a TV commercial whose brazen dishonesty they all but bragged about — as if they thought an unrepentant lack of morality was actually a positive thing in the view of Republican primary vo… oh, wait, I guess I see where they’re coming from.  In any event, though, despite the potential amusing parodies, this opening-salvo ad essentially promises that 2012 will be one of the most brutally ugly election years ever.

And just to show how the watchdog press will respond to this challenge, the New York Times decided the time was right to take an in-depth look at Romney’s… ethics?  Financial backing?  Policy agenda?  No, no, and no.  Try his hair.

Meanwhile, Kevin Drum noted for Mother Jones this week that the GOP has found yet another way to adapt their blackmailing, do-it-our-way-or-not-at-all style of politics to crippling our government — in this case, kneecapping the National Labor Relations Board (one of those agencies, like the Environmental Protection Agency and others, they’d rather didn’t exist to begin with).

But really, the grand prize has to go to ordinary Americans at Wal-Marts across the country today.  Who would have guessed, after that horrific video at UC Davis went viral, that people would respond by deciding pepper-spray use was a more acceptable option for dealing with things?

Reflecting on what all this means for our society, I suppose it’s a good thing that a lot of us ate heartily on Thursday.  Our handbasket-borne trip to hell could be a long one, and there’s no telling if we’ll be able to stop for snacks along the way.