Lately I've been reading David Byrne's blog, which has been a fascinating and at times intimate experience. In a recent post, Byrne makes a connection between our culture and the Weimar Republic that is so basic and profound, I wonder why only the Republicans have been seeing it.

Erwin Lowinsky's Weisse Maus was a cabaret night that encouraged hopelessly amateur performers to get on stage -- dreamy housewives, deluded bank clerks. They were encouraged to make fools of themselves. Sounds familiar.

The Black Cat Cabaret featured theme nights -- nude girls in imaginary sacrificial Mayan ceremonies, mock bullfights, and naked novices being humiliated by lesbian nuns -- with rituals involving silver crucifixes.

Then came Hitler.

Despite the change in control of the House, this is pretty scary to think about.