Yet another new poll, this time from ABC News/Washington Post, shows the President and the GOP sliding to historic lows. If you look inside the numbers, you'll see that the drop is being driven by the increasing disaffection of Republicans. Honestly, if a pollster called me and asked if I approved of the job being done by the President and Congress, I would have to say no. Combined with the 90% of Democrats who disapprove and the 70% of independents, any drop in Republican support from the previous highs of 90% will result in an overall drop, which is what we are seeing. Republican support is now dropping to the 50% level or below. Unless things improve between now and November, it looks like it will be a long election night for the GOP.

Who to believe on the issue of immigration? Should we believe Derrick Jackson, who cites a report that emphasizes the positive aspects of immigration, or Robert Samuelson who cites information that highlights the negative aspects? Read both columns and make up your own mind. (I think immigration is valuable, but if the flow comes in too fast and with too much volume, you get problems, much like the rain we received here in New Hampshire this past week). Also, should Conservatives disdain compromise on this issue, or is that just another form of insanity, as Tony Blankley says?

The story of Hirsi Ali, a Dutch lawmaker who immigrated to the Netherlands from Somalia and became famous because of her involvement in a film that chronicled oppression of women in fundamentalist Islamic societies (and more famous when the filmmaker, Theo van Gogh, was murdered in the street by a radical Islamist), should act as a wake-up call to those who refuse to believe that Western society will be able to defeat Islamist radicalism. Ali has resigned her seat in the Dutch Parliament and will move to America. This after officials there began a move to strip her of her Dutch citizenship for lying on her visa application. Read this article from the Times of London by Magnus Linklater. He says it all.

Ms Hirsi Ali's penetrating analysis of religion and society in Muslim countries should be answered, not ignored. This is not just a matter of a novel satirising the Prophet, or a few insulting cartoons; hers is a sustained and clear-sighted critique of Islam, from someone who has experienced its restrictions and believes that there is a reasonable case to be made against it. A country that turns its back on those views reveals itself, not only as illiberal, but one that has lost confidence in the resilience of its own democracy.

Read the whole thing.

Speaking of 'read the whole thing', a phrase I have lifted from Instapundit blogger Glenn Reynolds, check out his latest TCS Daily column. It is about the increasing financial and social costs of parenting, which he believes is one reason why modern, post-industrial countries are seeing such dramatically declining birth rates. If he is right, then the solution of providing government incentives for having children that are being tried in places like Russia and Italy, will not work. As always, culture is the most important variable in human behavior.