The Bright Idea:

Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) and two other House Republicans — including supercommittee co-chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) — introduced legislation last week aimed at retiring the paper dollar. Schweikert said his bill would save $184 million a year and $5.5 billion over 30 years by transitioning to a dollar coin in four years, or as soon as $600 million worth of dollar coins are in circulation.

The Blowback:

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[NYT]

Geek blogger Laura June bewails what we’ll call Documentation Syndrome:

Social networks like Twitter have nudged us in this direction — anyone who uses the service as much as I do has surely noticed the odd phenomenon of watching people at an event or watching an awards show, and feeling as if the people Tweeting as they experience are not experiencing in the traditional sense: they are sharing as they experience the experience, which in turn alters the experience.

Welcome to our childhood. And maybe yours.

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“You show me somebody who falls in love with Jesus, and I’ll show you a person who won’t be a problem to society.” —Bay Minette, Alabama, Police Chief Mike Rowland, explaining the town’s new program allowing nonviolent misdemeanor offenders to go to jail or go to church. [TPM]

Our guest columnist is a Seattle-based online retailer that has been the subject of our recent violent fantasies.

As you may have heard, California Governor Jerry Brown has signed legislation repealing the law that forced us to terminate our California Associates.

We’re working to relaunch the Amazon.com Associates Program in California as soon as possible. In the next few days, we’ll reach out to all affected past Amazon.com Associates with information how to re-open their accounts.

We look forward to seeing you again soon.

Amazon to Relaunch California Associate Accounts [Mark's Hangout, via Daring Fireball]

Previously: Greetings, Pawn! [Stinque]

[WorldNetDaily]

Herman Cain’s victory in the Florida Straw Poll is, in itself, meaningless. Like its Iowa counterpart, the Florida scheme is pay-to-play — it doesn’t tell you anything about a candidate’s electoral support. What it reveals, at most, is a candidate’s financial and organizational cojones.

Still, it’s not good for your Indomitability Narrative if you can’t even buy a fake election. Mitt Romney wasn’t even in town for the fake ballot — a clever dodge — and the fake vote is being read mainly as Rick Perry’s failure to triumph. Cain didn’t so much capture hearts and minds as provide safe harbor for a protest vote — aided on the sly by Mitt’s bucks, it’s being rumored.

But with so many also-rans to choose from, why Herman Cain? Dunno. And, for present purposes, we don’t care to overthink it.

Rather, let us observe that on this day of Our Lord, September Twenty-Six, Two Thousand Eleven, it was at least conceivable — not plausible, but conceivable — that of the two major-party candidates for Preznit of These United States, only one of their four parents would be Caucasian.

We’re not big on American Exceptionalism. But that would definitely be exceptional for America.