The election is a metaphor for the war.

...but a 1:1 scale map of Alaska is like a microcosm of the state on steroids. -

I think the internet is succumbing to a variety of the grey goo scenario. There's a lot of it, it's growing, but the older bits are atrophying, and there's no method of getting rid of the old stuff except waiting for everything that links to it to atrophy as well.

Searching for information on a technical problem? Enjoy sifting through protips from 2005. Luckily, the topic you're interested in is a recent technology? Too bad it's named for a generic noun. ("Apple Color?" Great. Thanks.) Nowadays, folks blogging embedded video have their posts turned to useless mush in a matter of days, and people who [still / ever] pointed you to an article they enjoyed with a link to the main site, because that's where they saw the article in question? Y'know, along with the all of the other news items of the day? Those people are idiots. It's true!

The grey goo is self-replicating, but I think the internets are developing a handle on that too, not least of which is the delightful practice of re-blogging - posting the exact same thing you read somewhere else with no additional commentary or insight. I suppose if you're gonna do it, an aggregator like Google Reader is the way to go, but a few folks manage to make a living on it, just a' clutterin' up the internets for the rest of us.