Traditionally, the role of a third-party or independent candidate was to provide cover: a mainstream candidate could point and say, "see, I'm no whacko -- there's your whacko!" That's all turned on its head this year. Ron Paul is pretty wacky, sure -- gold standard, anyone? -- but he's nowhere near most of the "serious" GOP candidates. Even Lyndon LaRouche seems sane, lately, by comparison.

wingo: It sounds like the R6RS people have done something astonishingly sensible and mature, especially considering their constituency. My prediction is that the people who want to write useful programs in Scheme will embrace R6RS joyfully, and the rest will continue doing whatever the hell they've been doing. That seems like real progress.