Ok, that's it....
No more cartoons and politics for you. If you can't keep abreast of the cutting edge, just read about it in the SJ Merc. ;)
Seriously though, I was much the same as you until I saw the technical presentation by Brad Edwards. The key to bring the concept down to earth is to think of it not as the elevator with solid diamond shaft extending to an asteroid near LEO. This concept is a ribbon without a shaft, as I'm sure it discusses in the article.