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- Yesterday, First Read had an item correcting a Washington Post article that claimed "federal authorities" were attempting to move the Jared Loughner trial to San Diego, which is actually up to the judge. Now, I bring this up because it's a great example of the mainstream journalism correcting a false meme. But my question is why this happens so infrequently. Maybe it's because this correction is uncontroversial, but we could use more of this routine fact-checking in our political discourse instead of the usual he-said she-said blathering.
- It is instructive to think about conservatism as a form of principled helplessness whereby we cannot countenance collective solutions to any public-policy problem, whether it's regulation of industry or basic sanitation services. I think the principle at stake here is that we mustn't interfere with the natural order of things, which should be sussed out through the mechanizations of the market, but it doesn't take much to realize that "free markets" are actually the product of complicated relationships with government.
- According to Rich Lowry, the "path to recovery for him [Obama] was always completely obvious: stop sounding so partisan, make a few symbolic feints to the center (the regulatory review is the latest), forge a few compromises with Republicans, and -- in the event of a national tragedy -- strike a unifying note." Similarly, Lowry's NR colleague Daniel Foster waxes, "Maybe there are more conservative Democrats than liberal Republicans because we are, in fact, a center-right nation." Emphasis mine in both cases, but the certainty on display here is remarkable given the bountiful evidence that these claims are specious at best and totally false at worst.
- Remainders: I've never understood the creepy desire to infuse aesthetically pleasing machines with spiritual uplift; Tom Junod does not paint a flattering portrait of Roger Ailes; for some reason The Wall Street Journal is reporting that one wealthy Democratic donor wanted more partisan exploitation of the Tuscon shootings from the president; Randall Terry says he's not delusional but his actions say otherwise; and the 111th Congress was the most polarized ever -- now with data!
--Mori Dinauer
