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“No, I will not smile. And do you want to know why? Because right now there are dozens-dozens!-of countries that we could be bombing, but we are not currently bombing. What must our enemies be thinking! They’re thinking we’re weak, that’s what they’re thinking. So go ahead and call me angry, call me grumpy, call me whatever you want. But I will stand here and glower for as long as I have to until this country gets back on its feet.”

Paul Waldman is a weekly columnist and senior writer for The American Prospect. He also writes for the Plum Line blog at The Washington Post and The Week and is the author of Being Right Is Not Enough: What Progressives Must Learn From Conservative Success. Follow @paulwaldman1