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- The reason Republicans don't root for the underdog is that they have cultivated a narrative over the past 30 years in which "underdog" has been replaced with "freeloading loser." You don't help the poor -- you punish them for their personal failures. Success is measured by wealth, which of course you earned with the sweat of your own labor -- never government handouts. Frankly, I don't know why libertarians are often so hard on Republicans -- the latter have been going Galt since before it was cool.
- According to Variety, CNN's new show "Parker Spitzer" debuted with 454,000 viewers, compared with 3.1 million for "The O'Reilly Factor" and 1.1 million for Keith Olbermann. These numbers apparently make it a ratings failure, but it's worth considering the disproportionate level of attention other forms of political media lavish on cable considering it caters to, at best, 1 percent of the country. Is it too much to suggest that ignoring cable news is a good thing? I mean, we'll still have Politico around to tell us how much time the former governor of Alaska spends on Facebook in the morning if you're interested in that sort of thing.
- Speaking of media coverage of the trivial, it seems the latest presidential quasi-gaffe is freighted with all sorts of deep meaning for conservatives. Actually, I'm surprised this astonishingly deranged post at National Review, which promises an "anatomy of the Obama meltdown," doesn't mention it. But I suppose if you're imbuing deep meaning to beer summits and drawing analogies to Greek mythology, you're probably not paying very close attention to current events.
- Remainders: Previewing the non-terrible potential new chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee; Dick Armey shares his vision for an America that funds military academies but not higher education; and "regulating homosexuality" is something every decent Christian should be proud of.
-- Mori Dinauer
