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- The spectacle of Republicans railing against earmarks in the omnibus spending bill -- many of which they themselves inserted -- is beyond parody. Anyone with half a brain knows that this wild orgy of government red ink amounts to less than 1 percent of the total budget, but there's a more fundamental point about all this: These people were elected in large part to bring federal money to their states and districts. And why the white-hot hostility to things like food safety, energy efficiency, and scientific research? What sort of world do these people want to live in?
- I would like to associate myself with Seth Masket's observation that the fantasy world promoted by feel-good movies and empty political rhetoric about the ease of achieving success is rather insulting. Yes, some people have managed against all odds to achieve their dreams. There are very few of these people. They form the basis of the "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" mentality that undergirds conservative arguments against government doing anything to help anybody ever, no matter how rigged the world is against them. If you can't make it in the world, that's a moral failing. In the real world, barriers to achievement are legion and it's irresponsible for opinion makers to suggest otherwise.
- I suppose it's possible that Joe Lieberman's commendable efforts to get DADT repealed are all part of a grand scheme to regain the confidence of Connecticut Democrats so he can secure the party's nomination and get re-elected in 2012. But if he were looking for an issue to express party loyalty, why not something that would really have gotten progressives behind him, like campaigning forcefully for the public option in the health-care reform bill? If Lieberman had done this, and succeeded, I'm willing to bet Democrats in the Nutmeg State might, just might, be willing to look past the senator's past apostasies and give 'ol Joe another nod. Just sayin'.
- Remainders: Tyler Cowen on income inequality; David Cay Johnston on the state of journalism; The New York Times maps the census; and I get the impression that No Labels would enthusiastically back kitten-drowning legislation as long as it had bipartisan support.
--Mori Dinauer
