×
- I didn't intend to blog about political independents all week, but via Matt Yglesias, Third Way reads way too much into the importance of Obama voters who either sat out or switched sides in the midterms. This isn't a sample of the electorate at large; it is a predetermined subgroup. What percentage of the voting public are these voters? Third Way has no answer. So why should we care that 1-in-3 call themselves "conservative" or that 40 percent call themselves "independent"? It's meaningless, not evidence of the "fraying Obama coalition."
- Grover Norquist is surely mistaken that "Fox News and the internet" will be the game changer that makes a government shutdown a success rather than a repeat of 1995's failure, for all of the reasons Jonathan Bernstein lists here. Bernstein also notes in closing that the shutdown would "be a big winner for Fox News, conservative talk radio hosts, and anyone who makes money from getting grass roots Republicans angry enough to buy books, visit web sites, and give money to conservative causes." Republicans in office face consequences for their actions, whereas the
charlatansbeneficiaries of Conservative, Inc., are free to do and say anything that keeps the money machine rolling. - Perusing George Bush's memoirs, David Corn notices an astonishing piece of mendacity, even for the former president. Apparently, Bush was "shocked" and "angry" when WMD didn't turn up in Iraq, adding he "had a sickening feeling every time I thought about it. I still do." Then Corn reminds us of a particularly low moment in 2004 when Bush used the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association Dinner as an occasion to crack wise about the missing WMDs. Disturbingly, I'm convinced Bush sleeps just fine at night, despite being personally responsible for the deaths of thousands, all for nothing.
- Remainders: Mike Huckabee promotes principled anarchy; the war on drugs, taken to even greater heights of ridiculousness; I expect conservative Catholics will immediately and forcefully denounce the radical socialism of their pope; and in a year replete with horrible columns offering political advice, Harold Ford Jr. brings his A-game for the final stretch.
--Mori Dinauer
