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- The new Census numbers are a prime opportunity to remind ourselves that the United States is a complex country that has the third-highest population in the world. Because of this, the federal government is simply going to be larger that it otherwise might be. If you desire "limited government," the sheer size of the country is a major obstacle, which is why it's generally better to look at what the government actually does instead of arbitrarily obsess over how big it is.
- I remain fascinated by this idea on the right that Barack Obama's political program is driven by his and his followers' "pragmatic socialism." By some accounts, Stanley Kurtz has written a well-reported book about the tactical choices made by American socialists trying to gain influence in a world where their ideas have little purchase. But unfortunately this has been conflated with the conservative need to root out alien ideologies rather than simply pass judgment on what politicians actually do.
- Apparently the Bloomberg media empire is gearing up to offer opinion commentary based on "ideology-free, empirically-based editorial positions about the pressing issues of our time." In other words, the "Bloomberg View," unlike all the partisan hacks of the right and left, will bear down on these "pressing issues" with pure analytic reason and sound scientific methodology -- it's about time! And here I was thinking global warming was real problem because Al Gore told me it was! I can now see the benefits of using science to address topics of a scientific nature. Not so sure how this works out for questions that can't be answered empirically.
- Remainders: Arlen Specter laments the lost golden age of Senate debate; South Carolina celebrates the 150th anniversary of treason in defense of human slavery; in addition to being crassly partisan, Republicans also just don't like treaties all that much; and there simply isn't anything all that remarkable about the political skills of Chris Christie.
-- Mori Dinauer
