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- Like Paul, I too consider the invocation of arcane parliamentary procedures to have been a positive learning experience. But what about the public? Do they care about reconciliation and self-executing votes? It would seem that process has a negligible effect on support for the legislation itself, which isn't surprising, but it's always nice to have evidence for your well-founded hunches.
- The foundation of modern movement conservatism is a belief that the reigning liberal order (dominant half a century ago, apparently still omnipresent today) is a radical break with the fundamental pillars of Western Civilization. When this is your starting point, then it follows that even modest liberal policy proposals such as "Obamacare" are "immoderate" and the "left-most plausible plan." It is equally unsurprising, then, that Republicans, soaked in the rhetoric of movement conservatism, will call the elimination of subsidies to student loan companies a "government takeover" of said lending, which will "eliminate borrower choice and competition."
- It cannot be emphasized enough how our alleged exceptionalism is tied to our "revolutionary" birth in 1776. There's a convincing case to be made that the American Revolution was hardly a revolution at all, and an equally good case that the ensuing war for independence hinged ideologically on restoring English liberty that was being usurped by the British Crown. Some conservatives are less interested in subscribing to ideological fairy tales than others, but the rest seem content to believe that "1776 is, was, and forever shall be the birthday of human liberty."
- This Slate profile of Andrew Breibart is old news, but in light of CNN's decision to debase themselves with their latest hire, it's worth bringing up again. The main takeaway concerning Breibart is that his popularity is dependent on being crude and taking every opportunity to strike back against his detractors. I do not find this appealing or worth my time, but I understand that others might. Serious news organizations supposedly thrive off their journalistic integrity, but in practice, more and more, they're playing Breibart's game, as the Erick Erickson hire shows.
- Remainders: A primer on self-executing rules; the Obama administration is denying a lot of FOIA requests; Dem leaders remind their caucus that Medicare was once unpopular, too; The New York Times' science bureau is run by global warming deniers; Jane Hamsher wants to make sure Democrats fail to pass health-care reform; Dick Armey is a national treasure; and Victor Davis Hanson speaks of Americans making war in a disturbingly sexualized fashion.
--Mori Dinauer
