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- This Pew poll that measures the public's reaction to terms like "socialism" and "capitalism" reads like the results of a political focus group. Irrespective of how the public defines these terms, politicians can talk about "family values," confident that 89 percent will get a warm fuzzy, or that "militias" aren't terribly popular. And while "states' rights" has sufficiently penetrated the public consciousness to earn a 77 percent approval rate, our glorious "libertarian" future still just leaves a lot of people confused or indifferent.
- If you needed evidence of the hollowness of "small government" as a policy end unto itself, look no further than disaster relief. It's not as if Republicans have been going around the country saying, "We support limited government in everything but disaster relief, a global military presence, unfettered executive authority, Medicare, veteran's benefits, and providing pharmaceuticals to the elderly." They've been going around the country screaming about socialism and deficits and slashing spending. But this is what happens when you define your politics around a policy goal that will never be achieved absent a Road Warrior-style meltdown.
- It's always amusing when Republicans try to put the genie back in the bottle. After giving a speech at the Heritage Foundation in which he attacked the Obama administration for failing to keep America safe and apologizing to our enemies, Eric Cantor fielded a question from an audience member who asked, given what Cantor had just argued, shouldn't we consider the president to be a "domestic enemy?" Cantor attempted to correct this misperception and was reportedly met with boos from the audience. Those think-tank crowds can be rough.
- Remainders: Michael Cohen wonders why conservatives are obsessed with inept terrorism; I fail to see the relevance a 42-year-old issue of National Review has to today's world other than bashing (nonexistent) hippies; Mark Levin is a delicate flower; Fox News continues to find credible guests to comment on the Obama oil-spill conspiracy; David Weigel on the incomprehensibility of same-sex marriage opponents; and a reminder that only one candidate was serious about being president in 2008.
--Mori Dinauer
