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- Kevin D. Williamson reluctantly gives messaging advice to the GOP: "Frederick Douglass should be as much the face of the Republican party as Reagan and Goldwater." The most charitable way to understand this is that movement conservatives see the Republican party as an imperfect but reliable vessel for promoting freedom through inspiring leaders. And since the yearning for freedom is a timeless pursuit, Douglass, who died in 1895, would be completely at home in today's GOP, which thrives, among other things, on bashing religious minorities.
- Krugman writes, "When it comes to commenting on economics, there are two kinds of people: people who think in terms of models, and people who think in terms of slogans." This explains, I think, the enduring appeal of Hayek's The Road to Serfdom, which John Quiggin attempts to understand here. It's essentially a book-length slogan with timeless appeal for the limited-government set.
- As far as I'm concerned, the 2012 Republican presidential nomination is Mitt Romney's to lose. And should my hunch come to pass, we'll have an election year of substance-free sloganeering to look forward to: "He [Obama] told us he wanted to change the way Washington works. He misled us. He wants to change to way America works. We will not let him." So, in Romney's calculation, regardless if the economy is stalled or improving, the foremost thing on voters' minds will be "which of these guys is the Real American." That's your GOP, folks. Nothing but thoroughly mindless nationalism.
- Remainders: Jonathan Bernstein thinks the future is bright for the public option; human experimentation is something every American should be proud of; Craig Newmark has some interesting (though not necessarily correct) thoughts on our media future; and is National Security Adviser Jim Jones leaving the White House?
--Mori Dinauer
