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- David Axelrod is engaging in some specious spin if he believes the public will punish Republicans at the polls because they are "rooting for failure," but the fact of the matter is Republicans are rooting for failure. Now, it's always useful to distinguish between Republicans, who are motivated by gaining and holding political power so they can cut taxes, and professional conservatives, who in theory have some obligation to be a bit more high-minded and principled. But in reality, a rebounding economy is not something to be grateful for but an occasion to update one's narrative of liberal failure.
- Greg Sargent smartly observes that while the usual Beltway culprits are tripping over themselves to praise Evan Bayh's courageous denouncement of partisanship in the Senate, they have been virtually silent on Bayh's proposed solution to the problem: filibuster reform. This isn't surprising, given the Washington press corps' obsession with empty posturing, but it comes at the expense of solid reporting that might inform about why the institutions of government are failing at making policy. And that failure is what is driving the public's rising anti-incumbency sentiment.
- Politicians -- even those who haven't held elected office in over a decade -- regularly make statements that are thoroughly devoid of substance. But this, coming from the GOP's alleged ideas factory, has to be one of the most vacuous thing ever written: "[Obama] should commit to work in an open, bipartisan manner on newlegislation that would earn public support both for its substance andthrough the transparent process by which it is crafted. The Republicans should not be afraid to walk in with a series ofpositive ideas and to work with Democrats on legislation in a genuinelybipartisan fashion." The piece goes on to cite several moving examples of Republican-led bipartisanship and praises the American people for their pragmatic conservatism. Do they even have editors at Time magazine?
- Remainders: Adam Serwer on the downfall of libertarian utopias; I had almost forgotten that helping the American people out in the midst of double-digit unemployment requires the consent of 60 senators; our health-care system truly is the best in the world, never needs to change, and Mike Enzi is proud to be a part of the problem; meet Robert Dove, former Senate parliamentarian; being a Bush flunky looks great on your resume, even for those who view the federal government as an appendage of the RNC; yes, MSNBC, expressing a desire to hang public officials is a bit "impolitic"; the lesson for aspiring pundits is to write baseless analysis that boils down to "this is great news for Republicans"; this whole ongoing teleprompter crack is so unbelievably moronic; and who among us didn't do a little blow in the '70s and '80s?
--Mori Dinauer
