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- The interesting thing about political pundits flopping about trying to explain Democrats and Obama sinking in the polls is that it unintentionally reveals their prejudices about American political life. So, you get Eugene Robinson venting about "spoiled" Americans in our Vibrant Economy, or Jonah Goldberg convincing himself that pure salesmanship is what separates Clinton from Obama, or the gang at First Read picking 10 events from the year that are "shaping the midterm season." The connecting tissue here is the weak explanatory power of each theory.
- David Frum convincingly makes the case that the ouster of Brink Lindsey and Will Wilkinson from the Cato Institute was indeed a purge and that such action has deep implications for the "epistemic closure" debate. If I were a serious conservative like Frum, I'd start questioning the entire project of reforming the conservative movement like E.D. Kain has done here, and begin to acknowledge that much of what comes out of conservative think tanks is light-years away from "scholarly."
- Hey, Politico. When you writes ledes that proclaim it will be "awkward" for President Obama to commemorate 9/11 this year because of the GZM "controversy," it might be helpful to note that no one cared about this issue until crazy right-wingers started screaming bloody murder about it. You might also note that it's a bit awkward for Newt Gingrich to suddenly state nine years after the attacks that Congress ought to "declare the area a national battlefield memorial." But speculating about what Obama and Michael Bloomberg talked about in a golf clubhouse is a kind of journalism.
- Remainders: House Democrats draw a line in the sand on Social Security; Haley Barbour is counting on Americans being ignorant of their history, especially political history; Americans still don't miss George W. Bush; as near I can tell, Fred Thompson appeals to people who aren't terribly bright; and Sharron Angle wants poor people to suffer needlessly.
--Mori Dinauer
