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- Ezra Klein makes the excellent point that what passes for the health-care "debate" in Congress is clearly not high-minded oratory designed to persuade reasonable people about the details of public policy. The real debate, he observes, was hashed out long ago in think tanks and among policy wonks, and the only remaining point of disagreement is how to accommodate that policy solution to the realities of politics.
- It's not exactly news that the GOP has a "women problem," and it goes beyond the low number of Republican women in government. It allows conservative Democrats like Bart Stupak to legislatively dehumanize women under the guise of "protecting life" without the outward hostility of male Republicans even though the Stupak amendment is substantively more discriminatory than the routine misogyny of the GOP.
- I realize weekends are slow for news, but can we all agree that statements issued on the Facebook page of the former governor of Alaska are hardly worthy of being dubbed the "quote of the day?" It does not become serious journalism to report on the daily musings of the right wing's favorite victim of persecution.
- Weekend Remainders: Joseph Cao, conservative apostate; Bruce Bartlett is typically lucid and informative on the subject of budget commissions; Strategic Vision is not a reputable polling firm; Tom Coburn unintentionally makes the case for institutional reform of the U.S. Senate; more colorblind commentary from Rush "I have a dream" Limbaugh; and a lesson in the production of compelling and effective charts.
--Mori Dinauer
