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- Expecting consistency from Republicans these days is a tall order. And when it comes to health-care reform, the hypocrisy has been staggering. Even worse, the refusal of Republicans to negotiate even on provisions that should theoretically mesh with their political philosophy has led to worse legislation (from a conservative point of view). But as David Frum points out, the problem isn't the Republican Party, per se, it's the conservative base that expects total ideological purity from its politicians.
- What Chris Mooney is getting at in this smart post about the renaissance in climate change doubt this year is that while certainty about the science has permeated elite consciousness, public opinion is far more susceptible to all sorts of flim-flam which in turn re-casts doubt among elites. A similar story is being told by James Fallows as he marvels at an American public which believes by a 44-27 percent margin that China, rather than the United States, is "the world's leading economic power."
- Max Fisher has a thoughtful post exploring why the Obama Justice Department is asking the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss its case against John Yoo and the two possible conclusions he reaches are both disturbing: "Either he [Obama] has decided that the costs of trying Yoo so outweigh any benefits of recrimination that the trial should be dismissed, with the OPR report and public shaming as Yoo's only punishments. Or, as his critics contend, Obama has taken up practices he once lambasted Yoo for justifying and fears the precedent of judges peeking into his DoJ."
- Remainders: Conservatives believe America is too weak and cowardly to withstand activist judges and courtroom sketch artists; Eliot Spitzer has nowhere to go but up; NRA members don't scare people, the NRA does; Paul Krugman hopes we can get to 300,000 new jobs per month; states' rights, Civil War edition; the pressing issue of BCS regulation starts working its way through Congress; and is liberal disappointment with Obama a myth?
--Mori Dinauer
