×
- When you read stories like this one, about college-educated 20-somethings with very little in the way of decent job prospects, who overwhelmingly end up living with their parents again after finishing their degrees, you begin to appreciate the depth and severity of the economic catastrophe that's struck this country. We're not simply entering a "lost decade" (decades?) but losing a generation of workers. But hey, the stock market's up so it's all good!
- It's not that I disagree with Joe Klein when he complains about "a society that idolizes its ignoramuses and disdains its experts"; it's when he says that this "is a society that no longer takes itself seriously." To be blunt, there was never a golden age when American politics didn't allow for this sort of nonsense about "authenticity." So, for the hundredth time, I'm simply going to recommend Hofstadter's Anti-Intellectualism in American Life, which details this American tradition quite thoroughly.
- Speaking of authenticity, I wish conservatives would be a bit more honest with themselves about the business of conservative politics. Take Mitt Romney, who far from being a best-selling Voice of the People, simply barters away thousands of copies of his plainly ridiculous book in lieu of collecting speaking fees. And Romney is actually going to run for president starting next year. Comparatively, frauds like Newt Gingrich aren't actually going to run for higher office, because they're too busy proving how fast they can separate fools from their money.
- Remainders: Gay-bashing, Rand Paul edition; it's almost as if Fox News is rooting for a terrorist attack; and these people are beyond contempt.
-- Mori Dinauer
