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- The "astroturf" charge against the town hall demonstrators isn't a way of saying these people don't truly believe that their freedoms will be squashed by the horrors of expanded coverage and lower premiums. It's about their sponsors in industry, media and the GOP who are cheering on and bankrolling these ignorant and angry people. Giving tacit approval to stoke fear and violence and disrupt people's lives is not how people in positions of influence contribute to civil society.
- Dana Perino talks up former Bush administration officials running for public office: "The fact that they worked during one of the most consequential presidencies in recent history will work in their favor -- they’re experienced, they love their country, and they have the courage of their convictions." Agree on the "consequential" bit, but I think I have something different in mind than Ms. Perino.
- Mitt Romney does not have very sophisticated views on foreign policy. But that's not what I gleaned from the title of his upcoming book, No Apology: The Case For American Greatness. Rather, because Romney has demonstrated a good ear for pandering to the Republican base, the book's title reveals more about the way wingers view the United States vis-a-vis the rest of the world: always right, always strong, and at all times threatened by sinister enemies within and without.
- There's an absolutely fascinating ongoing discussion at The Corner about a hypothetical Soviet Union where Trotsky, not Stalin, assumed power. This, Peter Robinson assures us, has "been a commonplace on the Left for decades: If only Trotsky, and not Stalin, had succeeded Lenin, everything would have been different." By "different" I assume Robinson means "a real communist utopia, and not that embarrassing totalitarian regime that set back our cause for immanentizing the eschaton." Oh, he's got our number now!
- Remainders: Who among us doesn't enjoy mocking the birthers; the White House isn't putting the kibosh on pro-health care reform activists; and funny how Hollywood celebrities instantly gain the approval of the libertarian intelligentsia once they admit being captivated by some of the stupidest books ever written.
--Mori Dinauer
