Face It, The System Is Rigged, And

Ever Since Richard Nixon Walloped George Mcgovern In The Presidential Election Of 1972, Political Pundits Have Treated As A Truism The Proposition That Liberals Are Out Of Step With The Rest Of The Nation, And Therefore All But Unelectable Outside The Precincts Of The Northeast -- Give Or Take A College Town Here Or A Ski Resort There. During The Course Of Every Presidential Election For The Past Forty Years Now, Republicans Have Sought To Wield The Word Liberal As If It Were A Six-gauge Shotgun.

While History Never Repeats Itself, Political Patterns Do.

Obama, Like Carter, Is Reacting To Warning Signs By Seeking To Split The Difference Between Dispirited Democrats And Increasingly Radicalized Republicans.

So Was It A Political Mistake For Obama To Put So Many Eggs In The Health-care-reform Basket? Well, A Negative Decision From The Supreme Court Will Certainly Make It Appear So.

Three Centuries After The Appearance Of Franklin's 'courant,' It No Longer Requires A Dystopic Imagination To Wonder Who Will Have The Dubious Distinction Of Publishing America's Last Genuine Newspaper. Few Believe That Newspapers In Their Current Printed Form Will Survive.