Liberals Believe That They Can't Get A

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.

The Ability Of The 1 Percent To Buy Politicians And Regulators Is Nothing New In American Politics - Just As Inequality Has Been A Permanent Part Of Our Economic System. This Is True Of Virtually All Political And Economic Systems.

As A Parent And A Citizen, I'll Take A Bill Gates (or Warren Buffett) Over Steve Jobs Every Time. If We Must Have Billionaires, Better They Should Ignore Jobs's Example And Instead Embrace The Morality And Wisdom Of The Great Industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.

More And More, Democrats Are Starting To Worry They That They Have A More Um, Colorful Version Of Jimmy Carter On Their Hands. Obama Acts Cool As A Proverbial Cucumber But That Awful '70s Show Seems Frightfully Close To A Rerun.

If Bloggers Are To Improve Our Public Discourse - Helping Busy And Usually Uninformed People Make Sense Of The World - It Is Necessary To Use Some Sort Of Standard With Which To Judge Their Reliability. Perhaps The Answer (strictly Advisory) Is A Body Of Their Peers. Perhaps Not.