Jonathan Rauch, National Journal: But, tea partiers say, if you think moving votes and passing bills are what they are really all about, you have not taken the full measure of their ambition. No, the real point is to change the country’s political culture, bending it back toward the self-reliant, liberty-guarding instincts of the Founders’ era. Winning key congressional seats won’t do that, nor will endorsing candidates. “If you just

Seems our First Amendment may needs some tweaking, according to Stephen Breyer: During an appearance on ABC’s Good Morning America this morning, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer addressed the recent controversy over a Florida pastor’s plan to hold a Quran-burning rally on the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, saying he wasn’t convinced the First Amendment would protect such an action if the case were brought to the court

But remember, people. Using a word like “fascism” to describe, well, fascism, is overwrought and very, very unhelpful. Best just to pretend that the most tyrannical of our political opponents are good men (and women) who, once you bracket the tyrannical impulses with which they govern, just happen to differ with us on the issues. We can be proud of our forbearance later, at home, while we’re masturbating to our

For the Tea Party Movement Come senators, congressmen Please heed the call Don’t stand in the doorway Don’t block up the hall For he that gets hurt Will be he who has stalled There’s a battle outside ragin’. It’ll soon shake your windows And rattle your walls For the times they are a-changin’. Come mothers and fathers Throughout the land And don’t criticize What you can’t understand Your sons and

I’m serious. Obama is like, totally in over his head, and the only chance we have of saving our country is if we vote for any warm body with an R in front of his name. What these good and kind and strong and able candidates actually believe in is a question of ideology, and we haven’t the time just now for pointy-headed philosophical discussions. This is a crisis. We

Man, is that Barack Obama in over his head or what? — Which is why I like Republicans so much. They’re good and kind and strong and able, and they oftentimes wear American flag pins on their power suits. While those who oppose them are like, so totally not good and kind and strong and able — and like, oftentimes so totally don’t wear the pins. Discuss.

Don’t answer that. It’s a rhetorical question. But it’s the why that is so interesting: The lack of a coherent legal conception of Jewish identity has rendered the Office for Civil Rights (henceforth, OCR) unable to cope with a resurgence of anti–Semitic incidents on American college campuses, of which the Irvine situation is enragingly emblematic. The problem stems from the fact that federal agents have jurisdiction under Title VI of

Just so’s you know: from 1999 until today, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, Boehner has raised $299,490 from lobbyists. For comparison, Harry Reid, Blanche Lincoln, and Chuck Schumer have each raised more money from lobbyists in this cycle alone. This election cycle, Boehner is not even in the top 20 recipients of lobbyist cash. He’s raised less than $40,000 from lobbyists this cycle — compared to Nancy Pelosi’s

Ever closer: Data support the proposition that Americans like generous government programs and don’t want to lose them. So while 70% of Americans told pollsters at the Pew Research Center in 2009 they agreed that “people are better off in a free market economy, even though there may be severe ups and downs from time to time,” large majorities favor keeping our social insurance programs intact. This leads conventional thinkers

Answer: would you please repeat the question?