Next week, the MSM is going to go to bat for the National Enquirer, excoriating the White House for failing to call on their reporters or inviting them to press events. "Who is the President to decide which is a legitimate news organization," cried Jake Tapper.

Memo to the U.S. MSM: I watch the BBC and use my wifi radio to listen to a number of offshore stations (CBC, DW, etc.) to find out what's really going on in my country. Try watching the NBC Nightly News at 6:30 ET and then the BBC World News America at 7:00 ET. You will find that the difference in scope, intelligence and focus is jarring.

A thinking Republican.

The rest of her colleagues in the GOP have been remarkably disingenuous throughout this exercise, so it should come as no surprise that they continue as such. Snowe is the true conservative here. Her position on the so-called "public option" is as a last resort--i.e.: if market reforms instituted in the final bill do not result in a regeneration of a now demonstrably stagnant insurance market. True conservatives have never been against prudent government involvement in the marketplace; only against substituting government where viable markets either exist or can be stimulated to exist. The latter is (still) an open question, even if bloated 30% overheads presently indicate that the health insurance "market" is anything but.

Blind rejection is not a responsible alternative position. The problems--now and ahead--are real, even when you close your eyes to them. In that regard, it seems to me that the true children of the '60s that never grew up are those that call themselves Republicans or conservatives. Unfortunately, they insult the proud, hard won legacy of both.

That's right. They're only supposed to appoint Presidents.

Looks like we're in for another overstuffed helping of right-wing hypocrisy.

This is another indication of the narrowing of the Republican constituency. Only a certain kind of Republican need apply. The concept of a big tent isn't yet even on the table. Indeed, it seems a pup tent is sufficient today. So, the point of view which says that Republicans need to retreat to their core base is apparently transcendent. This implies that their only chance for "redemption" in the wider polity is an utter failure of Obama and Democratic majority policies. One wonders though if a majority would end up embracing such a intellectually constipated and socially restrictive philosophy under any circumstances. One thing is for sure, though. If it did, it could be the end of the American experiment, to be replaced by something more akin in attitude to mid-1930s Germany.