It's Going to Be Harder Than They Think

Ouch.

See, Republicans like to think anti-establishment anger runs exclusively in their favor. But people are angry at everyone, including the GOP. In fact, I daresay there are as many or more people angry at them than their opponents.

Does this mean the Democrats aren't going to lose a lot of seats in mid-terms? Of course not. The current imbalance is untenable in the long-term, and mid-terms are always bad for the party in power.

But I don't think there's going to be a huge shift towards the right. There probably won't be a huge majority for either side. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the Democrats keep a slim majority.

Suit up, people.

If I were a Democrat, I'd be saying something like this.

Seriously, people. It's about to be March Madness for us political junkies.

Can I get an Amen?

This is what they pay E.J. Dionne for.

He pretty much nails it. The church isn't fundamentally broken, but it has some real issues that need real solutions. It'll be hard, but it'll be worth it.

Bullied to Death

Hmm...

A tragic thing, obviously. But what's interesting to me is the front-page feature tab that links to this from Fox's home page.

"Nine Charged in Bullying Girl to Death."

Bullying to Death. Hmm.

It's an interesting term to use, especially given this is Fox we're talking about. The age-old "driving someone to suicide" idea seems a bit counter to Fox's usual hawkishness about personal responsibility.

They're probably right.

The Crazy-Right GOP

Amen, brother.

I couldn't agree more. The very definition of extreme is that few people agree with you. The Republican formula of rallying the base is not working, and it will not work in 2012. It might conceivably work in 2010, but I doubt it's going to get the huge results that Republicans think it will.
Besides, anger-voting in mid-terms is the status quo. And the current lopsided majority is unnatural and untenable in the long term. So Republicans will certainly even the odds this year, but they can't make the mistake of thinking divisive, extremist politics will win net them big wins when it counts.

Catholic Crisis

Whatever the ramifications of this most recent sex abuse scandal end up being, there might be some hope in it all.
I disagree with Catholics on a lot of theological issues. Maureen Dowd mentions several of them here. And this new Pope has seemed sketchy fromt the start.
That said, these theological quibbles are nowhere near enough to merit condemnation of the whole church. Critics of Catholocism, in their haste to get to the juicy bits, tend to forget the staggering amount of good the Church has done in modern times. And they often make the regrettable mistake of pressing the sins of church hierarchs onto everybody practicing the religion.
I have a great deal of respect for Catholics, even if I disagree theologically with some of their tenets. These crises are more a problem with their leaders then with the faithful at large.
That said, Catholics do need to stand up and be intentional and loud about reform. The Pope's position is far too sacrosanct in current doctrine -- this most recent scandal is damning evidence.
Andrew Sullivan is a good example. He's a Catholic, but he's also willing to criticize the Church when it does something he thinks is wrong.

She Isn't Running #347

Sara Palin isn't running for president.

There is one school of thought that her forays into the media world (which, by the way, should make most hard-working professionals in that arena pretty angry) are an unconventional way to keep herself in the spotlight should the time come for here to get serious about campaigning.

Protip: she isn't.

She will probably keep dropping hints, probably keep flirting with the idea, keep people guessing. But when it comes down to the wire she will simply be someone the Republican nominee needs to cozy up to.

Is she a political force? Certainly. She's got a considerable following, and that following is rabid enough to immediately, unquestioningly flock to whomever she endorses.

But she knows better than anyone that she can't win the nomination and she sure as hell can't win the main event, so all of this is just a way to milk her fame as much as possible.

And, perhaps, keep the issues she thinks are important out in the public forum. Although narrating a documentary hardly seems like such a thing to me.