That obituary made my day. What a delightful woman, from what I can tell. Favorite line: “Writer of notes and wearer of pearls, she kept a framed photo of Henry James in her kitchen and a rosary on her night stand.”

Thanks for passing it along.

And Andrew’s best post, maybe in awhile, was the one on friendship this weekend. Check out Love Undetectable if you haven’t!

Reading the essay by Alexander, most of the ‘liberal narratives’ that he describes seem to be an accurate description of how many ‘conservative’ ideas are treated in the mainstream. He then claims that these narratives keep liberals as a whole from seriously considering conservative thinking, which I don’t believe to be the case.

The problem is that most of the ideas put forth by the loudest groups of conservatives really aren’t worth the time. And while the description of fruitful conservative thinking may be true, those ideas are not the ones that are making the rounds and subsequently being dismissed by liberals.

As someone that identifies as “left-of-center”, but not a liberal, it’s difficult to take many of the conservative policy seriously. Many of them do appear to be disingenuous attempts to support some group (such as the common man), when in reality, some other entity (say, big business) reaps the most benefits. At least, that’s how they appear to me.

Enabled by the shallow vastness of internet media, American populism can be stopped by little but apathy. We won’t see that during this generation.

I propose eliminating programs or sending them to the state and local governments where populism and civic thoughtfulness more easily coincide.

Oy, Sullivan hurts my brain. Back in the good old days, someone actually had to back up their opinions with facts to be taken seriously. It seems the Internet has helped us get to the point where random anecdotal evidence is enough to make you a must read.

To counter Sullivan’s “Christianism/Christianist” meme he’s been trying to spread for years: A whopping 1% of CPAC attendees listed Gay Marriage as their top priority, 2% mentioned morals, and 6% mentioned abortion as a top priority. This year, the CPAC and Tea Party crowds are converging, and it’s no secret that there is serious overlap these days.

So much for “Christianism” and other conspiracies he likes to make up. This stuff isn’t reporting, it’s anti-journalism.