While many of our readers publish comments that are constructive and well-mannered, we are experiencing a growing number of comments that are mean-spirited, foul-mouthed, ad hominem attacks. The frequency of the latter now requires approximately two hours every day of monitoring and mediation, in keeping with our comments policy. That’s too much time — for anyone — to spend on such activity, especially at an all-volunteer blog like this one. Of course, we could just do away with...

Nate Silver conducts an analysis of the health care negotiations, borrowing a model from an NYU political scientist. Silver’s conclusion: Adjust the variables here and there and you still get what you’ve got.

Some might consider it a jarring leap for the DOT’s head honcho to chime in on health care reform. But remember that Ray LaHood is a lifelong Republican who spent 14 years in the U.S. House representing Illinois’ 18th Congressional district before President Obama tapped him for his cabinet. In a commentary apparently slated for the print edition of tomorrow’s Chicago Tribune, LaHood writes the following. … most people wouldn’t expect me to be an advocate for comprehensive...

“We live in a country in which many people live in information cocoons in which they only talk to members of their own party and read blogs of their own sect.” — David Brooks A friendly challenge: Every left-leaning reader and writer of this site should today read with open mind a right-leaning post or blog. Every right-leaning reader and writer should do the same, only (obviously) in reverse. Then tomorrow: Rinse and repeat. So go ahead: Pick your “poison.”...

David Brooks considers what today’s “Tea Party” has in common with the “New Left” of the late 1960s. … the Tea Partiers have adopted the tactics of the New Left. They go in for street theater, mass rallies, marches and extreme statements that are designed to shock polite society out of its stupor. This mimicry is no accident. Dick Armey, one of the spokesmen for the Tea Party movement, recently praised the methods of Saul Alinsky, the leading tactician of the...

The Republican-controlled Missouri House has officially voiced opposition to an individual mandate to purchase health insurance. Last weekend, Missouri Republicans lauded retiring U.S. Senator Kit Bond. One of the speakers heaping praise on Bond was Catherine Hanaway, who once served as an aide to the Senator and subsequently as Speaker of the State House. Hanaway claimed that Bond was “the inventor of the modern Missouri Republican Party.” Seventeen years ago, Bond was one of 21 —...

At the very least, you shouldn’t use it like the RNC did for the purpose it did. And at least two Republicans agree … Two House Republicans have signed on to legislation that would outlaw fundraising mailings that could be confused with official Census documents. The bill, introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, was inspired by a Republican National Committee mailing that describes itself on its envelope as an “official document” and a “census document.” I’m...

Regarding Democrats’ threat to pass health care reform through reconciliation … … the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, warned that Republicans would use the health issue to bludgeon Democrats in this year’s midterm elections. If the Democrats “jam” an expansive bill through Congress, Mr. McConnell said, “it will be the issue in every single race in America this fall.” I’m sorry, Senator, but this strikes me as an empty threat. No matter what...

You might consider the “Coffee Party” … The slogan is “Wake Up and Stand Up.” The mission statement declares that the federal government is “not the enemy of the people, but the expression of our collective will, and that we must participate in the democratic process in order to address the challenges we face as Americans.” But don’t assume the Coffee-ites are the antithesis of the Tea-ites … “We’re not the opposite of the Tea Party,” Ms. Park [founder...

“I think the point of this conference is to make sure no one asks for any backroom discussion to be broadcast ever again.” – Comment shared at 11:24 a.m. ET on The Hill’s live blog of today’s health care summit

E.J. Dionne thinks this week — the week of the health care summit — “will determine the shape of American politics for the next three years.” Even if it’s not as momentous a week as Mr. Dionne suggests, I hope it does (at the very least) mark the beginning of the end of the unproductive ways in which the debate has, so far, been framed. Case in point: Published in today’s NYT, five leading conservatives offer their thoughts on reform. First up is former Senator...

Andrew Sullivan posts a chart of the day illustrating that Americans’ trust in their government rises in direct correlation to the health of the economy, specifically, to positive changes in real disposable income. He then posits two theories (one of them his own) on why such a correlation is “under-reported.” Here’s my theory: Because it’s too flippin’ obvious. It’s a “dog bites man” rather than “man bites dog” story. When personal...

I hadn’t given the secession scenario much thought since Texas Gov. Perry raised the issue nearly a year ago. Now, we have this intriguing little story about a New York personal injury lawyer, his screenwriter brother, and Supreme Court Justice Scalia.

If you read one article today, spend 15 minutes with this report from the NYT re: the so-called “Tea Party” and (loosely) associated groups. Though fueled by the rhetoric of Glenn Beck and others, many members of this movement do not articulate their gripes within a Democrat v. Republican matrix. The article contends that the most radical elements within the movement express not only ire for our current President but strong suspicions of the immediately prior President. In some quarters,...

“… in a rational world, the idea of a middle-aged man tiring of the political system and deciding to move on should make perfect sense.” – Matthew Tully, political columnist, The Indianapolis Star, on Sen. Evan Bayh’s retirement

As retirement announcements go, this one is significant … Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh will not seek re-election this year, a decision that hands Republicans a prime pickup opportunity in the middle of the country. Bayh was known as one of the most conservative Democratic senators, and one who was not shy about challenging the President. In terms of what this means for Democrats, the dire predictions have already started … [Bayh's retirement] almost certainly hands his seat over to the Republicans,...

Yesterday, the editor-in-chief of RedState, one of the most highly visited right-leaning blogs, wrote these words … Today I want to reaffirm and make it more definitive. If you think 9/11 was an inside job or you really want to debate whether or not Barack Obama is an American citizen eligible to be President, RedState is not a place for you. Birfers and Truthers are not welcome here. Period. End of Story. Good for him. Good for them. We should applaud such action, whenever the right or...

I may regret this, but here it goes. Consistent with my “stop the hate” post earlier today, I am going to give the Senate Majority Leader and his counterpart the benefit of the doubt on this one. As has already been reported, progressive Dems complained about the Baucus-Grassley bill, after which it appears Reid consulted with Baucus and Grassley, as well as Minority Leader McConnell. Underwhelmed by the Republican response, Reid decided to go for a more streamlined bill. Here’s...

This morning I published, then promptly deleted, a post about Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid, focused on the former’s grumbling about the President (and by inference, the Senate), and the latter’s unexpected slashing of the Baucus-Grassley jobs bill. Pelosi’s grumbling irritated me, but what irritated me even more was this interpretation of her grumbling … “What you’re seeing now in public has been building in private,” said a top House Democratic official....

In my prior related post, I acknowledged agreement with certain points made by Republican friends and party leaders, citing one example for each. Echoing a Republican friend, I noted the errancy of a White House proposal to “require employers who do not offer a retirement plan to enroll their employees in a direct-deposit individual retirement account unless the employee opts out.” While I still believe that proposal is flawed, I think criticism of it should be fairly balanced with positive...

Matthew Weaver at the Guardian is live-blogging the evolving situation. Andrew Sullivan continues his coalesced reports, as well, including this link to another live blog, purportedly from the streets of Iran.

Greg Sargent takes a closer look at President Obama’s Bloomberg-interview remarks about the bonuses paid to Goldman’s and JPMorgan’s CEOs, conceding that what the President said is probably “a bit more nuanced than” the simplistic reaction of certain pundits. Going a step further, the first commenter on Sargent’s post writes … [Oh] for god’s sake. Is he supposed to yell “kill all the banksters?” The quote is typical ‘x is not incarnate evil, but...

Here’s a timely counter-punch, from David Harsanyi, to the Kurt Andersen article we spotlighted yesterday. Harsanyi’s conclusion … Those who contend that the ruling party isn’t instilled with enough control are worried about politics, not process. And actually, regardless of which ephemeral majority happens to win the day, we should be looking for more checks on power, not less. I tend to agree with him, that we should (generally) “be looking for more checks on power,...

First reaction: Great. It’s about time. President Obama and congressional leaders emerged from a rare bipartisan meeting on Tuesday pledging to work together on a range of issues, including a job-creation bill that lawmakers hope to pass this month, along with longer-term goals related to health care, trade and energy. … The jobs bill represents an important test of whether the thaw in relations between the two parties is real. Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa),...

Is it possible to have too much democracy? The founding fathers certainly thought so, as Kurt Andersen reminds us … The tea-party movement takes its name from the mob of angry people in Boston who, in 1773, committed a zany criminal stunt as a protest against taxes and the distant, out-of-touch government that imposed them. Two years later, the revolution was under way and—voilà!—democracy was born out of a wild moment of populist insurrection. Except not, because in 1787 several dozen...