Can you blame them, with all the reports of their employers’ demise? Here’s hoping media owners find a cure, soon, for what ails their enterprises. No matter how highly we volunteer bloggers rate our role, a million of us simply cannot replicate the quality and consistency of original reporting generated by professionals. ————— Do you have a reaction or related information to share? Send an email to abel.reply@gmail.com. Please write “TMV Comment”...

I received a couple reader reactions to my post yesterday re: David Brooks’ optimism column, and a follow-on reaction to a subject we raised last week (twice) — namely, warrantless surveillance. Both of the reader reactions to Brooks’ column were in the “bah humbug” or “optimism schmoptimism” category. From regular reader DLS … Just wait until later this decade or 2020 onward at most — fiscal crunches and even crises in Washington (never mind...

David Brooks wants us to stop our “on the wrong track” grumbling. According to recent polls, 60 percent of Americans think the country is heading in the wrong direction. The same percentage believe that the U.S. is in long-term decline. The political system is dysfunctional. A fiscal crisis looks unavoidable. There are plenty of reasons to be gloomy. But if you want to read about them, stop right here. This column is a great luscious orgy of optimism. Because the fact is, despite all...

The NYT examines Snopes and other Web fact-v-fraud checkers, including a look at the couple who founded Snopes, David and Barbara Mikkelson. The Mikkelson’s attitude toward the utility of their work is, in a word, discouraging. From the article’s conclusion: … even though Snopes pays the bills for the couple now, through advertising revenue, they doubt they are having much of an impact. “It’s not like, ‘Well, we have to get out there and defend the truth,’ ” Mrs. Mikkelson...

We’re a little slow this morning at TMV. (It probably has something to do with a holiday weekend for many.) As a result, this subject is almost old news by now: The U.S. economy added an estimated 162,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate stuck stubbornly to 9.7 percent. Such is life. Reactions galore at Memeorandum, and Andrew Sullivan summarizes a couple more. Incidentally, the trend chart that Sullivan posts is an excellent counterpoint to the RNC echo chamber: … the...

A story in today’s NYT focuses on the challenging position the Obama administration is now in, given Wednesday’s ruling by a federal judge on the warrantless surveillance issue. Challenging or not for the administration, reader “Jason Arvak” emailed yesterday, arguing that the judge’s ruling “smells like a political or emotional decision … not genuine compliance with the legal standard required.” He explains: The significance of Judge Walker’s...

John Avlon might be most recognizable from his “Wingnuts of the Week” segments on CNN’s “American Morning” show. He’s also a columnist for The Daily Beast, where he has published a list of whom he believes to be “The Top 25 Centrist Columnists and Commentators.” There are many recognizable names: Kathleen Parker, David Brooks, Andrew Sullivan. And a few whose presence might spark some debate. For instance: Jon Stewart and Peggy Noonan. For regular...

So writes Colleen Carroll Campbell on the op-ed page of today’s St. Louis PD. As a new mother gazing into the innocent eyes of my two babies, marveling at their wide-open smiles and implicit trust, I feel revolted by the thought that someone could violate that trust in such unspeakable ways. Looking at them, I don’t much care about caveats or context. I don’t want to hear apologies or complaints about media bias or comparisons to the equally abysmal records of other institutions....

The implications of this development strike me as rather … um … significant. A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the National Security Agency’s program of surveillance without warrants was illegal, rejecting the Obama administration’s effort to keep shrouded in secrecy one of the most disputed counterterrorism policies of former President George W. Bush. I’ve always been torn on this subject. Long ago, when I first embraced the conservative moniker, it was after reading...

We announced yesterday that, starting this evening, we will discontinue readers’ self-published comments on a three-month trial basis. Out of the 8,000-plus visits (and nearly 15,000 page views) registered at this blog yesterday, we received more than 130 comments on that decision. The verdict was … mixed: Some thought it was the end of TMV as we know it. Others expressed empathy, with a dash of remorse. And so on. Meanwhile, a number of TMV authors took time to add their perspectives,...

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