Two of them — House Majority Leader Hoyer and House Education & Labor Committee Chair Miller — certainly use the right rhetoric in proposing “paygo” legislation, the underlying principle of which many people (including me) support. Then again: We know how empthy rhetoric and proposals can be — e.g., the Republican spendthrifts of ‘00 to ‘06. We know that both rhetoric and proposals often get smashed to bits on the brick wall of political reality —...

From Jim Vandehei’s and Jonathan Martin’s article today on what might fuel or fetter a GOP comeback: In politics, the resurrection of the out party almost always comes from the failure or excesses of the in party. A runner-up “line of the day” from the same article: “The voters are likely to use Republicans as a check” in 2010, said former Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.). “Even if they don’t fully support us, they can give Republicans a protest vote.”...

If you didn’t notice, you’re probably dead. But if you have a pulse and still missed the obvious … ahem: The health care debate is once again radioactive. Jazz, Kathy, Robert, Jerry and Dr. E. are among the TMV contributors who have already jumped into this boiling water — and the jumpers are clearly not limited to our humble pages. I’m not really a jumper; not on this issue; more a toe-in-the-water observer, undecided about the best path forward and woefully unqualified...

Andrew Sullivan’s tireless efforts continue. This and this are perhaps the most chilling of his entries to date. If you’re so inclined, say a prayer for the dissidents tonight. Some of them may no longer be here by the time the sun rises. God speed.

Shame on me for overreacting (misreacting) earlier to the House vote based on one report. Per Andrew Sullivan, the actual wording of the House measure seems to be about where it should be and is largely consistent with Obama’s stance earlier in the week: Expressing support for all Iranian citizens who embrace the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties, and rule of law, and for other purposes. Resolved, That the House of Representatives — (1) expresses its support for all Iranian...

And now for something that is not (directly) related to what’s going on in Iran. With the exception of a few — Joe Scarborough and Christopher Buckley, David Brooks, Shep Smith, et. al. — I am finding it increasingly difficult to sit down and listen to, read, or take seriously the rhetoric of the modern members of the so-called right wing of American politics and political commentary. For regular readers, this is not a news flash — but it’s bugging me more than usual, because...

If this has already been posted here and I missed it, or if you’ve seen it elsewhere, my apologies for the duplication. But it’s entirely worth watching again. Nico provides important context, at the “12:28 AM ET” mark of his liveblog today. (Incidentally, I think that should be “12:28 PM,” given the time markers on the entries just before and after it.) Note: This version of the video includes English subtitles. I trust they’re accurate.

This meme surfaced in the comments thread of my primary post yesterday. That meme hinges on this news, per the WSJ: The Iranian government … accused the U.S. for the first time of interfering in the postelection dispute. Iran protested to the Swiss ambassador, who represents U.S. affairs in Iran because the two nations have no diplomatic ties. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that President Barack Obama stands by his defense of principles such as the right of people to demonstrate. Those...

Scroll down Nico Pitney’s live blog, until you see this entry: 2:01 AM ET — Aslan: Rafsanjani calls “emergency” meeting of Assembly of Experts. Read it all. Sullivan cautions: Not confirmed and not clear what it could mean. But it strikes me that the regime is now clearly on the defensive.

My dear wife and I agree: In the wake of what’s still going on in Iran, the contrast between Obama’s response and McCain’s is one major reason we’re glad we voted for the former, despite our persistent concerns about his seeming proclivity for taking and spending our money. We’ll gladly give up a few of our hard-earned dollars to have a president who reacts this way … Well, I think first of all, it’s important to understand that although there is amazing...

Per Views from the Occident, via Sullivan, the following point — made near the end of a statement from Grand Ayatullah Husayn (Hossein) ‘Ali Montazeri — is remarkable, given both its source and its alignment with what I’ve always understood to be a core value of our founding fathers: A legitimate state must respect all points of view. If you think that point resonates, consider this series of points a few lines later: I ask the police and army personals not to “sell their...

You’ve heard of “straight shooters” — people who say what they mean, and do what they say? “Twisted shooters” are their obvious opposite, and if there were awards for twisted shooters, I’d open the nominations today with two. One nom for the GOP leaders who decry any attempt to vote against war funding, except when it’s them casting the “nay’s.” (What goes around comes around, boys.) One nom for the members of the Obama administration...

James Joyner voices concern that rapid-fire communication technologies (Twitter, et. al.) may be forcing snap-decisions on issues before those issues can be fairly and fully evaluated. I share some of Joyner’s concern. Compelled to react to the Iranian situation over the weekend and yesterday, I authored what I think (in retrospect) were some remarkably thin, shallow, pedestrian posts. What I did afterward, however, is what I think counts: I went back to those posts; revising, updating,...

From Obama’s AMA speech today in Chicago, via Ben Smith at Politico: There are countries where a single-payer system may be working. But I believe — and I’ve even taken some flak from members of my own party for this belief — that it is important for us to build on our traditions here in the United States. So, when you hear the naysayers claim that I’m trying to bring about government-run health care, know this — they are not telling the truth. The strong words don’t...

Supporters of Iranian president-elect Mir Hossein Mousavi stand at the gate of their university campus during a rally in Tehran on June 15, 2009. By Olivier Laban-Mattei/Getty. H/t + cutline credit: Andrew Sullivan. ————- Dueling interpretations are the inevitable result when outsiders attempt to decipher the indecipherable. Cases in point: this post from Dave Schuler, arguing that Ahmadinejad’s win should not surprise us, and this post from Renard Sexton, arguing...

My first reaction to the situation in Iran was rooted in base gratitude for the fact that I live in a country where the transfer of power is a “reasonable, peaceful” process. One commenter had a different reaction: I was happy when I saw the Iranian chaos. To me it demonstrates the growing liberalism and the increasing level of freedom of expression that is arising in Iran. It’s actually quite inspiring. Increasingly, I agree, especially after reading about developments like this...

Starting around the 2:30 mark in this video, Iranian protestors guide a dazed policeman to safety and care for him. Remarkable. H/t Andrew Sullivan.

That’s the simple, unadorned reaction posted by a commenter on the Steve Clemons article to which Joe linked earlier. It’s also the recurring reaction I had this afternoon, as I caught up on the events transpiring in Iran. For all the angst that many of us felt about the Bush administration — and despite the horrendous, isolated actions of James W. von Brunn and Scott Roeder — our nation can still, on balance, manage the transfer of power in a responsible, peaceful manner....

From Think Progress: … conservative blogger Pamela Geller, who writes at Atlas Shrugs, titled a post, “Please Shepard Smith Out the Door!” She followed it up with a post saying, “Shepard Smith has got to go.” Geller’s call for Smith to be fired is beginning to get traction with some conservatives online. For those interested, let’s ask Fox News to not only keep Shep Smith — but dramatically increase his air time. Here’s one reason why and here’s how.

Smith strikes me as consistently honest and direct; and he’s at it again in this segment. H/t Andrew Sullivan.

UPDATE BY HOLLY IN CINCINNATI: Grief, Shock After ‘Outstanding’ Guard Loses His Life in Line of Duty Traces of Gunman’s Online Life Begin to Vanish Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns Holocaust Museum Shooter Had Close Ties to Prominent neo-Nazis The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum issued the following statement on today’s shootings: “Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns died heroically in the line of duty today. There are no words to express our grief and shock over these events....

He’s at it again — all calm and logical and fair; this time on the subject of Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court nomination. If only more Republicans behaved that way. And yes — Rush, et. al. — we’re looking at you. Not that you care.

Labour Leader Brown and Tory Leader Cameron; their expressions may soon switch faces * * * Do the Republicans in the U.S. think they have nothing to learn from the the Tories in the U.K.? If so, the R’s may want to reconsider, given the T’s strong showing in recent U.K. elections. Granted, those election results may have less to do with a sea-change in U.K. politics than they do with old-fashioned dismay with the incumbents. I suspect it’s a combination of the two: The Tories’...

So the WaPo’s Dionne and TMV’s Stickings agree that “the right wing’s rants get wall-to-wall airtime,” while the most progressive voices are too-often ignored — and thus “the range of acceptable opinion” for American media “runs from the moderate left to the far right and cuts off more vigorous progressive perspectives.” One potential translation of this Dionne-Stickings premise would be that — if the media only paid as much attention...

Tzipi Livni, current leader of the opposition party (Kadima) in Israel * * * I published a post last night with the same title as this one. Something about the prior version troubled me. So I revisited it and finally decided (i) it was not balanced enough, and (ii) I didn’t have enough expertise on Israel/Middle East matters to be making the suggestions I had made. Unable to immediately correct those deficiencies, I deleted the post and shut down for the evening. This morning, I took...