Your one stop pundit shop.
Eugene Robinson on the arrests of a Michigan-based militia:
It is disingenuous for mainstream purveyors of incendiary far-right rhetoric to dismiss groups such as the Hutaree by saying that there are "crazies on both sides." This simply is not true.
There was a time when the far left was a spawning ground for political violence ... But for the most part, far-left violence in this country has gone the way of the leisure suit and the AMC Gremlin ...
By contrast, there has been explosive growth among far-right, militia-type groups that identify themselves as white supremacists, "constitutionalists," tax protesters and religious soldiers determined to kill people to uphold "Christian" values. [...]
Demagogues scream at people that their government is illegitimate, that their country has been "taken away," that their elected officials are "traitors" and that their freedom is at risk. They have a right to free speech, which I will always defend. But they shouldn't be surprised if some listeners take them literally.
Bob Herbert says the next big task must start now:
With the marathon effort to overhaul the health care system behind us, it is time for the Obama administration to move quickly and powerfully to the monumental task of putting Americans back to work.
The just-say-no crowd will insist that we can’t afford a real effort to revitalize employment, that budget deficits are too high, that the economy will recover without additional government stimulus, that the president has used up most of his political capital, and that there isn’t much that government can do under any circumstances to create jobs.
Meanwhile, the United States is in real danger of sinking into a long-term economic funk.
Sergey Kuznetsov, reacting to yesterday's terrorist bombing in his city:
In the end, nobody knows who is responsible for this attack. They have simply reminded Muscovites: Evil exists, and horror is always right beside you.
Tomorrow, we will wake up and live with these truths. At least, until we forget them again, as we have many times before.
Marc Thiessen gives huzzahs to the tea party rally last weekend in Nevada before expressing concern that a tea party candidate might screw up unseating Harry Reid. I wonder how long it will take teabaggers to catch onto how the Republican party really feels about them.
Derrick Z. Jackson on the weaselly ways of the insurance industry in the wake of the passage of health care reform:
But in the insidious underworld of health care, forces are already trying to take this guarantee away from the people. Most notably and shamelessly, insurance companies are attempting to say that they actually do not have to insure all children with pre-existing medical conditions by this fall.
Last week, the Associated Press and Congressional Quarterly reported the first weasel words from insurance industry officials that the language in the law allows them to duck away from full coverage of sick children. Insurers say they read the law to mean that, sure, if we offer insurance to a family, we cannot discriminate for children’s pre-existing conditions.
This loophole needs to be closed to ensure sick children the medical care insurers would prefer to deny them.
Scott Brown (R-MA) didn't take long to become a parrot for GOP talking points on health care reform. He doesn't get around to mentioning that he supported the Massachusetts health care plan that is nearly identical to the bill passed in Washington last week.
Frank Gaffney's take on the new START treaty is basically to warn of mushroom clouds in our future ... and he then ends with:
A false START indeed, and one that should be rejected by at least 34 United States senators.
Who are the seven Republicans who hate America?
Eric Zorn doesn't think the Obama haters are as crazy as recent polling indicates. Apparently Mr. Zorn doesn't watch Fox News ... or listen to the Republican leadership screeching about Armageddon.